Journal of Regional Socio-Economic Issues, Volume 6, Issue 3 ...

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Journal of Regional Socio-Economic Issues, Volume 6, Issue 3, September 2016

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JOURNAL OF REGIONAL SOCIOECONOMIC ISSUES (JRSEI)

Journal of Regional & Socio-Economic Issues (Print) ISSN 2049-1395 Journal of Regional & Socio-Economic Issues (Online) ISSN 2049-1409

Indexed by Copernicus Index, DOAJ (Director of Open Access Journal), EBSCO, Cabell’s Index The journal is catalogued in the following catalogues: ROAD: Directory of Open Access Scholarly Resources, OCLC WorldCat, EconBiz - ECONIS, CITEFACTOR, OpenAccess

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JOURNAL OF REGIONAL SOCIO-ECONOMIC ISSUES (JRSEI) ISSN No. 2049-1409 Aims of the Journal: Journal of Regional Socio-Economic Issues (JRSEI) is an international multidisciplinary refereed journal the purpose of which is to present papers manuscripts linked to all aspects of regional socio-economic and business and related issues. The views expressed in this journal are the personal views of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of JRSEI journal. The journal invites contributions from both academic and industry scholars. Electronic submissions are highly encouraged (mail to: [email protected]). Indexed by Copernicus Index, DOAJ (Director of Open Access Journal), EBSCO, Cabell’s Index International Institute of Organized Research (I2OR) database The journal is catalogued in the following catalogues: ROAD: Directory of Open Access Scholarly Resources, OCLC WorldCat, EconBiz - ECONIS, CITEFACTOR, OpenAccess

Chief-Editor 

Prof. Dr. George M. Korres: Professor University of the Aegean, School of Social Sciences, Department of Geography, [email protected]

Editorial Board (alphabetical order)  

           

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zacharoula S. Andreopoulou, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Faculty of Forestry and Natural Environment, School of Agriculture, Forestry & Natural Environment, [email protected] Dr. Stilianos Alexiadis, Ministry of Reconstruction of Production, Environment & Energy Department of Strategic Planning, Rural Development, Evaluation & Documentation Division of Documentation & Agricultural Statistics, [email protected]; [email protected] Assoc. Prof. Dr. Maria Athina Artavani, Department of Military Science, Hellenic Military Academy, Greece, [email protected] Prof. Dr. Elias G. Carayannis: Professor School of Business, George Washington University, USA, [email protected]; [email protected] Prof. Dr. Christos Frangos, Professor of Statistics and Business Methods, Technological Institute of Athens, [email protected] Prof. Dr. Andreas Demetriou, Department of Military Science, Hellenic Military Academy, Greece, [email protected] Assistant Prof. Dr. Vasilis S. Gavalas, Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, University of the Aegean, [email protected] Ass. Prof. Dr Vicky Delitheou, Department of Economics and Regional Development, Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences of Athens, [email protected] Prof. Dr. Hanna Dudek: Professor Warsaw University of Life Sciences, [email protected] Prof. Dr. Richard Harris: Professor Durham University, [email protected] Assoc. Prof. Dr. George Gkantzias: Associate Professor in Cultural Management, New Technology University of the Aegean, [email protected] Ass. Prof. Dr. Olga-Ioanna Kalantzi, Department of Environment, University of the Aegean, Email: [email protected] Ass. Prof. Dr. Marina-Selini Katsaiti, Assistant Professor Department of Economics & Finance, College of Business & Economics, United Arab Emirates University, UAE, [email protected] Prof. Dr. Christos Kitsos, Technological Institute of Athens, [email protected]

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 Dr. Aikaterini Kokkinou, Department of Military Science, Hellenic Military Academy, Greece, [email protected]  Prof. Dr. Elias A. Kourliouros, Professor Department of Geography, University of the Aegean, [email protected]; [email protected]  Ass. Prof. Dr. Christos Ladias, Assistant Professor, Panteion University, Greece [email protected]  Prof. Dr. Dimitrios Lagos, Professor Department of Business Administration, University of the Aegean, [email protected]  Assoc. Prof. Dr. Charalambos Louca: Associate Professor & Head of Business Department, Director of Research Department, [email protected]  Assoc. Prof. Dr. Evangelos Manolas, Department of Forestry & Management of the Environment & Natural Resources, School of Agricultural & Forestry  Sciences, Democritus University of Thrace. E-mail: [email protected]  Prof. Dr. Emmanuel Marmaras: Professor Technical University of Crete, [email protected]; [email protected]  Prof. Dr. Ioannis Th. Mazis, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Faculty of Turkish Studies and Modern Asian Studies, School of Economics and Political Sciences, [email protected]; [email protected];  Prof. Dr. Maria Michailidis: Associate Professor & Dean, Department of Management & MIS, University of Nicosia, [email protected]  Prof. Dr. Photis Nanopoulos, Former Director of Eurostat, [email protected]  Prof. Dr. Nikitas Nikitakos, Department of Shipping Trade and Transport, University of the Aegean, Email: [email protected]  Dr. Pablo Ruiz-Nápoles, Faculty of Economics, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, [email protected]  Assistant Professor Dr. Efstratios Papanis, Department of Sociology, University of the Aegean, [email protected]  Assistant Professor Gerasimos Pavlogeorgatos (PhD), Department of Cultural Technology and Communication, University of the Aegean, [email protected]  Prof. Dr. George Polychronopoulos, Professor and Dean School of Economics and Business, Technological Institute of Athens, [email protected]  Prof. Dr. Kiran Prasad, Professor Sri Padmavati Mahila University [email protected]; [email protected];  Dr. Efthymia Sarantakou, Architect Engineer, adjunct lecturer at the Hellenic Open University and at the Technological Educational Institute of Athens, [email protected]  Associate Professor Dr. George Sidiropoulos, University of the Aegean, Department of Geography, [email protected]  Associate Professor Dr. Anastasia Stratigea, National Technical University of Athens, School of Rural and Surveying Engineering, Department of Geography and Regional Planning, [email protected]  Prof. Paris Tsartas, Professor, University of the Aegean, [email protected]  Prof. Dr. George O. Tsobanoglou, Prof. University of the Aegean, Department of Sociology, [email protected]  Assoc. Professor Dr. George Tsourvakas, School of Economic and Political Studies, Department of Journalism and Mass Communications, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Email: [email protected]  Prof. Dr. George Zestos, Christopher Newwport University, [email protected]

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Table of Contents Editorial Board

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Table of Contents

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Paper 1: Tourism and Economic Growth: Time Series Evidence from Italy (by Dr. Charalambos N. Louca, Ms. Kalliopi Avanidou and Mr. Surasinghege Suranga)

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Paper 2: Connecting Moodle an Effective Educational Form in Students Distance Electronic Courses (by Boulouta Konstantina and Karagiannis Stephanos)

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Paper 3: Improving the Quality of Public Administration through Training of Human Resources in the European Union Countries (by Aglaia RobokouKaragianni and Eleonora Kokkinou)

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Paper 4: The Development of the Environmental Tax Policy Reforms in the European Union: A Perspective Approach (by Dr. Charalambos N. Louca and Ms. Kalliopi Avanidou)

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Paper 5: The Cyclades: Insularity and Education (by Emmanuel V. Marmaras)

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Book Review

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Call for Papers

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Instructions to Authors

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Tourism and Economic Growth: Time Series Evidence from Italy

Abstract: This study empirically examines the existence and nature of long-run relationships between, on the one hand, tourist arrivals, tourism income and economic growth in Italy, and, on the other hand the supply side expenditure, Capital Investments in the tourism industry. It also examines the long-run relationships between, on the one hand, tourism income, and, on the other hand economic growth in Italy. The time series data for the study covers the period 1995 – 2012. The results suggest the existence of positive long-run relationships between the tourism income and Economic Growth in Italy with unidirectional causality pattern. We may conclude that both the government and the private tourism sector in Italy must aim at attaining sustainable tourism and economic growth.

