Lambros Tsourgiannis

Corporate Social Responsibility in Greek Banking Sector – An Empirical Research☆

Abstract Companies voluntary embody social and environmental actions via Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). In this paper we indicate CSR polic ies in banking sector in Greece and we study the banks customers’ perceptions regarding their banks’ CSR polic ies. We present the ten biggest banks in Greece and we indicate the charitable programs and sponsoring that they offer in general during the last years in Greece. The present study empirically investigates the customers’ perception regarding CSR policies of banks; we study if they have really understood the meaning of CSR. Specifically, it is estimated whether customers believe that banks really wish to help society and the environment or they just wish to improve their sales and increase their profits. Under this framework, the results of empirical research are presented and the relevant findings are discussed.

Factors Affecting Consumers in Greece to Buy During the Economic Crisis Period Food Produced Domestically in Greece

Abstract This paper aims to identify the factors that affect consumers’ purchasing behaviour towards food produced domestically in Greece (Hellenic Food) during the economic crisis in Greece. Intercept survey conducted in a random selected sample consisted of 197 consumers in summer of 2012 in Greece. Multivariate statistical analysis performed to identify consumers’ behaviour towards those food. In particular, principal components analysis (PCA) was conducted in order to identify the factors that affect people in purchasing food produced domestically in Greece. The factors that influence people in Greece to buy Hellenic food are: (a) products features (b) psychological issues, (c) economic issues. Furthermore, cluster analysis was employed to classify consumers with similar buying behaviour towards Hellenic food, and identified three groups of consumers: (a) those that support the National Economy, (b) those who are influenced by psychological issues and (c) opportunists. Discriminant analysis was performed to assess how the identified factors derived from PCA could predict cluster membership. Non parametric tests employed to profile each group of consumers with a particular buying behaviour towards food produced domestically in Greece, regarding their opinion about those products, their WTP for them and their demographic characteristics.

Public Knowledge and Perceptions of Safety Issues Towards the Use of Genetically Modified Forest Trees: A Cross-Country Pilot Survey

Information on public awareness and acceptance issues regarding the use of Genetically Modified (GM) trees in forestry is lacking, although such information is available for GM organisms in agriculture. This is mainly due to the fact that in Europe there is no authorization for commercial planting of GM forest trees. To address this issue and within the frame of a European COST Action on the Biosafety of Transgenic Forest Trees (FP0905), a KAP (Knowledge Attitude Practice ) cross-country pilot survey was conducted among university students of different disciplines as sampling subjects. In total, 1920 completed questionnaires from 16 European and non-European countries were evaluated. The results provided novel cross-country insights into the level of public knowledge, particularly of young people and their perceptions on safety issues related to the use of GM forest trees , as well as on their attitude towards the acceptance of GM forest trees cultivation. The majority of the respondents, which was more than 60 % in all countries, approved the use of GM forest trees for commercial plantations , excluding natural forests. The majority of respondents also appeared willing to buy products from such plantations, such as wood products, pulp and paper. Over 80 % of the respondents from all countries were in favour of using labelling to identify products of GM origin, while more than 80 % of those would prefer that this labelling be legally mandatory. The top three benefits that were rated as very important in all countries involved the potential lower demand of the GM forest plantations for pesticides, the potential of GM forest trees for restoration of contaminated soils and the potential higher GM forest tree productivity. The top three GM forest tree risks that were perceived as serious hazards in all countries included the potential loss of biodiversity due to gene flow between transgenic and wild trees, the adverse effects of biotrophic processes on host ecosystems and the cultural adaptation to changing biodiversity conditions due to transgene escape. Overall, lack of knowledge regarding the potential benefits and potential risks of the cultivation of GM forest trees was observed in almost all surveyed countries.

A Comparative Analysis of Consumers’ Potential Purchasing Behaviour Towards Transgenic-Derived Forest Products: The Greek Case

