The contribution of the road transport projects of the NSRF 2007-2013 to the development of a Greek region

The purpose of the present paper is to study how the actions of the road projects of National Strategic Reference Framework (NSRF) 2007-2013 contributed to the development of the Region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, as these actions were included in the respective Operational Program of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace 2007-2013. It analyzes the European regional policy, examines the cohesion policy of the European Union, which aims to reduce regional inequalities and ensure the social, economic and territorial cohesion. In Greece, the cohesion policy implementation for the period 2007-2013 was achieved through the NSRF 2007-2013, where the present study presents its training philosophy and the priorities set. The study area concerns the Region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, followed by the analysis, characteristics and results of the Operational Program of the Region of the same period, through which 87 road projects were implemented. Data are collected for each of these projects and, through the presented research methodology, conclusions are drawn on the contribution of these actions to the development of the Region

Non linearities and chaos in stock price behavior of Greek oil sector; The case of Hellenic Petroleum S.A.

The behaviour of different financial or economic time series is captured mainly by nonlinear models. The present study investigates the underlying process of the stock price returns time series of the oil sector taking as an example the case of Hellenic Petroleum SA. The data used are daily for over a 13 – year period. Nonlinearities are detected with different univariate tests that survey the independence and nonlinear deterministic structure of the time series studied. The data employed for these tests are the closing prices of Hellenic Petroleum SA. All the tests confirm the existence of nonlinearities in the time series studied. Furthermore, we employ a Layapunov test to detect the chaotic behaviour of the stock prices. Finally, we estimate the noisy Mackey – Glass model, which is an equation with errors that follow an F- GARCH (p, q) process. This model is structured in order to enable us to interpret the volatility clustering as an endogenous phenomenon

Rangelands and rural development: The case of Evros prefecture

Rangelands are used in many countries for water supply, cattle – breeding, outdoor recreation and many other purposes related to improvement of life quality. The aim of this paper is the investigation of the attitudes of the local people in a remote rural area concerning the contribution of rangeland resources in the rural development. Our study was conducted with the use of a specially designed questionnaire and it took place in the area of Evros prefecture. The questionnaire included questions concerning items measuring various benefits and contributions in the quality of life by rangelands. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the methodology of confirmatory factor analysis. Our results showed that the latent structure of overall benefits from rangelands is strongly related to three main factors of benefits, with most important being the recreational benefits factor, as viewed by the local people

MARKET AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT IN BULGARIA

The present paper tests empirically the existence of a causal relationship between the economic growth and the development in the banking and stock market in transition economies and especially the case of Bulgaria. The Johansen cointegration test indicated one long – run relationship between the banking sector, the stock market and the economic growth while the application of the Granger causality test indicated a bilateral relationship between the economic growth and the development in the stock market, as well as between the economic growth and the development in banking sector. Finally, a unilateral relationship was concluded between the development in credit and stock market

Historical public parks : investigating contemporary visitor needs

Worldwide, several large-scale historical gardens have been adapted to social needs and became public parks. Historical parks, designed in a different era and often subjected to pressures for development, raise concerns in meeting contemporary visitor needs, rendering them vulnerable to private interests. The main purpose of this paper was to determine whether a historical park designed in a different era can meet today’s visitor needs. The National Garden (NG) in Athens, Greece, a well-protected historical park, was selected as a case study. A questionnaire survey addressed to the visitors of the NG was undertaken on the basis of the main components of park design, factors affecting visitation, and visitor perceptions of involvement in park management. A descriptive and regression analysis was applied. Even though the NG was not originally designed as a public park but as a garden, overall results showed it satisfies its visitor’s needs. The planting and associated tranquility are the most liked characteristics of the NG that are inextricably linked with its original design as a private garden. The main qualitative traits of plants that people like were found in the NG plant species. Suggested improvements to fulfill further contemporary visitor’s needs have to be considered carefully and must comply with the statutory measures that protect the NG and associated wildlife habitat. As in many urban parks, concerns for safety and cleanliness and willingness to volunteer in park maintenance were also expressed by visitors of the NG. This study illustrates that historical gardens designed many years ago and transformed into public parks can protect and conserve the historical and cultural heritage and concomitantly meet today’s visitor needs. Further research is suggested to study other historical parks

Modeling sheep pox disease from the 1994-1998 epidemic in Evros Prefecture, Greece.