Keywords: Tourism income; tourist arrivals; capital expenditure; economic growth, causality patterns; Italy.

Dr. Charalambos N. Louca1, Ms. Kalliopi Avanidou2 and Mr. Surasinghege Suranga3

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Corresponding Author: Dr. Charalambos N. Louca, Head of Business Department, Director of Research Department, American College, P. O. Box 22425, 1521 Nicosia, Cyprus. Email: [email protected] 2 Ms. Kalliopi Avanidou, Department of Geography, University of the Aegean, Mytilene, Greece. Email: [email protected] 3 Mr. Surasinghege Suranga, MBA graduate, Business Department, American College, P.O. Box 22425, 1521 Nicosia Cyprus. Email: [email protected]

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1. Introduction 1.1. Tourism and the economy Tourism is for many countries, a major source for economic growth, employment, income and foreign exchange (Vaugeois, 2000; Basu, 2003). For many developing countries is considered to be the main source for economic development and growth (Hodur, Leistrit and Wolfe, 2005; Haller, 2012). Nevertheless, there are conflicting views whether tourism causes long-term economic growth. Some academics strongly support the thesis that tourism contributes to economic growth, (Zortuk, 2009). Other researchers do not so strongly support the view that tourism can promote economic growth (Oh, 2005 and Kasimati, 2011). Other studies have shown that the tourism sector can stimulate the economic growth of other sectors such as the agricultural, industrial and service sectors (Yamakawa, 2007). The tourism sector is also effective, when the capital expenditure in the industry, contributes to the expansion of the tourism industry (Louca, 2006). Chao et al. (2006) points out that tourism expansion increases the relative price of nontrade goods, improves the tertiary terms of trade and yields higher revenues. Lee and Chang (2008) and Holzner (2011) have found that different countries experience different causality directions between tourism expenditures and economic growth. Indeed there is a plethora of literature resources on the causality between tourism and economic growth (Balaguer and Cantavella-Jordá, 2002; Cortes-jimenez, 2006; Chen and Chiou-Weib, 2009; Brida, Lanzilotta, Lionetti and Risso, 2010; Fayissa, Nsiah and Tadesse, 2009; Ekanayake and Long, 2012; Antonakakis, Fillis, and Dragouni, 2013; Ridderstaat, Croes and Nijkamp, 2013; Balcilar, Eyden, Inglesi-Lotz and Gupta, 2013). Empirical studies on the relationship between tourism and economic growth have shown that results cannot be generalized. These opposing views motivate us to examine whether tourism in a given country contributes to its economic growth or not. For this reason, in this study we examine the tourism industry in Italy.

1.2 The tourism industry in Italy Italy attracts 46.4 million tourists in a year and ranks fifth in the world regarding tourist earnings. According to the World Economic Forum (WEF, 2013), Italy has an excellent tourism infrastructure. Tourists visit Italy for its rich art, cuisine, history, fashion, culture, its beautiful coastline and beaches, its mountains and priceless ancient monuments. Italy has 49 UNESCO World Heritage Sites within its borders, the most of any country in the World Heritage List. It has the mountainous region of the Alps in the North as well as islands such as

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Sicilia in the Mediterranean Sea. Such a geographical diversity results to different climatic conditions throughout the country that minimizes the negative impacts of seasonality. In 2012, the total contribution of Travel and Tourism to GDP was EUR161.2 billion, which is 10.3% of the GDP and the direct contribution was 4.1% of the total GDP (EUR63.8 billion). Further on, the total contribution of Travel and Tourism to employment was the creation of 2,681,000 jobs in 2012 out of which the 1,099,500 were direct jobs, representing 4.8% of the total employment in Italy (WTTC, 2012). In spite of the data given above, Italy faces a number of challenges. Firstly, its government policies, rules and regulations do not strongly support the development of the tourism industry and secondly, according to TTCI, Italy is not price competitive. In 2013, according to the WTTC the total contribution of Travel and Tourism to GDP has decreased by 1.1%. Also, in the same year, visitor exports have declined by 1.9% and the total contribution to employment decreased by 1.1%.

1.3 Objectives of the study. This study aims to identify the existence and nature of causal relationships among income derived from the tourism industry, tourist arrivals, tourism expenditures and economic growth in Italy. Specifically, this study aims to identify,  If there is causality pattern between tourism income and economic growth in Italy and the direction of the causality;  If there is causality pattern between tourism income and tourist arrivals;  If there is causality pattern between tourism industry’s income and tourism expenditure as well as its direction; and  If there is causality pattern between tourism expenditure and tourist arrivals. The rest of the paper is organized as follows. In the next paragraph the literature review is outlined, followed by the methodology. The findings are then presented. Finally, the paper concludes, giving some directions to policy makers for further improvements. Suggestions for further research are given as well.

2. Literature Review In recent years, the role of tourism in the economic development of a country has attracted considerable attention by many researchers. However, researchers have come to different and sometimes conflicting results.

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Empirical findings show the existence of four main hypotheses (Antonakakis, Fillis and Dragouni, 2013). The first two hypotheses support the unidirectional causality between the two variables, either from tourism development to economic growt (tourism-led economic growth hypothesis), or from economic growth to tourism development (economic growthdriven tourism development hypothesis). The third hypothesis supports the existence of bidirectional causality between two variables, tourism and economic growth (bi-directional causality hypothesis). Finally, as the fourth hypothesis (no causality hypothesis) supports that there is no relationship neither from tourism to economic growth or vice versa. Regarding the potential effect of the tourism industry in promoting growth, Balaguer and Cantavella-Jorda (2002), Lanza, Temple, and Urga (2003), Durbarry (2004), Johannesson and Huijbens (2010), Kreishan (2011), Jayathilake (2013), Balcilar, Eyden, Inglesi-Lotz and Gupta (2013) and Santiago (2013), find evidence supporting the TLEG hypothesis. While, Oh (2005), Tang and Jang (2009), Li-hua He and Xun-gang Zheng (2011), discovered an Economy Driven Tourism Growth (EDTG) for Korea and the U.S.A. Fayissa, Nsiah and Tadesse (2009), show that receipts from the tourism industry positively contribute to GDP and to the economic growth of 17 Latin American countries. In 2010, Ghartey applied the Johansen Tests to show that tourist arrivals, real exchange rate and economic growth are co-integrated. His study reveals that both short-run and long-run increases in tourist arrivals cause expansion in economic growth. Freytag and Vietze (2013), support the thesis that sustainable tourism promotes economic growth in developing countries. Srinivasan, Kumar, and Ganesh, (2012) examine the impact of tourism on economic growth in Sri Lanka through the Autoregressive distributed lag bounds testing for the period between 1969 and 2009. Findings reveal that tourism has a positive impact on economic growth in Sri Lanka. Oh (2005), analyzes the dynamics between tourism growth and economic expansion in the Korean economy. There were two major results from the Engle and Granger two-stage approach and the bivariate VAR approach. Firstly, the results of cointegration tests indicate that there is no long-run equilibrium relation between two series. Secondly, the outcomes of Granger causality tests proved the unidirectional relationship of Economic Driven Tourism Growth (EDTG). Cortes-Jimenez, Nowak and Sahli (2011) also find a unidirectional causality from economic growth to tourism development in Tunisia by applying Vector Error Correction model using the Johansen technique and the multivariate Granger causality test. Though tourism exports have significantly contributed to financing the