Transgenic forest products are not currently purchased in the markets mainly due to lack of transgenic forest plantations. This is partly associated with the early stage of development of GM trees and also due to biosafety concerns and the existing regulation frameworks, particularly in Europe. However, due to the increased global demand for wood products and bioenergy applications, there is an increased interest in the improved characteristics associated with transgenic forest plantations. In order to determine the future demand and the market potential for transgenic forest products there is a need for scientific information for policy makers and developers about the potential purchasing behaviour of consumers. A study was conducted of the potential purchasing behaviour of consumers to three major categories of transgenic-derived forest products: (a) paper, (b) woody biomass energy and (c) wood products. In particular the study, (i) examined the main factors influencing consumers’ potential purchasing behaviour towards the three types of transgenic forest products, (ii) classified consumer groups with similar buying behaviour towards each category of transgenic forest products and (iii) profiled each consumer group according to their attitudes towards the use of biotechnology in the forestry sector. Field interviews were conducted in a randomly selected sample consisting of 418 consumers throughout Greece in 2011. Principal Components Analysis (PCA) was performed to identify the main factors that might have affected the consumers’ potential purchasing behaviour towards the three main categories of products. Further, Discriminant Analysis was implemented to assess how these factors could predict cluster membership, while the Hierarchical and non-hierarchical cluster techniques were employed to classify the consumers with similar behaviour for each transgenic product. This study indicated that in Greece there are potential buyers for transgenic-derived products, such as woody biomass for energy production. Marketing issues such as the attractiveness of the packaging could positively influence consumers’ potential purchasing decisions towards those products. However, there were concerns such as the possible negative health issues from the transgenic-derived products. This study indicated the potential purchasing behaviour of consumers and is of value to developers and policy makers. It is recommended that the results of this pioneer study should be used to stimulate further investigation, both in Greece and other parts of Europe.

Exploring the factors affecting Greek people to make vacation in Greece: A preliminary analysis

Abstract This paper reports results of a study aiming at exploring the factors affecting Greek people to make vacation in Greece. Through the study i) the main factors influencing Greek people in their choice about the tourist destination ii) consumers with similar buying behaviour were classified into groups and iii) each group of consumers was profiled according to their demographic characteristics and their preferences regarding their holidays. Field interviews were conducted in a randomly selected sample consisting of 102 people in Greece in November 2013. Principal Components Analysis (PCA) was performed to identify the main factors that affect Greek people to make vacation in Greece. These factors were: (a) vacation activities (b) natural environment and entertainment (c) travel connections and (c) culture. Hierarchical and non hierarchical cluster techniques were employed to classify consumers with similar consumption behaviour. Three groups of tourists were identified: (a) those interested in the vacation activities, (b) those interested in cultural issues, (c) those interested in travel connection. Discriminant Analysis was performed to assess how the identified main factors affecting Greek people to have holidays in Greece through PCA, could predict cluster membership. A non parametric test was used to profile each group of tourists according to their demographic characteristics.

Profiling Tourists who have Holidays in the Region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace in Greece

Abstract This paper aims to profile the tourists who have holidays in the Region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace (REMTh) in Greece regarding the factors affecting them in choosing their travel destination and sources of information and demographic characteristics. In particular the main factors influencing tourists to choose REMTh as tourist destination were identified. Furthermore tourists with similar buying behaviour were classified into groups; each group of tourists was profiled according to their preferences regarding their holidays and their demographic characteristics. Field interviews were conducted in a randomly selected sample consisting of 265 people in REMTh in summer 2013. Principal Components Analysis (PCA) was performed to identify the main factors that affect tourists to make vacation in REMTh. These factors were: (a) Travel connections and tourist infrastructures (b) natural environment (c) vacation activities, (d) entertainment, (e) culture and (f) value for money. Hierarchical and non hierarchical cluster techniques were employed to classify tourists with similar behaviour. Three groups of tourists were identified: (a) those interested in the vacation activities, entertainment and culture (b) opportunists, (c) those interested in natural environment and (d) those interested in travel connections, tourist infrastructures and value for money. Discriminant Analysis was performed to assess how the identified main factors affecting tourists to have holidays in REMTh through PCA, could predict cluster membership. A non parametric test was used to profile each group of tourists regarding their holidays and their demographic characteristics.

Measuring Citizens Satisfaction From Public Sector Organizations in Greece: The Case of the Regional District of Xanthi

This study aims to explore citizens’ attitudes towards public sector and more particular towards services of Regional District of Xanthi in Greece. A primary survey was conducted in January–March 2016 to 268 citizens of Xanthi prefectures who were clients of the services of Regional District of Xanthi. Principal component analysis (PCA) was conducted to identify the main attitudes of the citizens towards public sector in Greece. Cluster analysis is performed to classify citizens into groups with similar attitudes, whilst discriminant analysis is conducted to check cluster predictability. Friedman test is performed to identify the importance of the main problems each group of citizens face when they visit the public sector services. Finally chi-square analysis took place in order to profile each identified group according to their demographic characteristics. PCA identifies that citizens of the Regional District of Xanthi mainly believe that services of Regional District of Xanthi (a) indicate high professionalism and interest in people’s cases and (b) are characterized by consistency. Citizens (clients) who were served by those public agencies are classified into two groups: (a) those who believe that public sector services indicate high professionalism and interest in people’s cases and (b) those who believe that public sector services are characterized by consistency. Friedman test indicated that people think that the main problem public sectors face in Greece is the lack of personnel.