Sheep pox is a highly transmissible disease which can cause serious loss of livestock and can therefore have major economic impact. We present data from sheep pox epidemics which occurred between 1994 and 1998. The data include weekly records of infected farms as well as a number of covariates. We implement Bayesian stochastic regression models which, in addition to various explanatory variables like seasonal and environmental/meteorological factors, also contain serial correlation structure based on variants of the Ornstein–Uhlenbeck process. We take a predictive view in model selection by utilizing deviance-based measures. The results indicate that seasonality and the number of infected farms are important predictors for sheep pox incidence

Performance Management of Supply Chain Sustainability in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Using a Combined Structural Equation Modelling and Data Envelopment Analysis

Although the contribution of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to economic growth is beyond doubt, they collectively affect the environment and society negatively. As SMEs have to perform in a very competitive environment, they often find it difficult to achieve their environmental and social targets. Therefore, making SMEs sustainable is one of the most daunting tasks for both policy makers and SME owners/managers alike. Prior research argues that through measuring SMEs’ supply chain sustainability performance and deriving means of improvement one can make SMEs’ business more viable, not only from an economic perspective, but also from the environmental and social point of view. Prior studies apply data envelopment analysis (DEA) for measuring the performance of groups of SMEs using multiple criteria (inputs and outputs) by segregating efficient and inefficient SMEs and suggesting improvement measures for each inefficient SME through benchmarking it against the most successful one. However, DEA is limited to recommending means of improvement solely for inefficient SMEs. To bridge this gap, the use of structural equation modelling (SEM) enables developing relationships between the criteria and sub-criteria for sustainability performance measurement that facilitates to identify improvement measures for every SME within a region through a statistical modelling approach. As SEM suggests improvements not from the perspective of individual SMEs but for the totality of SMEs involved, this tool is more suitable for policy makers than for individual company owners/managers. However, a performance measurement heuristic that combines DEA and SEM could make use of the best of each technique, and thereby could be the most appropriate tool for both policy makers and individual SME owners/managers. Additionally, SEM results can be utilized by DEA as inputs and outputs for more effective and robust results since the latter are based on more objective measurements. Although DEA and SEM have been applied separately to study the sustainability of organisations, according to the authors’ knowledge, there is no published research that has combined both the methods for sustainable supply chain performance measurement. The framework proposed in the present study has been applied in two different geographical locations—Normandy in France and Midlands in the UK—to demonstrate the effectiveness of sustainable supply chain performance measurement using the combined DEA and SEM approach. Additionally, the state of the companies’ sustainability in both regions is revealed with a number of comparative analyses

Consumer preferences in Greece for bio-based products : a short communication

This study examines consumer preferences for bio-based products. Drawing from a sample of Greek consumers (n = 533) and the use of self-reported scales, we assess the effects of individuals’ characteristics such as innovativeness, trust in science and technology, environmental concern, and previous experience with bio-products on consumer preferences, i.e., willingness to pay (WTP) for (a) a bio-nylon jacket, (b) a pack of bio-based breadsticks, and (c) a bioplastic bottled water. Findings indicate that certain consumer- and product-specific attributes may influence WTP for the three bio-based products included in our study and offer insights on the extent to which such characteristics may shape purchase decisions for products of this growing market. In this respect, the results encapsulate managerial/practical and policy implications toward the development of appropriate advertising messages and awareness-raising campaigns and indicate the need to further explore consumers’ attitudes and purchase decisions for bio-based products in Greece

A quantitative analysis of the spatial and temporal evolution patterns of the bluetongue virus outbreak in the island of Lesvos, Greece in 2014

Bluetongue virus (BTV) causes an infectious disease called bluetongue, a vector-borne viral disease of ruminants, which has major implications and causes severe economic damage due to its effect on livestock. These economic costs are mostly ascribed to the trade restrictions imposed during the epidemic period. In August 2014, an epidemic of bluetongue occurred in the island of Lesvos, Greece. The epidemic was severe and evolved over time, lasting until December 2014. The total cases of infected farms were 490, including a total number of 136,368 small ruminants. In this paper, we describe a bluetongue virus serotype 4 (BTV-4) epidemic and utilize Bayesian epidemic models to capture the spatio-temporal spread of the disease. Our study provides important insights into the drivers of BTV transmission and has implications for designing control strategies. The results showed strong spatial autocorrelations, with BTV being more likely to spread between farms located nearby. The spatial modelling results proposed a certain spatial radius (~12 km) around the onset of a similar epidemic for imposing restrictions on animal movement, which can be sufficient for the control of the disease and limit economic damage

Attitudes and views of citizens regarding the contribution of the trail paths in protection and promotion of natural environment

In recent decades, large sections of trail paths throughout Greece have been maintained, revived, and marked, creating a wide network with a total length of approximately 3500 km. The trail paths are one of the main levers of tourism development as they contribute to the preservation, protection, and promotion of the countryside, cultural heritage, and tradition, to the more effective protection and management of areas of exceptional natural beauty and sensitive ecosystems with wildlife. This paper investigates the view of the citizens of the regional unit of Evros, Greece, on the contribution of the trail paths to the protection and promotion of the cultural and natural environment. The research was conducted with the use of a structured questionnaire and through personal interviews. The data were collected and analyzed with the use of descriptive statistical methods as well as multivariate analysis techniques. The results of the research show that the attitudes of citizens to the contribution of paths in the protection and promotion of the cultural and natural environment are directly or indirectly influenced by various factors. In particular, age directly affects the view of citizens towards the trail paths, with the younger ones having more positive views. Other important predictors of citizens’ views were the type of activity in the trail path, with citizens using them for leisure activities or using the easy roots having more positive views towards them