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country’s imports of capital goods, they have not been the principle engine of long-term growth. Liangju, Huihui, and Wanlian (2012), proved that there are long-term and stable equilibrium relationships between the development of China's domestic tourism and economic growth. Georgantopoulos (2012), confirm results in favour of the bidirectional causality pattern between economic growth and tourism receipts in the long-run, which is in line with Dritsakis (2004), for the case of Greece. Finally, another possible comparability issue is the multiple country study. Caclayan et al. (2012) investigate the causal relationship between tourism income and GDP using a three stage Panel Granger analysis for 135 countries for the time period between 1995 and 2008. Their findings showed a unidirectional causality from tourism revenues to GDP in East Asia, South Asia and Oceania, supporting the TLEG hypothesis. In the case of America, the Latin America and the Caribbean the reverse direction of causality was found; from GDP to tourism income. No causal relationship was found in Asia, Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia and Sub Saharan Africa. Furthermore, Chou (2013) by examining causal relationships between tourism spending and economic growth in 10 transition countries to the EU, during the time period 1988 - 2011, identifies that different countries experience different causality directions between tourism spending and economic growth. The TLEG hypothesis is applied in 3 out of the 10 transition countries in the EU: Cyprus, Latvia and Slovakia; while Poland and the Czech Republic experience EDTG. In the case of Estonia and Hungary the tourism industry and the overall economy affect each other. No causal relationships are experienced in Bulgaria, Romania and Slovenia. Using VAR-based spillover index, Antonakakis et al. (2013), investigated the time varying relationship between tourism and economic growth in selected European countries. TLEG hypothesis is evident only for Italy and the Netherlands, while EDTG is observed in Cyprus, Germany and Greece; whereas for Cyprus the results are contradictory to the results of Chou (2013). Dritsakis (2004) identified TLEG for Cyprus, and bidirectional causality for Greece. Additionally, there is evidence for bidirectional causality in the cases of Austria, Portugal and Spain. No, causality is found for Sweden and the United Kingdom. These studies confirm that the relationship between tourism and economic growth differs from country to country. When researches use different time periods and different methodologies, it is more likely to show different results. Another issue that can be raised is that the tourism policies that policy makers in different countries apply differ from country to

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country. This can be an issue for further research. That is to study the impact of different tourism policies on the economic growth of different countries.

3. Methodology This study aims to examine the existence and nature of long-run relationship between tourism and economic growth in Italy. The study, also investigates the existence of long run relationships between economic growth, tourist arrivals, tourism expenditure and income derived from tourism industry. The study is carried out in two phases. Firstly, it investigates the long-run relationship between economic growth and the tourism industry in Italy. It employs the data that consist of quarterly observations during the period 1995 - 2013. In this phase, international tourist arrivals represent the tourism industry. They have been used in many empirical studies, such as (Balaguer and Cantavella-Jorda, 2002; Samimi, Sadeghi and Sadeghi, 2011; Kasimati, 2011; Dritsakis, 2012; Georgantopoulos, 2012; Jayathilake, 2013). This is the first variable of the study. Real Gross Domestic Product is the second variable and represents the overall economic growth. All data series are transformed into logarithmic functional form (ln) in order to reduce heteroskedasticity. In this study the Engle-Granger methodology is used (Engle and Granger, 1987). Firstly, the existence of a long-run relationship between the logarithms of the variables is investigated. If an ordinary least squares (OLS) regression is estimated with non-stationary data and residuals, then the regression is spurious. To overcome this problem the data has to be tested for a unit root. Thus, the Augmented Dickey-Fuller (1979) unit roots test is applied. Secondly, cointegration tests are performed to identify the long-run equilibrium relationship. To test whether the variables are cointegrated or not, the Johansen (1988) test is applied. Where, the estimated value for the ith ordered eigenvalue from the  matrix.

Trace tests the null hypothesis that the number of cointegrating vectors is less than r against an unspecified alternative.

Trace = 0 when all  = 0, so it is a joint test. Max tests the null i

hypothesis that the number of cointegrating vectors is r against an alternative of r+1. The main difference between the two test statistics is that the Trace test is a joint test where the null hypothesis is that, the number of cointegrating vectors is less than or equal to r, against a general alternative that there are more than r. Whereas the maximum Eigenvalue test conducts separate tests on the individual eigenvalues, where the null hypothesis is that the number of cointegrating vectors is r, against an alternative of (r+1).

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Finally, VECM s used for the Granger causality testing, where the lags in the error correction model can be jointly tested for significance, thereby determining any short-run causality from the explanatory variables to the dependent variable. Also, Granger causality tests are performed to find the direction of causality. The paper investigates also the causal links between economic growth, tourism expenditure, tourist arrivals and income derived from tourism industry in Italy. Real GDP is used for assessing economic growth, Capital Investment (CI) for tourism expenditure, Visitor Exports (VE) for tourism income. The tourist arrivals (TA), is the number of total tourist arrivals in Italy. The model with the capital investment and tourism income covers the period 1988 to 2013. The tests are performed in pairs similar to Louca (2006) for the case of Cyprus. An important preliminary analysis of the models is to test for the order of integration of the variables entering into the models, and to check clearly whether they have a unit root. Therefore, firstly, the ADF unit root test is used to investigate the time series characteristics of the data and the consistency in the subsequent econometric modeling. It investigates the null hypothesis of non-stationarity against the alternative of stationary. Once the order of integration is determined, the time series has to be examined for cointegration. Cointegration analysis helps to identify long-run relationships between two or more variables. Johansen (1988, 1991) cointegration test is applied to identify the co-integrating relationship among the variables. If cointegration has been ascertained between the variables, then there exists a longrun equilibrium relationship between them. Therefore, VECM should be applied to evaluate the short-run properties of the co-integrated series. On the other hand, in case of no cointegration, VECM is not required and we proceed directly to the Granger Causality Test to identify causal relationships between the variables under study. Finally, in order to identify the direction of the causality pattern, the Granger causality test is used on a VECM environment.

4. Findings and Discussion 4.1. Results of unit Root Tests. Table 1, shows the results from the unit root test for Italy. The lag lengths of the models are auto selected by Schwarz Information Criterion (SIC). Unit root test for each variable is performed on levels, first differences and second differences, respectively. When considering the two variables: (a) lnGDP and (b) lnITA, it can be seen that the null hypothesis of nonstationarity cannot be rejected at the 5% level for the levels of all the variables (Table1). However, when first differences are taken statistics are higher than their respective critical

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values in absolute terms. Thus, the null hypothesis of non-stationarity is rejected for all the variables. Therefore, it is concluded that the variables lnGDP and lnITA for Italy is integrated of order one I(1). Table 1: ADF Test Results (Phase 1) ADF Test Results Level Variables lnGDP lnITA

Statistics test -0.930279 -2.796537

1% CV

5% CV

10%CV

-4.088713 -4.094550

-3.472558 -3.475305

-3.163450 -3.165046

P-value

O.I.

