Article

 

FINANCIAL EFFECTIVENESS OF MUNICIPALITIES IN GREECE AND THE USE OF MODERN FINANCIAL TOOLS (p.11-28)

by

Christos PALLIS, Hellenic Open University

Petros PALLIS, UNIVERSITY OF PIRAEUS

Keywords : Municipalities, Financial Effectiveness, Funding, Financial Tools, Empirical Investigation, Greece

JEL classification : Q3, Q4

Abstract

Municipalities are autonomous economic and administrative entities, with common actions and responsibilities. The primary aim of this survey is to investigate and observe phenomena and views related to issues concerning Greek municipalities, such as the financial problems they face and which is the funding scheme they prefer. The entire sample of municipalities in Greece has been separated into categories, based on the effectiveness of financial management and financial performance into effective and ineffective ones. In this study, we investigated the existence of differences between the characteristics of these two categories. The main objective is to investigate the views of Mayors in each Municipality as regards the influence of financial effectiveness on: (a) which is the most important source of finance, (b) which is the most important financial instrument and (c) which is the financing instrument that would prefer to use.

 

 

A CRITICAL STUDY: HOW GENDER DETERMINES CONSUMER PREFERENCES (p.29-37)

by

Zoi Pirlympou, Hellenic Open University

Keywords : consumer behavior, purchasing decision, gender, brands, discounts, marketing research

JEL classification : N30, N34, P46

Abstract

The present study sought to identify the influence of price, discount and brands on consumer behavior. According to the existing literature, price, discounts and brands have long been associated with consumer behavior. However, there is a gap in the literature about the effect of the three aforementioned variables on consumer behavior. The goal of the study is to examine the effect of each of the three variables on consumer behavior in a Greek sample, separately for the two genders. The consumer behavior has been defined as the total score of the self-constructed questionnaire. All the appropriate procedures, have been conducted in order to construct a valid and reliable questionnaire. Consequently, the 13-item self-constructed questionnaire was administered to 100 participants, from October to November 2012. The participants have been informed orally and by the consent form about the aim of the study. The results showed a statistically significant relationship between the gender of the participants and their consumer preferences.

 

 

ON A DUOPOLY GAME WITH HOMOGENEOUS PLAYERS AND A QUADRATIC DEMAND FUNCTION (p.39-48)

by

Georges Sarafopoulos, DEMOCRITUS UNIVERSITY OF THRACE

Keywords : Cournot duopoly game; Discrete dynamical system; Homogeneous expectations; Stability; Chaotic Behavior

JEL classification : C62, C72, D43

Abstract

In this study we investigate the dynamics of a nonlinear discrete-time duopoly game, where the players have homogeneous expectations. We suppose that the demand is a quadratic function and the cost function is linear. The game is modeled with a system of two difference equations. Existence and stability of equilibria of this system are studied. We show that the model gives more complex chaotic and unpredictable trajectories as a consequence of change in the speed of adjustment of the players. If this parameter is varied, the stability of Nash equilibrium is lost through period doubling bifurcations. The chaotic features are justified numerically via computing Lyapunov numbers and sensitive dependence on initial conditions.

 

 

LITERATURE REVIEW ON THE STUDY OF PRESCHOOL EDUCATION IN CHINA (p.49-55)

by

Xiongna Cao, HEBEI UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS

Wanxian Li, HEBEI UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS

Keywords : Preschool education; finance; supply; achievements; evaluate; pattern

JEL classification : H5

Abstract

Preschool education is the essence and the cornerstone of national education in a country. It plays a very important role in the development of national education. Previous literature demonstrates that domestic scholars mainly focus on the current situation of educational funds, financial investment system of early childhood education and financial investment performance evaluation theory, while foreign scholars are more interested in the importance of early childhood education, the supply model and present situation of childhood education. The advantages and limitations of the research are summarized and the performance evaluation model of financial investment is also discussed.

 

 

ANALYSIS OF SUPERVISION MEASURES IN LOCAL NETWORK MARKET (p.57-61)

by

Zixing Mo, HEBEI UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS

Xiaojun Guo, HEBEI UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS

Keywords : Network market, Supervision Measures, Market order

JEL classification : Q3, Q4

Abstract

With the arrival of the Network economy era, the whole social and economic life has undergone tremendous changes. Network economy changes the traditional way of business activities; Regional economy produced a significant and far-reaching influence. And The economic development of China\'s Internet is swift and violent, in the past decade, rapid development has become the world\'s largest network retail market, by the end of 2014, our country network commodity transaction size has reached 10.2 trillion yuan. With the rapid development of network economy, network offense also to ten times or even non-linear growth. Sustained and healthy development of the network market, Urgently need to meet the needs of economic development, the Government in formulating a new economic system to maintain a fair and just order of network transactions. Based on case, this paper has introduced network market status, analyzed the network market problems, then economic regulation for the current network problems and challenge, verify that the network operator market, building business credit monitoring system, and to strengthen the construction of supervision team to put forward some countermeasures.

 

 

THE CAUSALITY BETWEEN CORRUPTION AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IN MENA COUNTRIES: A PANEL DATA ANALYSIS (p.63-84)

by

Amrane Becherair, HIGH NATIONAL SCHOOL OF STATISTICS AND APPLIED ECONOMICS

Mourad Tahtane, MEDEA UNIVERSITY

Keywords : Human development, MENA countries, corruption, panel data Analysis, Granger causality

JEL classification : D73, O15, C12, C23

Abstract

The present paper investigates the relationship between Corruption and Human Development based on the notion of causality in the context of panel data. In Middle East and North Africa countries during 1996-2012. We find that, clearly negative correlation between corruption and human development in each of the years, this impact be more intensify in 2012 (46.30%), which indicates the deterioration in the status of governance compared to 1996 (17.10%) and increase in the impact of corruption on human development in the MENA World. The empirical results suggest that Human development causes corruption in MENA countries (prob=0.0508). Hence, causality here is unidirectional. Results show that, corruption causes human development indirectly through political stability Political and health expenditure channels. In the end, The MENA countries must develop a national anti-corruption strategy.

 

 

AN INVESTIGATION OF THE FACTORS THAT CAN HINDER THE GROWTH OF LOW COST DIGITAL MARKETING OF INDEPENDENT MUSIC (p.85-101)

by

Georgios.P. Heliades, TECHNOLOGICAL INSTITUTE OF IONIAN ISLANDS

Fabricio Lazakis, TECHNOLOGICAL INSTITUTE OF IONIAN ISLANDS

Keywords : Independent music, music marketing, music distribution, Internet services, social media, communication

JEL classification : M1, M2, M3, L1

Abstract

As the Internet forms itself towards music distribution, it offers a huge range of services for musicians, most of which fall in the low cost section. This paper investigates the adoption of the Internet as a mean of music distribution by musicians of independent style. It builds up on our previous effort to map the independent music scene across the country, discovering a poor volume of musicians that actually spend significant time to market their music over the time they spend to create it. In this research, employing 300 independent musicians and groups in Athens, we confirm a high expectation out of Internet services by musicians but a relatively low engagement rate. A number of reasons can be blamed for that, relating to the use of technology. However, the most interesting finding was a lack of the right communication instinct, leading to an opportunistic treatment of the social media and related facilities. It is obvious that certain steps will have to be taken if this sort of music is to be grown over the new distribution channels. These steps may include certain technical improvements on services. However, the main issue is the maturity of attitude towards the public, translated into the right marketing steps.