Suchergebnisse

ABSTRACT*: The author highlights the problems and prospects of public enterprises within the European Union, as well as the major adjustments considered necessary for these enterprises to fulfil their role. He argues that general criteria determining whether the production of goods and services should be in the public sector cannot be readily established in the European Union, since public supply does not solely depend on the specific economic characteristics of the particular good or service, but also on the prevailing social, cultural and economic conditions in each country, on the economic policy pursued, and on the structural characteristics of its private and public sectors, including entrepreneurial and trade union behaviour.

Το ζήτημα της βιωσιμότητας του δημόσιου χρέους είναι κεντρικής σημασίας στην περίπτωση της Ελλάδας. Κατά κανόνα, η σχετική ανάλυση περιορίζεται στα μέτρα δημοσιονομικής πολιτικής τα οποία εκτιμάται ότι συμβάλλουν στον περιορισμό του δημόσιου χρέους, χωρίς να διερευνώνται οι παράγοντες που προκάλεσαν την κρίση χρέους της χώρας. Σκοπός της παρούσας εργασίας είναι η διερεύνηση των προσδιοριστικών παραγόντων της κρίσης χρέους της Ελλάδας και της αναγκαίας στρατηγικής για την αντιμετώπισή της. Στο πλαίσιο αυτής της ανάλυσης αναδεικνύεται ως κεντρικής σημασίας το θέμα της κοινωνικής ανάπτυξης, η οποία βρίσκουμε ότι αποτελεί αναγκαία συνθήκη για τη διασφάλιση της μακροχρόνιας βιωσιμότητας του δημόσιου χρέους της χώρας. ; The issue of public debt sustainability is of exceptional importance in the case of Greece. As a rule, the relevant analysis is limited to the examination of the fiscal policy measures reported to contribute to reducing public debt leaving out the investigation of the factors that caused the country's debt crisis. The objective of the present paper is to explore the determinants of Greece's debt crisis and the strategy required to address it. Our work highlights the issue of social development, which is found to be a necessary condition for ensuring the long run sustainability of the country's public debt.

This essay provides an account of the phenomenon of corruption in the Balkan and Arab countries of the Mediterranean. The analysis focuses on the effects that the political system—approached through the lens of political rights—and the level of economic development have on corruption. These factors are of critical importance for analyzing the scale of corruption in the region and should form the core of any anticorruption strategies.

ABSTRACT: In this paper we look at the most successful enterprises in the social sector, the enterprises that have been growing steadily for decades and whose assets today exceed 250 million ECUs. However, they are also facing the need for further expansion and for more and new capital. They must also compete with the capitalistic firms who draw millions of ECUs from the stock exchange. In short, these companies are being told that they can get all the money they need but they must first abandon all the elements that give them their social character.

Η επικράτηση θεσμικών εκτροπών υποδηλώνει την ύπαρξη οικονομικής και κοινωνικής υπανάπτυξης, καθώς και αδυναμίες πολιτικής φύσεως που είναι περισσότερο έκδηλες στα λιγότερο αναπτυγμένα κράτη. Χρησιμοποιώντας ένα παγκόσμιο δείγμα αναπτυγμένων και αναπτυσσόμενων χωρών αποδεικνύεται ότι η σχέση μεταξύ διαφθοράς, που συνιστά μια σοβαρή θεσμική παρέκκλιση, και εισοδήματος δεν είναι συμμετρική. Παρόλα αυτά, ο αποτελεσματικός έλεγχος της διαφθοράς δε θα πρέπει να θεωρείται ως «οιονεί αγαθό πολυτελείας», η ζήτηση του οποίου αυξάνει όταν επιτευχθεί ένα συγκεκριμένο επίπεδο εισοδήματος. Αντίθετα, είναι εφικτός μέσα από την υιοθέτηση και την αποτελεσματική εφαρμογή κατάλληλων μακροχρόνιων πολιτικών και θεσμικών μεταρρυθμίσεων. ; The prevalence of institutional weaknesses largely unveils the existence of inherent economic and social underdevelopment as well as persistent bottlenecks of political nature, which in principle are more intense in lessdeveloped countries. In this study, by using a global sample of developed and developing countries it is proved that the relationship between corruption, which is a serious institutional deficiency, and income is not a symmetric one. However, the effective control of corruption should not be considered as a "quasi luxury good" the demand of which increases once the level of income rises to a certain level. On the contrary, it may beachieved through the adoption and effective implementation of the appropriate long-run policies and institutional reforms.