0.9465 0.2035

-

First Difference -5.080646 -4.088713 -3.472558 -3.163450 0.0004* I(1) lnGDP -5.660441 -4.094550 -3.475305 -3.165046 0.0001* I(1) lnITA Source: Authors’ own computation. Note: * indicates significance at 5%. CV (Critical Value). The optimal lags are selected based on optimizing Schwarz Criterion using a range of lags. 4.2. Cointegration test results Given that all the variables are integrated of the same order, the next step is to find out whether or not there is a long-run relationship among the variables. The Johansen and Juselius (1990), maximum likelihood approach is applied to test for cointegration results. In table 2 the results of the Johansen cointegration analysis between lnGDP and lnITA for Italy are presented.

Null Hypothesis r=0 r≤1 r≤2 Null Hypothesis

Table 2: Johansen Cointegration Test Results Cointegration analysis : lnGDP and lnITA Trace Test ( Trace ) Alternative Trace Eigen Value 5% CV Hypothesis Statistic r≥0 r≥1 r≥2

0.262951 33.39881 0.108482 12.04173 0.055590 4.003677 Maximum Eigen value test ( Max ) Alternative Max-Eigen Eigenvalue Hypothesis Statistic

P-value

24.27596 12.32090 4.129906

0.0027* 0.0556** 0.0539**

5% CV

P-value

r=1 0.262951 21.35708 21.13162 r=0 0.0140* r=2 0.108482 8.038057 14.26460 0.1720 r=1 r=3 0.055590 4.003677 3.841466 r=2 0.0539** Source: Authors’ own computation. Note: * Rejects the null hypothesis at the 5% level. ** Rejects the null hypothesis at 10% level. “r” denotes the rank of the long-run matrix.

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The null hypothesis of no cointegration relationships is rejected against the alternative of no co-integrating relationship at the 0.05 percent level (table 2). Both trace and max-Eigen results show two cointegrating equations for Italy. This implies that there is a long-term stationary relationship between the two variables in Italy.

4.3. Granger Causality Results under VECM Approach Table 3 presents the results of Granger Causality tests based on the VECM Granger causality approach for Italy. Table 3: Granger Causality results based on VECM VEC pairwise Granger causality for Italy: lnGDP and lnITA Dependent variable

Exclude

D (lnGDP) D (lnITA)

D (lnITA) D (lnGDP)

Chi-square

Df

4.618643 14.59033

4 4

Probability 0.3287 0.0056

Source: Authors’ own computation. As shown in Table 3, there is a two-way causality pattern between economic growth and tourist arrivals.

4.4. Results of unit Root Tests (Phase 2) The next step is to identify the causality between economic growth, tourism expenditure, tourist arrivals and income derived from tourism industry. Therefore, real gross domestic product (GDP), capital investment (CI), tourist arrivals (TA) and visitor export (VE) are used in the analysis. All the variables have been transformed into their natural logarithmic form; lnGDP, lnCI, lnTA and lnVE. Table 4 presents the results of the Augmented Dickey-Fuller unit root tests for Italy. Results indicate that all four variables, lnGDP, lnCI, lnTA and lnVE are non-stationary in their levels because the absolute statistic test value does not exceed the critical value at the significant level of 0.05 percent. However, when first differences are taken, the null hypothesis of non-stationarity is rejected for all the variables. This shows that their first-order differences are stationary; thus, lnGDP, lnCI, lnTA and lnVE are integrated of order one. Hence it is concluded that all the four variables for Italy are integrated of order one I(1).

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Variables

Table 4: Augmented Dickey-Fuller Test Results ADF Test Results Level Statistics 1% CV 5% CV 10%CV test -0.105676 -1.443802 -1.627477 -2.086712

lnGDP lnCI lnTA lnVE

-4.394309 -4.374307 -3.886751 -4.374307

-3.612199 -3.603202 -3.052169 -3.603202

P-value

O.I.

-3.243079 -3.238054 -2.666593 -3.238054

0.9915 0.8217 0.4478 0.5278

-

-3.254671 -3.243079 -2.673459 -3.243079

0.0230* 0.0003* 0.0170* 0.0001*

I(1) I(1) I(1) I(1)

First Difference -4.030684 -4.440739 lnGDP -5.956470 -4.394309 lnCI -3.641724 -3.920350 lnTA -6.736238 -4.394309 lnVE Source: Authors’ own computation. Note: * indicates significance at 5%.

-3.632896 -3.612199 -3.065585 -3.612199

Since all the variables have been integrated of the same order, Johansen’s cointegration tests based on Trace Statistic and Maximum Eigen Statistic are applied to test the long-run relationship between the variables under study. The results of the cointegration analysis between economic growth, tourism expenditure, tourist arrivals and tourism income are shown in Tables 5-8.

4.5. Cointegration test results Johansen Cointegration Test Results Table 5. Cointegration Analysis: CI and TA Null Hypothesis

Eigen Value

Trace Statistic

5% CV (P-value)

Max-Eigen Statistic

5% CV (P-value)

None

0.367971

7.151557

15.49471 (0.5601)

6.882312

14.26460 (0.5032)

At most 1

0.017790

0.269246

3.841466 (0.6038)

0.269246

3.841466 (0.6038)

Source: Authors’ own computation. Note: The figures in the parenthesis show P-values.

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Table 6. Cointegration Analysis: TA and VE Null Hypothesis

Eigen Value

Trace Statistic

5% CV (P-value)

Max-Eigen Statistic

5% CV (P-value)

None

0.630078

16.68743

15.49471 (0.0329)*

16.91141

14.26460 (0.0272)*

At most 1

0.047344

0.776018

3.841466 (0.3784)

0.776018

3.841466 (0.3784)

Source: Authors’ own computation. Note: * Rejects the null hypothesis at the 5% level. The figures in the parenthesis show Pvalues. Table 7. Cointegration Analysis: CI and VE Null Hypothesis

Eigen Value

Trace Statistic

5% CV (P-value)

Max-Eigen Statistic

5% CV (P-value)

None

0.560166

25.82845

15.49471 (0.0010)*

19.71258

14.26460 (0.0062)*

At most 1

0.224950

6.115870

3.841466 (0.0134)*

6.11870

3.841466 (0.0134)*

Source: Authors’ own computation. Note: * Rejects the null hypothesis at the 5% level. The figures in the parenthesis show Pvalues.

Table 8. Cointegration Analysis: GDP and VE Null Hypothesis

Eigen Value

Trace Statistic

5% CV (P-value)

Max-Eigen Statistic

5% CV (P-value)

None

0.420273

18.48271

15.49471 (0.0172)*

12.53955

14.26460 (0.0920)**

At most 1

0.227713

5.943164

3.841466 (0.0148)*

5.943164

3.841466 (0.0148)*

Source: Authors’ own computation. Note: * Rejects the null hypothesis at the 5% level. ** Rejects the null hypothesis at 10% level. The figures in the parenthesis show P-values.

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In Table 5 both Trace and Eigen value tests fail to reject the null hypothesis of no cointegration between tourism expenditure and tourist arrivals for Italy. In the case of tourist arrivals and income derived from tourism industry (Table 6), both Trace and the max-Eigen show that null hypothesis is rejected at 0.05 percent level. In other words it shows that there is at least one cointegration equation between TA and VE in Italy. Table 7 provides the results of long-run relationship among tourism expenditure and the income derived from tourism industry for Italy. According to the Trace and max-Eigen test results, it indicates the existence of two cointegrating relationships between CI and VE. However, in the case of economic growth and tourism income (Table 8), the trace statistic exceeds the critical value at 0.05 percent level. Although the Eigen test fails to reject the null hypothesis at 0.05 percent level, it rejects it at the 0.10 percent level. Further on, after determining that the logarithms of variables are co-integrated for Italy, error correction models can be applied to these time series in order to determine the causality pattern. Table 9 shows Granger causality test results based on Vector Error Correction Models.

