Dimitris Tzelepis

The effects of ISO 9001 on firms' productive efficiency

Purpose – This work sets out to explore the effects of ISO 9001 on productive efficiency of firms.Design/methodology/approach – A sample of 1,572 firms from three Greek manufacturing industries is used for empirical work. The firms are from the food and beverages industries, the machineries industries as well as from the electrical and electronics appliances manufacturing industries and include both adopters and non‐adopters of ISO 9001. A stochastic frontier methodological approach is adopted and the effects of ISO 9001 can be modeled in four ways: as a managerial input alongside the conventional inputs of capital and labor, as a factor affecting technical inefficiency, as an input and a factor affecting technical inefficiency and as having no effect at all.Findings – ISO 9001 operates as a factor affecting technical inefficiency with non‐neutral effects on capital and labor. The combined effect of ISO 9001 with capital increases the level of technical inefficiency reflecting adjustment costs incurred wh...

The effects of regional capital subsidies on firm performance: an empirical study

Capital subsidization is a widespread instrument of regional and industrial policy in Europe. A number of recent works have examined the influence of capital subsidization on the total factor productivity of recipient sectors and firms, and have provided strong evidence of neutral or even negative effects. The present study examines the effect of capital subsidization on four dimensions of the financial performance of firms, that is efficiency, profitability, capital structure, and growth, and provides evidence that capital subsidization affects solely firm growth.

The Effects of Regional Capital Subsidies on Productivity Growth: A Case Study of the Greek Food and Beverage Manufacturing Industry*

Capital subsidies form a major instrument of industrial and regional policy for economically developed countries all over the world, including many European Union and Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development countries. Research findings have challenged the effectiveness of capital subsidies in assisting productivity growth. This paper treats capital subsidies as a new input and estimates a stochastic production frontier that is not bound by the restrictions imposed by approaches used in previous research works. It is shown that capital subsidies affect total factor productivity growth through technical change and not through scale efficiency, while the disadvantaged location of firms affects technical efficiency.

Intellectual capital disclosure: the Greek case

Intellectual capital (IC) shapes the patterns of a new business reality. IC disclosure is a signal of corporate responsiveness to this innovative management direction. This study examined IC reporting behaviour by Greek firms over the period 2008-2010. The extent, focus and explanatory factors of IC reporting policy were tested. The impact of the financial crisis on IC disclosure was also highlighted. A wide range of corporate reports was analysed based on content analysis methodology. According to our evidence, IC reporting significantly decreased during the period of crisis. Voluntary disclosure was shown to be extremely restricted, with relational capital being the most reported IC category. Size, industry and type of report were proved to be IC disclosure determinant variables. Greece constitutes an interesting case of research rendering implications of this study significant for a variety of parties: regulators, managers, investors, analysts, academics and professionals.

Application of association and decision rules on intellectual capital

Intellectual capital (IC), leading to sustainable competitiveness shapes the patterns of business reality nowadays. IC disclosure has become a critical necessity in this new framework. Being a novel interdisciplinary study, the aim of this paper was to examine IC disclosure by Greek publicly traded firms implementing association and decision rules. Firms were divided into three classes (low, medium and high) according to their IC disclosure, measured by the content analysis methodology. The association rules of each class were specified, highlighting IC reporting profile and focus of the firms belonging to each class. Firms in the high class were shown to have strongly realised the crucial need for a reporting change. Teamwork, corporate culture and extra-firm potential appeared to be underlined. Applying the decision tree methodology, the paper succeeded in proving the remuneration–incentive system, R&D and business collaborations items as the IC reporting-related factors differentiating classes.

Environmental and financial performance. Is there a win-win or a win-loss situation? Evidence from the Greek manufacturing

This study examines the causal linkage between environmental and financial performance in Greek manufacturing firms. Environmental performance is measured according to accounting data following the Eco Management and Auditing Scheme guidelines and ISO certification. Return on assets and return on sales are used as indicators of financial performance. Empirical findings suggest that there seems to be a link between these dimensions irrespectively of the particular sector of activity. Contrary to similar studies a “virtuous circle” does not exist as the avoidance of environmental improving investments is related to a better financial performance. On the other hand firms with superior financial performance seem to achieve a better environmental performance. At the same time firm specific and market characteristics significantly affect this relationship. These findings provide evidence that governmental and corporate actions are necessary in order to lead to a more sustainable corporate performance in the long run