Horizontal Inequity and Vertical Redistribution with Indirect Taxes: The Greek Case*

Non‐uniform indirect taxes treat equals and those unequal differently (horizontal inequity and vertical redistribution). Horizontal inequity is caused by taste differences among similar households, but some excises are designed to reflect social, not revealed, preferences. We apply two methodologies for decomposing the overall redistributive effect of the present and three alternative indirect tax structures into vertical and horizontal effects for Greece, using the 1998–99 Household Expenditure Survey micro‐database. In all cases, the taste component is considerable, even when we allow for social preferences, while improvements in vertical redistribution can be achieved, albeit at the cost of increased horizontal inequity.     

Strategic human resource management and its effects on firm performance: an implementation of the competing values framework

Based on the literature of the competing values framework, this paper develops a new HRM model and attempts to clarify what type of HRM (in terms of the orientation of the function) is linked with various aspects of firm performance. In order to acquire a better view of this much researched issue, three more factors that influence this relationship have been added to the equation: competitive strategy, external environment and organizational size. The empirical research was carried out in Greece among a sample of 104 organizations. The research findings show that when HRM is consistent with the competitive strategy it has significant effects on financial performance. Another important finding is that market performance is positively influenced by HRM flexibility and negatively influenced by HRM control, unless the external environment is complex, when the most successful combination is control-internal orientation.     

Patterns of injuries and motor-vehicle traffic accidents in Athens

The extremely high cost of motor-vehicle accidents in public health leads to the necessity of a better injury data collection in the Accident and Emergency Hospital Departments. The ‘Asclepeion’ of Voula Hospital covers the southeastern suburban areas of the greater Athens area (1 000 000 population). The aim of this study is to present information on the pattern of injuries in Athens, in order to understand the magnitude of the problem and develop rational prevention programmes. Specially trained health visitors of the Emergency Department Injury Surveillance System (EDISS) interviewed in person every injured victim who was brought into the Emergency Service of the ‘Asclepeion’ of Voula Hospital. The study was performed during a 3-year period, from 1996 to 1998; 4564 persons were interviewed. Traffic accidents were more frequent on weekdays with a seasonal peak in July and among young Greeks (aged 25 – 34 years). The usual type of injuries seen in vehicle-accident victims were cerebral contusion and concussion, while in motorcycle-accident victims, head contusion and fractures. The most common reasons for the accident were excessive speed, poor condition of road, inattention, abstraction or drowsiness and drug effects. A total of 29.8% of motorcycle drivers and 5.7% of motorcycle passengers wore a helmet and 26.3% of car drivers and 14.1% of car passengers were using seatbelts. The identification of road traffic injury patterns can contribute to the development of injury prevention measures and guide rational preventive interventions that can reduce the incidence of these injuries. The EDISS system established at ‘Asclepeion’ of Voula Emergency Service can provide useful and accurate information about this serious and multidimensional problem of Greek Public Health.     

Territorial Food Product Perceptions in Greece and Spain

Abstract

Market orientation is the evolutionary focus of EU food policy initiatives. In the context of this study, an example of this ethos is the legislative support framework for territorial food products. Whilst quantitative studies exist which examine the perceptual determinants of such products, exploratory research exposing the importance of symbolic connotations is largely the preserve of the qualitative literature. This paper seeks to generalise these tentative qualitative findings, whilst extending the dearth of quantitativeliterature by focusing in more detail on segment profiles, employing both an improved multivariate treatment and ‘pooled data’ from two Mediterranean countries to examine the significance of ‘citizenship’ on product perception.     

Spatial evolution of airport traffic and air transport liberalisation: the case of Greece

This paper explores the evolution of airport passenger traffic in Greece over the period 1978–2006. The country is a member of the European Common Aviation Area, but despite air transport liberalisation, spatial concentration of traffic and asymmetry remain high and have not decreased significantly over time. Greece is still short of traffic generated by low-cost carriers especially outside the main metropolitan airports. The paper argues that further dispersion of traffic could be possible primarily in the mainland if low-cost carriers decide to dynamically enter the Greek market. Potential benefits for regional and tourism development should induce policy makers to work towards this direction.     

Sovereign to Corporate Risk Spillovers

The first Greek bailout on April 11, 2010 triggered a significant reevaluation of sovereign credit risk across Europe. We exploit this event to examine the transmission of sovereign to corporate credit risk. A 10% increase in sovereign credit risk raises corporate credit risk on average by 1.1% after the bailout. The evidence is suggestive of risk spillovers from sovereign to corporate credit risk through a financial and a fiscal channel, as the effects are more pronounced for firms that are bank or government dependent. We find no support for indirect risk transmission through a deterioration of macroeconomic fundamentals.     

Urban mortality in Greece: Hermoupolis (1859–1940)

The paper examines mortality patterns in the city of Hermoupolis, on the Greek island of Syros, from 1859 to 1940. It produces important new insights into Mediterranean urban historical demography and is the first comprehensive study of urban mortality in Greece, utilising the largest and one of the longest time series at the individual level yet calculated from civil registration and census data. Abridged life tables were constructed for the first time for a Greek urban settlement, enabling the calculation of age-specific mortality rates and life expectancies. Hermoupolis experienced much higher mortality levels than the national average. The findings suggest that early childhood mortality started to decline rapidly from the late nineteenth century onwards, with declines in early adulthood and infancy following. The paper reinforces and confirms our limited knowledge about the timing of the mortality transition in Greece. It proposes that an urban penalty was clearly operating in the country even during the early twentieth century. Finally, this paper suggests that a combination of factors was responsible for the mortality decline in Hermoupolis, including wider access to water, which even when it was not clean enough to drink, nevertheless enabled improvements in personal hygiene among the residents of the city.     

Farewell Anatolia: Refugees & the rise of the Greek Left

The population exchange of 1923 between Greece and Turkey consolidated the influx of more than 1.5 million refugees from Anatolia and East Thrace into Greece. In this article, we exploit the regional distribution of refugees at the sub-prefectural (province) level as a natural experiment in order to delineate the political effects of what the Greeks call the Asia Minor Catastrophe. We find that the settlement of refugees produced positive persistent effects on the electoral share of left-wing parties in the interwar and postwar periods. This is particularly the case for provinces with a high settlement rate of refugees originating from Asia Minor rather than from East Thrace or the Black Sea region. However, the refugee impact on the left-wing vote disappears completely in the post-dictatorship period.