4.6. Granger Causality Results under VECM approach. Table 9: Granger Causality Results based on VECM VEC pairwise Granger causality for Italy: lnCI, lnTA and lnVE Dependent variable

Exclude

D (lnGDP) D (lnVE) D (lnCI) D (lnTA) D (lnCI ) D (lnVE) D (lnTA) D (lnVE)

D (lnVE) D (lnGDP) D (lnTA) D (lnCI) D (lnVE) D (lnCI) D (lnVE) D (lnTA)

Chi-square

Df

0.003623 5.721322 0.677007 0.148921 5.646523 1.344187 0.004333 3.986841

1 1 1 1 2 2 1 1

Probabilty 0.9520 0.0168 0.4106 0.6996 0.0594 0.5106 0.9475 0.0459

Source: Authors’ own computation. Regarding the case of Italy, the results suggest (Table 9) strong causality running from income derived from tourism industry (VE) to economic growth (GDP). Also, there is a oneway causality pattern running from tourism expenditure (CI) to tourist arrivals (TA). Further on, the results suggest one-way causality running from tourism expenditure (CI) to income derived from the tourism industry (VE) in Italy. There is also a causality pattern running from Tourism Income (VE) to tourist arrivals (TA) in Italy. One of the most important issues in this

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study is that the tourist arrivals do not cause higher tourism income. This is an issue that can be further analysed and can be an issue for the policy makers.

5. Conclusions and Suggestions for Further Reseach The main purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between economic growth and tourism development in Italy. Also, it examines causality patters between expenditure in the tourism industry at one hand; and income from the tourism industry and tourist arrivals on the other. To asses these relationships two different models are formed for each country separately. In the first phase, it investigates a series of unit root, cointegration and causality test to ascertain whether there is causality between economic growth (GDP) and tourist arrivals (TA) in Italy using quarterly data for the period 1995 - 2013. Prior to testing for causality, the ADF test and Johansen maximum likelihood test are used to examine for unit roots and cointegration. Our results indicate that all the variables are not stationary in their level form but when the first differences are taken non-stationarity is rejected. Given that all the variables are integrated of the same order for Italy, the Johansen maximum likelihood approach is employed to test for the presence of cointegration. The test results provide evidence of existence of a long-run relationship between the variables. Italy shows the existence of two co-integrating equations. In the next stage, the results from Granger causality based on vector error correction mechanism suggest that there is a dynamic interaction of these three variables. The results for Italy show bidirectional causal link between tourist arrivals and GDP. These results show that the tourism industry in Italy has a positive impact on the economic growth of Italy. In the second stage, this study examines the long-run relationship between tourism expenditure (CI), international tourist arrivals (TA), income derive from the tourism industry (VE) and economic growth (GDP). Similarly to stage one, tests for stationarity are carried out. Secondly, the Johansen cointegration tests and the Granger causality tests based on the Vector Error Correction Model are performed. ADF unit root test results suggests that all the variables, GDP, CI, TA and VE are integrated of order one I(1). Therefore, the Johansen cointegration test is applied to examine the long-run relationship between the variables. The results of the cointegration analysis suggest the existence of cointegration relationships between the four variables. The Granger causality with the error correction mechanism is then applied to these time series for determining the causality between variables. The causality test results show that the interaction among these four variables is complex. Furthermore, in this study we have seen the unidirectional causal links from income derived from the tourism

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industry of Italy to economic growth, from tourism expenditure to tourist arrivals and from the tourism expenditure to the tourism industry’s income in Italy. Further, these findings imply that the economy of Italy is strongly supported by the tourism industry, which is in line with Cortes-Jimenez’s (2006) and Antonakakis’s et al. (2013) conclusions for Italy. These results of the causality patterns among the variables studied provide governments and policy makers with useful information for further examining their economic development policies and Tourism policies, to adjust priorities regarding tourism investments and to boost economic growth. If the tourism led economy hypothesis is supported, it is necessary to allocate more resources to the travel and tourism industry. Therefore, it is suggested that the policy makers and the government of Italy should be focusing on increasing the capital investments in the tourism industry. On the other hand, if in the case of a country there is evidence of economy driven tourism growth, then it is necessary to allocate more resources to the leading industries rather than to the travel and tourism industry, and then in turn, the tourism industry will be benefited from the resulting overall economic growth. Also, the findings of this study are particularly important to policy makers, so that to craft the strategy of the tourism sector aiming at stimulating the national economy. Moreover, the findings of this study are useful to the interested researchers as they show that research in the area of tourism deserves more attention. Policy makers should encourage investments in the tourism industry so that to enhance the long-term economic growth of Italy. The limitation of this study is lack of data availability for a longer period of time. Hakkio and Rush (1991), support the thesis, that increasing the number of observations by using monthly or quarterly data does not add robustness to the cointegration results, because what matters is the length of the time period rather than the number of observations. Therefore, this study could be expanded further in the future with a greater number of observations. Although, it is beyond the scope of this study, future work could further investigate the tourism-economy relationship using a variety of other econometric models such as the VAR-based spillover index of Diebold and Yilmaz (2012) and the asymmetric Autoregressive-Distributed Lag cointegration methodology of Shin, Yu and GreenwoodNimmo (2014). This paper, contributes to literature and to policy makers by providing information about the contribution of the tourism industry to the long-term economic growth of Italy as well as to better understand the contribution of investments to the growth of the tourism

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industry. Also, the method used in this study, can be extended to examine other tourist destinations as well. Following the conclusions drawn from the present study and the proposed suggestions, the drawbacks in the tourism industry of Italy can be minimized and the tourism industry can achieve higher growth rates.

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Moodle an Effective Educational Form in Students Distance Electronic Courses

Abstract: According to Hobbs (2005), who is based on the concept of intentional communication, the experiences of media literacy is defined as "a group of skills which enable an individual to understand and use images for the intentional communication with other people." The media literacy refers to the possibilities: a) visual information perception, b) extraction of relevant information from external representations c) comprehension and production of visual messages and d) construction of meaning from visual images through the use of cognitive skills. Media literacy has no fixed position, clear ideology and/or specific recipients. Understanding the media messages is achieved through the experiences of media literacy allows people to analyze, evaluate and create their own messages through a wide variety (Hobbs, 1998). The media literate thus are able to create skillfully and produce messages through the media. The media literacy frequently uses a model based on research, which encourages people to ask questions about what they see, hear and read (Rideout et al., 2007). It also provides tools to help people to critically analyze the messages they receive, offers them opportunities to enrich their experiences through media and helps them to develop creative skills in making their own messages from media (Kahne, 2011). Critical analysis may include the author's identification of the message, the purpose and the side view that is expressed, but also the detection of propaganda, censorship and objectivity in various messages. Within the framework of the experiences of media literacy culture, the person assumes three roles: the spectator, the judge and the producer (Silverblatt, 1995). This study aims to demonstrate that students perceive Moodle as a key tool in the organization and communication of their courses and whether it helps them in their learning process. The working methodology will be based on the collection of primary and secondary data. Secondary data will be collected through books, articles in magazines and through official websites. The original data will be collected by conducting quantitative research using as main tool the questionnaire. The sample will be undergraduates and postgraduates students from the Piraeus University of Applied Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Hellenic Open University and TEI of Epirus. The survey results are intended to show a) how the Moodle can help to distance electronic courses in these specific universities, b) to investigate any problems and c) to propose improvement measures for qualitative learning.

