Chapter 6 Financing Greek Shipping: Modern Instruments, Methods and Markets

The chapter discusses ship finance and analyzes modern instruments, methods and markets that shipping companies employ to fund their investment projects. In a highly dynamic and volatile business environment, ship finance becomes highly sophisticated, innovative and complex. Emphasis is placed particularly on financial innovations employed by Greek shipping companies that rank on top of international shipping. These financing instruments include new forms of bank lending, leasing and syndication, international equity initial public offerings (IPOs), private equity funding, high-yield bond issues, securitization and forward freight agreements (FFAs).

An econometric study of tourism demand: the AIDS model of US and European tourism in Mediterranean countries

The almost ideal demand system (AIDS) model was used to estimate tourism expenditure allocation by US and West European countries among a range of Mediterranean destinations. The approach has the advantage of an explicit basis in consumer expenditure theory and, by modelling the changes in the budget shares of expenditure among destinations, provides new information relative to that provided by the traditional single equation approach. The estimated model was econometrically satisfactory, although symmetry and homogeneity were rejected, in line with the findings of past studies of consumer demand. The expenditure elasticities demonstrated considerable differences in tourism demand preferences between origin countries, and between traditional and newly developing destinations. The own- and cross-price elasticities indicated the importance of effective prices in determining the allocation of expenditure among destinations