South-Eastern Europe Journal of Economics 

About: South-Eastern Europe Journal of Economics is an academic journal. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Population & Poverty. It has an ISSN identifier of 1109-8597. Over the lifetime, 193 publications have been published receiving 1911 citations.

Measurement of bank performance in greece

Abstract: During the last few years, the Second Banking Directive has set out the principles of banking in the single European financial market and provided equal competitive conditions for all European banking institutions. Thus, banks have been forced to be more competitive and to implement bank rating systems to evaluate their financial risks. The present study evaluates the performance and efficiency of the commercial and cooperative banks in Greece for the period 2003-2004. Moreover, the Greek banks are rated based on their performance. The ranking result can be used to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of a bank compared to its competitors and it can serve as a basis for the construction of a rating system for Greek banks. The results obtained indicate that commercial banks are tending to increase their accounts, to attract more customers and ameliorate their financial indices, thereby becoming more competitive and maximizing their profits. Concerning the cooperative banks in Greece, the conclusions are not so uniform, since there are banks that are enjoying considerably increased profits and market shares, and others whose financial indices seem to be deteriorating.

Foreign Direct Investment And Economic Growth In Transition Economies

Abstract: Empirical research on the effects of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) on economic growth mainly focuses on the US and the western European countries. The objective of this paper is to investigate the existence and the nature of the effect of FDI on the rate of growth of a panel of transition economies. We apply Bayesian analysis. Our results indicate that FDI does not exhibit any significant relationship with economic growth for the transition countries.

Do migrant remittances affect the consumption patterns of albanian households

Abstract: This paper investigates the extent to which consumption patterns of Albanian households are affected by the receipt of migrant remittances. Domestic and international remittances are considered and differences in their impacts on household consumption patterns assessed. The study finds that the consumption pattern for households in receipt of internal remittances is not statistically different from those that do not receive such transfers. On the other hand, households who receive remittances from abroad spend, on average and ceteris paribus, a lower share of their expenditure on food and a higher share on consumer durables compared to households who do not receive any type of migrant remittances. However, in terms of the impact of remittances on marginal spending behaviour, even international remittances do not seem to play a substantial role, in contrast to the evidence reported in other recent studies in this area of research. This may be due to the fact that the remittance variable that we use is failing to capture all households who are receiving remittances, or may reflect that in Albania both domestic and international remittances only have a modest effect on consumption patterns of households.

The shadow economy and corruption in greece

Abstract: The paper highlights the interaction between the underground economy and corruption, focussing on the regional dimensions of the problem in south-eastern Europe. It discusses the theoretical approach to underground economic activities and focuses on the determinants of the Greek economy, the tax and national insurance burdens and the intensity of the relevant regulations in Greece, concluding that Greece shows profound signs of a transition country in terms of the high level of regulation leading to a high incidence of bribery and a large shadow economy. The taxation problems arising from high administrative-compliance costs and bribery indicate the urgent need for tax reforms designed to simplify the regulation framework. Improvement of the quality of Greek institutions and rationalisation of administrative-compliance costs are a prerequisite for successful and urgently needed tax reforms in terms of reducing the overall Greek shadow economy, through the simplification of the regulatory framework. The inability of Greek governments to tax underground activities, and the relevant impact on the scale of corruption, is related with a vast range of governmental activities distorting and weakening its allocative, redistributional and stabilising role. The paper finally argues that the strong and consistent relationship between the shadow economy and corruption in Greece is closely connected with the reflexes of those who are not willing or cannot afford to bribe central or local government bureaucrats, or who have no connections to these bureaucrats, systematically choosing the dark (shadow) side of the economy as a substitute for corruption (bribery) and making the shadow economy complementary to a “corrupt state”.

In search for the determinants of intra-industry trade within an enlarged europe

Abstract: In this paper we characterise the dynamics of trade among Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) and the EU using several methodologies that evaluate the type of trade and price-quality ranges. The analysis shows a significant decline in inter-industrial trade and an increasing specialisation in vertical intraindustry trade (IIT). Moreover, we found substantial differences in the unit values of exported and imported goods, which suggest that the increasing weight of IIT in the EU-CEEC trade did not result from a convergence on the factorial contents of the traded goods. Using a panel data approach we also identify the determinants of both vertical and horizontal IIT. The results suggest that there are some differences in the determinants of these types of trade, although both seem to have a statistically significant relationship with a country’s size and foreign direct investment.