Keywords: Moodle, media literacy, distance electronic courses, learning process. Boulouta Konstantina1and Karagiannis Stephanos2

1

Boulouta Konstantina PhD candidate, Computer Engineering & Informatics Department, University of Patras, 26504, Patras, Greece. Email: [email protected] 2 Associate Professor, Department of Economic Regional Development University of Panteion, Athens, Greece. Email: [email protected]

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1. Introduction Today, distance learning has the potential to expand access to education and training of the student population, given that its flexible structure reduces the consequences of many time constraints imposed by personal responsibilities and obligations (Jones and Sallis, 2013). The decentralization of certain activities outside minimizes the capacity constraints of educational institutions resulting from the traditional demand for public buildings and infrastructure (Oblinger, 2000). In practice it reduces the operating costs of the educational organization and at the state level it reduces the costs of the schools’ operation. Additionally, it allows access to anyone. Essentially, it enables increased access to more educators regardless of where they are located, in Greece or abroad and students from different geographical, social, cultural, economic and empirical backgrounds (Maggio et al., 2001). As the population is more involved in lifelong learning beyond the normal school age, institutions can benefit economically from adult education business programs. This practical advantage refers to universities and the market access that distance learning provides to them (Oblinger, 2000). The distance learning programs can work on a practical level as a catalyst for innovation of the educational institutions and is at least as effective as the face-to-face learning programs. The student may be in contact with the teacher at any time and express any questions, feel more comfortable in communication level and the key is that this communication can be written in addition to verbal (Orr, 2010). The practical issue here for teachers is to better serve the students, to cover most questions by text messaging or through visual communication. Distance learning in practice can also provide a broader communication process within the realm of education. With the many tools and programs that the technological developments have to offer, the communication among students and teachers appears to increase in distance learning, and between students and their peers (Jedlicka et al., 2002). Today’s online communication allows students to be connected with accredited schools and programs around the world regardless of the geographical distance. Having the opportunity to participate in the course from wherever they are, students have the opportunity to combine new insights with their own and develop a solid foundation in the learning process. At the same time this type of educational process, enables the combination with modern educational tools such as educational games. The latter, as mentioned below, can help to effectively combine learning with fun (Motsia, Salta and Pagkou, 2010). According to Motsia, Salta and Pagkou (2010:73) the educational model under

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investigation and based on everything mentioned so far, can become a more effective form of learning and can save significant costs for the students of elementary schools and not only, as previously reported, unlike traditional education (e.g. transport costs, financial burden of expensive academic textbooks, free course material), can help them to improve their knowledge and finally become competitive later. It gives them the opportunity to learn through a process that does not tire them, gives them room to ask what they want throughout the day, to stay, if they want, away from the rest of the classroom. In the classroom, students have the opportunity to learn in ways that traditional classrooms are not able to provide, by promoting better learning experiences and, therefore, allowing students to gain more satisfaction from eLearning (Kirtman, 2009). When the design of the course and the learning environment are characterized by ideal conditions, distance learning can lead students to higher rates of satisfaction from their learning experience (Sinclaire, 2013). Studies have shown that high satisfaction is associated with increased learning (Stanton, 2001; Stebnicki and Glover, 2001; Sinclair, 2013). It also helps to perceive a greater sense of support, since they have regular access to communication with the educators and other students (Stebnicki and Glover, 2001). Another practical advantage is that distance learning allows teaching children who are unable to attend a traditional school environment, due to disability or illness, such as reduced mobility and immune system suppression. Distance learning can provide equal access regardless of the socioeconomic status or income, place of residence, gender, race, age, or the cost per student. The implementation of universal design strategies for courses of distance learning as they are being developed may increase the accessibility of courses to students with a range of abilities, disabilities, learning styles and mother tongue (Stebnicki and Glover, 2001). Distance learning can also provide a last opportunity for students primarily in secondary education to attend courses from home, children who are already in adolescence, where access to the general education is no longer allowed due to disorders in behavior. Instead of depriving these students the academic opportunities, they may continue their education at home and obtain their diplomas by giving them another chance to become an integral part of society. Based on the last two aforementioned benefits, the distance learning allows everyone to get the level of education they deserve based on their needs and requirements. The Moodle is a Learning Course Management System (LCMS), namely open source software distributed under the terms of the General Public License (GNU). The Moodle has

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been installed in over 200 countries and offers support for 75 languages, including Greek. So far the Moodle has more than 200,000 registered users and is used in more than 1,800 institutions worldwide. The MIT, the Yale and other universities in the US and Europe are among the institutions that use the Moodle platform. Moodle is one of the most widespread LCMS platforms. Moodle is one of the most common asynchronous distance learning applications, which allows interaction between participants and the development of a collaborative learning environment. The ease of use combined with its free distribution and the satisfaction of the special educational needs of learners, makes the Moodle an application that offers significant assistance in the organization of educational courses. The Moodle aims to provide a pleasing and technologically advanced learning environment in the future, in which the interactivity that its environment provides to the learner, along with the checking of the correct answer, enables to test the degree of knowledge acquisition on his own. Also, through discussion groups, the students express their views, and communicate with fellow students on issues related to the module. The design and development of Moodle is guided by the theory of social constructivism learning and the practice of teaching and learning. The Moodle can be used and is used to support a number of other educational approaches. The heart of the Moodle is the courses that contain activities and resources. There are about 20 different types of activities available (forums, glossaries, wikis, reports, quizzes, multiple choices, SCROM players, databases etc.) and each of them can be customized enough. The main strength of the social constructivism model is that each activity can utilize the results of the previous ones. There are a number of other tools that make building communities of learners easier, including blogs, messaging, list of participants etc., and useful tools like grading, reports, integration with other systems etc. Many activities in Moodle are designed to allow students to control common content, such as forums, wikis, glossaries, databases, messages etc. This encourages students to share their experiences. Also, Moodle has a wide range of ways in which people can create representations of their knowledge and share them (Brandl, 2005). The course forum is the core of the application, provides spaces for discussion and exchange of tools and documents (using attachments or simply links). The wikis promote teamwork and other negotiations. The databases allow participants to access various files, e.g. a collection of digital photos or a library of reports. The page of the participants is the main

30


place where the students can see their entire progress. The online user block is the best way to see the people in the platform at any given time (Bower and Wittmann, 2009). The recent activity block displays a great deal of information about what has happened recently, and via links the students can view reports in more detail. The things that happened do not refer only to changes in forums, etc., but also to the submission of assignments and papers, quiz attempts etc. The students cannot see the results of others in the same assignments, but they get an idea of what has been submitted someone (Brandl, 2005).

2. Methodology The research methodology was based on the collection of primary and secondary data. The secondary data were collected through books, articles in journals and through official websites. The primary data were collected by conducting a quantitative research using the questionnaire as the main tool. The research aim is: a) to identify how the Moodle helps the eLearning courses in specific universities, b) to investigate any problems and c) to make improvement recommendations for a more qualitative learning. 3. Sample The convenience sample of 50 people consisted of undergraduates and postgraduates from the TEI of Piraeus, the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, the Hellenic Open University and the TEI of Epirus. The proportion of men and women in the sample was 52% and 48% respectively. In addition, 24% were between 31-35 years old, 20% over 46 years, 18% from 26 to 30 years, 16% of 36-40, 10% from 18 to 21, 6% from 22 to 25 years, and the remaining 6% of 41-45 years. Finally, 34% were graduates of colleges, 30% were university graduates, 18% have a Master’s degree, 14% were high school graduates and 4% were holders of a Master.

4. Statistical analysis This research used descriptive statistics to capture the demographic characteristics and the answers given by respondents. The SPSS statistical program was used to perform the statistical analysis.

