Consumer Confidence Linkages Among European Union Countries: Which Countries Tend to Be Followers of Others?

In this study we use hierarchical cluster analysis to identify clusters in terms of consumer confidence and test the hypothesis whether Western and non-formerSoviet-Union Northern countries (Sweden, Denmark or Finland) may be “the core”, while Southern and former USSR countries may be considered as “periphery” in terms of consumer confidence (in respect with Krugman’s “core-periphery” model). Results show that consumer confidence similarities define clusters of EU countries, located in the same sub-region of Europe in cases of all Northern Europe countries and almost all Western Europe countries (excluding Netherlands, Luxembourg and Austria). We find that Southern and Central–Eastern EU countries don’t have their united, single socio–economic behaviour pattern, but rather tend to distribute to various clusters in terms of consumer confidence. Our test for hypothesis of possible “core” and “periphery” countries in terms of consumer show that some of Western and non-former-Soviet-Union Northern countries (in this case we identified Sweden, United Kingdom and Luxembourg) may be considered as “the core”, while the rest Southern and former USSR EU countries may be considered as “periphery”.     Keywords: consumer confidence, cluster analysis, core-peripher

Testing the Relation between Beta and Returns in the Athens Stock Exchange,

Abstract The main objective of the current study is the examination of the relationship between beta and returns in the Athens Stock Exchange, taking into account the difference between positive and negative market excess returns' yields. The investigation period is between 1991 and 2002 and the focus on the risk-return trade-off by examining separately the up-market and down-market months. The study tries to verify whether beta is an important measure of risk and if an inverse relationship holds between beta and returns when the return on the market is negative. It also investigates whether there is any symmetry between up and down market returns in the ASE. The estimation of return and beta without differentiating positive and negative market excess returns produces a flat unconditional relationship between return and beta. Using the conditional CAPM and cross-sectional regression analysis, the evidence in this paper tends to support the significant positive relationship in up market and a significant negative relationship in down market. (JEL G12)

The Cross-Section of Expected Stock Returns: An Empirica Study in the Athens Stock Exchange.

ABSTRACT This paper explores the ability of the capital asset pricing model, as well as the firm specific factors, to explain the cross-sectional relationship between average stock returns and risk in Athens Stock Exchange (ASE). The objective of this study is to investigate the crosssection of stock returns in the Greek stock market for the period from July 1993 to June 2001. A methodology similar to that of Fama and French (1992) is employed, by taking into account the constraints imposed by a smaller sample both in time and in terms of number of stocks. Our findings indicate that in the Greek stock market there is not a positive relation between risk, measured by β, and average returns. On the other hand, there is a "size effect" on the cross-sectional variation in average stock returns. Regarding, the "book-to-market effect" we found that when this variable is the only variable in explaining average returns there is a strong positive relation between average returns and book-to-market ratio. But when other explanatory variables were added in the cross-sectional regressions the "book-to-market effect" diminishes a lot

Consumer characteristics and their effect on accepting online shopping, in the context of different product types

Online shopping is among the most popular activities of the internet, yet the reasons why consumers buy online are still unclear. Although it is implied that consumer acceptance of online shopping is affected by different products not many studies have adopted this view. This study attempts to examine consumers' attitude when making online purchases in the context of different product types. A theoretical framework is proposed based on the determinants of consumer behaviour and user acceptance of online shopping, as well as online product classification. The factors that were selected to be tested are Personal Innovativeness of Information Technology (PIIT), Self-efficacy, Perceived security, Privacy, Product involvement and how they affect consumer attitude towards online shopping. Correlation analysis, at first, to determine the relationships among the variables and regression analysis afterwards to verify the extent of the variable interaction were used to test the hypotheses. Based on the aforementioned analyses, results were drawn and compared to the results found by Lian and Lin (2008) in a similar study. It has been found that PIIT, perceived security and product involvement have an effect on the attitude towards online shopping, yet the results vary among the different product types

The Effect of Mergers and Acquisitions on the Performance of Companies – The Greek Case of Ioniki-Laiki Bank and Pisteos Bank

This study investigates the merger effects of two banks. The merger took place in mid 1999s and the effect was the Alpha Bank. The research is performed in two parts. The first part investigates the merger in the short-term, while the second part investigates the long-term effects of the merger exploring the relative position of the Alpha bank within the industry. Results show a beta-risk value for the Alpha bank which is a reconciliation of the beta-risks coefficients of the two banks, and moreover, reveal that Alpha bank is not only profitable but also competitive within the industry.Banking Industry, Mergers and Acquisitions, GARCH analysis, the CAPM model and Ratio Analysis

The use of traditional and modern value-based performance measures to evaluate companies’ implemented and future strategies in the Greek capital market: the case of EPS and EVA

Traditional accounting performance measures, such as EPS, ROI, ROE, have been long used by investors to evaluate companies’ implemented and future strategies. However, in recent years the appearance of shareholder value approach and its modern value-based performance measures, such as EVA and SVA, gave an incentive to investors to consider those measures as important ones to evaluate companies’ strategies. This is the first study in Greece on the practice of investment management in terms of stock market forecasting and stock selection. Our respondents come from six different groups of investors: official members of the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE), mutual funds management companies (MF), portfolio investment companies (PIC), listed companies (LC), brokers (BR), and individual investors (ININ). ASE has become one of the developed stock market centres thus, it is important for international investors to acquire a better knowledge and understanding of how investors in Greece practice their trades. Results of this study confirm the importance of traditional accounting performance measures but at the same time reveal the significant attention investors should pay on the modern value-based performance measures. For limitation reasons this study focuses only on EPS and EVA