Η επικράτηση θεσμικών εκτροπών υποδηλώνει την ύπαρξη οικονομικής και κοινωνικής υπανάπτυξης, καθώς και αδυναμίες πολιτικής φύσεως που είναι περισσότερο έκδηλες στα λιγότερο αναπτυγμένα κράτη. Χρησιμοποιώντας ένα παγκόσμιο δείγμα αναπτυγμένων και αναπτυσσόμενων χωρών αποδεικνύεται ότι η σχέση μεταξύ διαφθοράς, που συνιστά μια σοβαρή θεσμική παρέκκλιση, και εισοδήματος δεν είναι συμμετρική. Παρόλα αυτά, ο αποτελεσματικός έλεγχος της διαφθοράς δε θα πρέπει να θεωρείται ως «οιονεί αγαθό πολυτελείας», η ζήτηση του οποίου αυξάνει όταν επιτευχθεί ένα συγκεκριμένο επίπεδο εισοδήματος. Αντίθετα, είναι εφικτός μέσα από την υιοθέτηση και την αποτελεσματική εφαρμογή κατάλληλων μακροχρόνιων πολιτικών και θεσμικών μεταρρυθμίσεων. ; The prevalence of institutional weaknesses largely unveils the existence of inherent economic and social underdevelopment as well as persistent bottlenecks of political nature, which in principle are more intense in lessdeveloped countries. In this study, by using a global sample of developed and developing countries it is proved that the relationship between corruption, which is a serious institutional deficiency, and income is not a symmetric one. However, the effective control of corruption should not be considered as a "quasi luxury good" the demand of which increases once the level of income rises to a certain level. On the contrary, it may beachieved through the adoption and effective implementation of the appropriate long-run policies and institutional reforms.

The scope of the paper is to explore the underlying determinants of governance quality at the global level. The study suggests that cross-country variation in governance is mainly attributed to differences not only in countries level of economic development but to the range of political freedom and level of social development. More specifically, the impact of economic development is stronger for the control of corruption, the rule of law and regulatory quality as far as the examined governance dimensions are concerned. Political development is strongly related to political stability and absence of violence as well as voice and accountability. A very interesting finding is the high correlation of social development, as depicted by the relevant human development index, with the level of government effectiveness. Therefore, strengthening and maintaining governance is achieved only through the adoption and effective implementation of the appropriate long-run policies. In a similar vein, concrete policy guidelines lie at the core of the good governance agenda. The associated reforms target a broad list of comprehensive governance objectives in order to achieve government effectiveness, anti-corruption safeguards, high standards of legitimacy and accountability, among other attributes of governance systems.

The scope of the paper is to explore the underlying determinants of governance quality at the global level. The study suggests that cross-country variation in governance is mainly attributed to differences not only in countries' level of economic development but to the range of political freedom and level of social development. More specifically, the impact of economic development is stronger for the control of corruption, the rule of law and regulatory quality as far as the examined governance dimensions are concerned. Political development is strongly related to political stability and absence of violence as well as voice and accountability. A very interesting finding is the high correlation of social development, as depicted by the relevant human development index, with the level of government effectiveness. Therefore, strengthening and maintaining governance is achieved only through the adoption and effective implementation of the appropriate long-run policies. In a similar vein, concrete policy guidelines lie at the core of the good governance agenda. The associated reforms target a broad list of comprehensive governance objectives in order to achieve government effectiveness, anti-corruption safeguards, high standards of legitimacy and accountability, among other attributes of governance systems. ; peer-reviewed

The study considers the determinants of corruption in the 23 Mediterranean and Balkan countries where it is widely recognized that this phenomenon is widespread. Starting from the general hypothesis that the extent of corruption in any country is a combination of motives and opportunities, our scope is to examine the most important economic, political and social factors that determine corruption in this region. We accept that motives are determined by the level of human development, while opportunities by the degree of government effectiveness, which in turn is determined by the level of economic development and the existing political system. We show that the level of corruption is affected by the degree of human development, while the degree of government effectiveness affects crucially the level of corruption. On its turn, government effectiveness is mainly determined by the level of economic development and the existing political system. Improving government effectiveness, increasing the levels of human and economic development and establishing a more democratic political system form therefore the pillars of any anticorruption strategies in these countries. ; peer-reviewed