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5. Results This section presents the answers of the respondents using frequencies and percentages. Table 1: General views on the Moodle Neither Totally Disagree agree nor disagree disagree N The Moodle improves my academic performance Overall, Moodle has many advantages for my learning I can access the contents of Moodle I can freely browse the contents of Moodle I can use Moodle without the need for someone to explain to me how it works I can solve the problems arising in connection with the Moodle I could use the Moodle if there are textbooks available Learning using the Moodle is easy for me It is easy to obtain any material from the Moodle Learning the use of the Moodle is an entertaining process The use of Moodle is an attractive way of learning Overall, I like using the Moodle

%

N

%

N

%

Agree N

%

Totally agree N

%

0 0,0% 1 2,0% 19 38,8% 8 16,3% 21 42,9% 0 0,0% 0 0,0% 9 18,0% 27 54,0% 14 28,0% 1 2,0% 1 2,0% 4 8,0% 9 18,0% 35 70,0% 0 0,0% 2 4,0% 6 12,0% 8 16,0% 34 68,0% 0 0,0% 0 0,0% 8 16,0% 11 22,0% 31 62,0% 0 0,0% 0 0,0% 11 22,4% 10 20,4% 28 57,1% 2 4,0% 2 4,0% 10 20,0% 12 24,0% 24 48,0% 3 6,0% 0 0,0% 12 24,0% 12 24,0% 23 46,0% 2 4,0% 3 6,0% 7 14,0% 17 34,0% 21 42,0% 5 10,0% 1 2,0% 11 22,0% 13 26,0% 20 40,0% 1 2,0% 2 4,1% 18 36,7% 9 18,4% 19 38,8% 2 4,0% 1 2,0% 16 32,0% 11 22,0% 20 40,0%

According to Table 1, 88% of students agreed that through the Moodle they can access its contents, 84% can navigate freely through the contents of Moddle and use it without the need of someone to explain to them how to use it, 82% felt that the Moodle has many advantages for learning, 77.5% considered that they can solve the problems arising in relation to the Moodle, 76% considered it easy to obtain any material from the Moodle, 72% responded that they could use the Moodle if there are textbooks available, 70% felt that learning the use of the Moodle is easy, 66% said that learning the use of the Moodle is an entertaining process, 62% reported that they like using the Moodle, 59.2% reported that the Moodle improves their academic performance and 57.2% reported that the use of the Moodle is an attractive way of learning.

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Table 2: Evaluation of the Moodle Very much N

%

Enough N

...... it helps as to the way the lesson 1 2,0% 12 is structured ......it helps me to study the lesson 1 2,0% 23 ......it helps me to understand the 1 2,0% 17 lesson ...... it helps me to move on to the 11 22,0% 14 study of the subsequent chapters ...... it helps me with my contact with the teacher, it facilitates 9 18,0% 21 communication ........it facilitates the lesson with 12 24,0% 16 useful multimedia (video, etc.)

%

Neither much nor A little little N % N %

Not at all N

%

24,5% 17 34,7% 5 10,2% 14 28,6% 46,0% 19 38,0% 2 4,0% 5 10,0% 34,0% 21 42,0% 6 12,0% 5 10,0% 28,0% 18 36,0% 2 4,0% 5 10,0% 42,0% 15 30,0% 4 8,0% 1

2,0%

32,0% 17 34,0% 2 4,0% 3

6,0%

According to Table 2, 60% of students reported that the Moodle helps them, at least enough, in their contact with the teacher and that it facilitates communication, 56% reported that it facilitates the lesson with useful multimedia, 50% said it helps to study the following chapters, 48% said it helps them in their study of the lesson, 36% reported that it helps them to understand the lesson and 26.5% that it helps as to the way the lesson is structured.

6. Conclusions From the above analysis it shows that the vast majority of students agreed that through the Moodle they can access its contents and can navigate freely in the contents of the Moodle and use it without having someone to explain to them how to use it and they consider that the Moodle offers many learning advantages and that they can solve the problems arising on the Moodle. The majority of the students consider that it is easy to obtain material from the Moodle, and that they could use the Moodle if there are textbooks available. Learning the use of the Moodle is easy for them, and is also considered an entertaining process. Students seem to like using the Moodle, and that it helps them to improve their academic performance. Finally, students believe that the use of the Moodle is an attractive way of learning. Regarding the evaluation of the Moodle, it was found that the majority of the students indicate that the Moodle helps them in their contact with their teacher and that it fairly facilitates communication. It also facilitates the lesson with useful multimedia, helps students to advance to the study of the following chapters and generally helps them to study the lesson.

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Finally, one third of the students reported that it helps them to understand the lesson and one fifth said that it helps them as to the way the lesson is structured.

7. References Bower, M., and Wittmann, M. (2009). Pre-service teachers' perceptions of LAMS and Moodle as learning design technologies. In The 4th International LAMS and Learning Design Conference, Sydney, Australia, (pp. 28-39). Brandl, K. (2005). Are you ready to “Moodle”. Language Learning & Technology, 9(2), 1623. Hobbs, R. (2005). Media literacy and the K-12 content areas. In G. Schwarz and P. Brown (Eds.) Media literacy: Transforming curriculum and teaching. National Society for the Study of Education, Yearbook 104. Malden, MA: Blackwell Jedlicka, J. S., Brown, S. W., Bunch, A. E., and Jaffe, L. E. (2002). A comparison of distance education instructional methods in occupational therapy. Journal of Allied Health, 31(4), 247-251. Jones, G., and Sallis, E. (2013). Knowledge management in education: Enhancing learning & education. Routledge. Kahne, J. (2011). Digital Opportunities for Civic Education. In David Campbell, Meira Levinson, and Frederick M. Hess (eds.), Civics 2.0: Citizenship Education for a New Generation. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Press Kirtman, L. (2009). Online Versus In-Class Courses: An Examination of Differences in Learning Outcomes. Issues in Teacher Education, 18 (2). 103– 115. Maggio, L. M., Chenail, R., and Todd, T. (2001). Teaching family therapy in an electronic age. Journal of Systemic Therapies, 20(1), 13-23. Motsia, E., Salta, M., and Pagkou, A. (2010). “Teaching Physics through a digital game in Primary Education, i- Teacher, 7 Oblinger, D. G. (2000). The Nature and Purpose of Distance Education". The Technology Source Michigan: Michigan Virtual University Orr, P. (2010). Distance supervision: Research, findings, and considerations for art therapy. The Arts in Psychotherapy, 37, 106-111; Rideout,V.J., U.G. Foher, D.F. Roberts and B. Mollyann (2007) Kids and the Media. New Media & Society, 9( 3), 425-454 Silverblatt, A., Ferry, J. and Finan, B. (1999). Approaches to media literacy: A handbook. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe. Sinclaire, J. (2013). Student satisfaction with online learning: Lessons from organizational behaviour. Research in Higher Education Journal, 24 (11). Stanton, S. (2001). Going the distance; Developing shared web-based learning programmes. Occupational Therapy International, 8(2), 96-106 Stebnicki, M. A. and Glover, N. M. (2001). E-supervision as a complementary approach to traditional face-to-face clinical supervision in rehabilitation counselling: Problems and solutions. Rehabilitation Education, 15(3), 283-293.