The Barriers for the Development of the Social Cooperative Enterprises in Greece

This article, briefly, presents the difficulties and the obstacles for the development of the social cooperative enterprises in Greece, from their formation until today, according to the Greek legislative framework for the Social Economy. Specifically, this article analyses and focuses on the barriers for the operation and the growth of the social cooperative enterprises in Greece which are mainly related to the lack of a specific, comprehensive and stable institutional framework for social enterprises; their weak financial position due to lack of investors and non-activation of state funding tools; the lack of evaluation and measurement of their social impact by institutional entities; the high levels of existing administrative bureaucracy of the involved public authorities; the limited information of the public servants and the employees of the private sector for the Social Entrepreneurship; the lack of available training for the staff of social cooperative enterprises that deals with administrative tasks; the low level of sensitisation of the local societies for the Social Economy Sector, etc. The article leads to some conclusions and suggestions for the improvement of the effectiveness of the national legislative framework and also to some prerequisites in order to boost the growth of the social cooperative enterprises in Greece.

Greek Brain Drainers in Europe: An Empirical Study

The young people’s migration that is high qualified and over skilled is one of the major issues in Greece during this crisis because it deducts from the economy a highly productive part of its labor force. The analysis of this issue, the reasons why the young scientists leave the country, and the adoption of economic policy measures that will deal with the roots of the problem are the biggest challenges. The purpose of this article is to describe this phenomenon and to highlight the most important factors that affect it. Firstly, some quantitative data are presented about the size of the phenomenon, secondly it is presented a bibliography review relevant to the topic, and finally it presents the empirical results of a survey on a sample of 379 people who have already emigrated and work abroad so as to become aware of the important factors that influenced their decision to emigrate abroad. With this in mind, the data analysis was examined by using the Microsoft Office Excel and the SPSS statistical package. After that, it was held a Descriptive Statistical Analysis, a Factor Analysis, a Variance Analysis, and a Reliability Analysis of the data of the research. The factor analysis uses mathematical procedures to simplify interrelated measures so as to be discovered patterns in a set of variables. Large data sets that consist of several variables can reduce their number by observing variable groups (factors). The Principal Component Analysis was used in order to export the factors of the factor analysis with Orthogonal rotation axes with the Varimax method, which is considered as one of the most reliable and popular methods. The suitability of the factor analysis was examined with the Bartlett’s Sphericity statistical test and the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin statistic test. The factor analysis drew on sixteen (16) factors.

Approaches and Tools for a Socio-economic Assessment of GM Forest Tree Crops: Factors for Consideration in Cost–Benefit Analyses

Decisions related to the use of genetically modified (GM) forest trees could be more rational if they would take into account socio-economic considerations in addition to environmental risk assessment. This chapter presents an overview of available socio-economic approaches and tools for assessment of GM forest crops and presents options for their implementation. In particular, it explores the suitability of Cost–Benefit Analysis (CBA), a well-known method in the field of economics, for aiding the decision-making process that regulates the experimental and/or commercial release of GM forest crops. A generic catalogue of potential positive and negative externalities that can reasonably be expected as a result of commercial application of GM forest trees and which are specifically connected to modified traits was compiled to form the basis for CBA. Cost and benefit variables were grouped according to two criteria (i) the sustainability type of variables, namely environmental, economic and social variables and (ii) the affected party. The latter is particularly useful as it is related to the distributional equity of costs and benefits of GM forest trees. Finally, results from a focus group study that was organized as part of COST Action FP0905 in order to identify the most important positive and negative externalities of GM forest plantations in connection to modified traits is also presented. CBA can make a significant contribution to a more rational decision-making process towards the potential release of GM forest trees, as it would add a measure of potential contributions to social welfare. However, further research is required to provide more information on the range of potential positive and negative externalities, their quantification, and predictions at different spatial and temporal scales.