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Improving the Quality of Public Administration through Training of Human Resources in the European Union Countries

Abstract: During the last decade, to say the least, developed societies face a reform of great depths and proportions. The grounds of this juncture are the dominant global developments occurred at the beginning of the 21st Century, combined with the technological, demographical, political and social-economic changes. This paper focus on the wave of reforms in public services centered on public management, especially the transformation of public sector and the reform of managerial model, posed a challenge and an unquestioned urgent need. Keywords: Public Administration, Public Reform, European Union

Aglaia Robokou-Karagianni6 and Eleonora Kokkinou7

6

Professor Dr. Aglaia Robokou-Karagianni Professor, Department of Public Administration, Panteion University of Athens, E-mail: [email protected] 7 Eleonora Kokkinou PHD candidate, Department of Public Administration, Panteion University of Athens, Email: [email protected]

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1. Introduction During the last decade, to say the least, developed societies face a reform of great depths and proportions. The grounds of this juncture are the dominant global developments occurred at the beginning of the 21st Century, combined with the technological, demographical, political and social-economic changes. Thus, as a wide accepted need, a wave of reforms in public services centered on public management, swept the administration programmes of most of the developed countries worldwide. The transformation of public sector and the reform of managerial model, posed a challenge and an unquestioned urgent need. Expressly, the need for good management was laid upon administrative organs, obliged to practice and act within their administrative authority, but also with respect towards citizens as it is demanded by common sense of justice, and respect for the principle of legitimacy, proportionality, impartiality, leniency, and other fundamental principles of public administration8. Moreover, it expressed the need of gender equality in public administration, protecting principles such as justice, openness, and representativeness9. Within this context, human factor measured as crucial and valuable element for the good function of public governance, as it is considered to be one of the most important productive factors that has a great impact on states’ public management, but also is a fundamental foundation for a sustainable competitive advantage. It is remarkable that no matter how much the technology advances in the future, the base of public administration will be based upon its people, because administration is composed by people, it addresses to people and targets at people’s interests and the protection of their rights. The swift of attention towards the human being, towards the human factor, initiates the human centered swift in management, and poses as a basic factor for quality, no matter if the person acts as a customer and consumer of services, or as a public servant, or as a factor of production and contribution of public services.

2. Public Administration Reform Modern models of public administration reform (such as New Public Management - NPM), suggest a new system of human resources management that will adapt with the relative models of private business sector10. Consequently, management focuses to ensure flexible

Robokou-Karagianni, Aglaia (2014), p. 21. More about the concept of «good management» principle and its content, as well as implementation examples at Robokou-Karagianni, Aglaia (2014), pp. 17-33. 9 Robokou – Karagianni, Aglaia (2001), pp. 25-48. Also see Mpesila – Markidi, E. (1983, 2008, 2009). 10 More at Robokou- Karagianni, Aglaia & Rossides I. (2011). 8

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and qualitative human resource, skilled and qualified to address the challenges of the volatile environment of public administration and the complex demands of modern era. The training and education of public servants, was indeed a crucial factor for modern public management. Particularly, vocational training was considered fundamental for the development of their skills and capacities, for further expanding their knowledge, and reform their service conduct. It was also considered necessary to implement a modern strategy for education and training, directing at highlighting personal capacities of public administration’s human resources, for the coverage of pragmatic managerial needs to ensure the best possible and most effective citizens’ service. Thus, a two-way relation connects the administration reform that is based on modern models of public management, the human recourses management and the contribution of education and training of public servants. With reference to the later at a European level, there are two traditional education systems that aim at developing human resources and improving performances. Firstly, there is a network of Grandes Ecoles for training senior public servants (that’s the case of France, where the first schools for training governing elite, were founded during napoleon era). Another modes suggests, that the employment of public administration managers, derives from the greatest universities of each state, which is followed by intense socialization (that’s the case of the United Kingdom)11. Especially in Greece the National Centre for Public Administration and Local Government (EKDDA) is the national strategic agent for the development of the Human Resources of the Public Administration and Local Government. It was founded in 1983. It is a Public Entity supervised by the Minister of Interior and Administrative Reconstruction. Its main mission is the improvement of the functioning and effectiveness of the public services and of the public agents through research on the documentation and through consulting support, the upgrading of the PA’s HR through life-long learning and through certified training on knowledge and skills, as well as the delivery of specialized officers of rapid promotion. This mission is realized through a series of targeted actions and initiatives that are implemented by the National School of Public Administration and Local Government (ESDDA), the Institute of Training (ΙΝΕP) with its decentralized annex in Thessaloniki (PINEPTH), and by its Documentation and Innovations Unit (Motek). Furthermore, at an EU level, there is a consistent effort of member-states to advance public sector’s human resources and improve its quality, but also establishing coordination 11

E. K.D.D.A.(2008), p. 40.

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among them. Thus, a substantial number of member-states institutions, intent to provide professional administrative training centered at democratization and ongoing modernization of administration and function of public management, which will foster mobilization, active participation and coercion of human resources. Ultimate goal of these institutions is to develop a friendlier, reliable, effective and decentralized public management and local administration, and provide support to local societies, empower peripheral structures, and achieve a balanced development. A development that will be respectfully coherent to the institutions, will act within the frame of European perspective, and provide and follow a vision of individual wellbeing and social welfare12. Following the historic events of 1989, the public administrations of unified Europe decided to create a series of networks for reciprocal cooperation and the exchange of good practice and experiences. The most important of these is the undefined European public administration network (EUPAN), made up of directors general of the public administration of the Member States. The EUPAN is an informal network of the Directors General responsible for Public Administration in the Member States of the European Union, the European Commission and observer countries. The informal structure of the Network is steered by the Ministers responsible for Public Administration. The mission of EUPAN is to improve the performance, competitiveness and quality of European public administrations by developing new tools and methods, in the field of public administration, based on the exchange of views, experiences and good practices among EU Member States, the European Commission, observer countries and other organisations. Table 1: List of public administration schools in European Union (EU-28) member states Country

Austria Belgium Belgium Belgium Belgium Bulgary 12

Institute

Federal Chancellery Austrian Federal Administration

Academy

Website

of

Public http://www.bka.gv.at/

Training Institute of the Federal Administration École d'administration publique- WallonieBruxelles KU Leuven Instituut voor de Overheid - Public Governance Institute International Association of Schools and Institutes of Administration The Bulgarian Institute of Public Administration (IPA)

More at Robokou – Karagianni, Aglaia & Vikas I. (2014)

http://www.ofoifa.belgium.be/f r http://www.eap-wb.be/eap/eapaccueil/ www.instituutvoordeoverheid.b e http://www.iiasiisa.org/iasia/fr/ http://www.ipa.government.bg/ en

38

Croatia

Croatia

Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia


Croatian Institute of Public Administration Regional School of Public Administration (nternational Organization established by Western Balkan countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia) The Cyprus Academy of Public Administration Institute for Public Administration Prague The Danish School of Public Administration (DSPA) Estonian Centre for Continuous Training for State Civil Servants

http://en.iju.hr

http://www.respaweb.eu

http://www.mof.gov.cy https://www.institutpraha.cz/en / www.dfhnet.dk https://www.hm.ee/en

Estonia

Estonian Public Service Academy

http://www.universitydirectory.eu/Estonia/EstonianPublic-Service-Academy.html

Finland

Finnish Institute of Public Administration

http://www.haus.fi/

France

Ecole Nationale d'Administration (ENA)

http://www.ena.fr/

France

Centre national de la fonction publique territoriale

http://www.cnfpt.fr/

Germany

Federal Academy of Public Administration

http://www.bakoev.bund.de/

Germany Greece

Germany University of Administrative Sciences Speyer National Centre for Public Administration and Local Government

www.uni-speyer.de http://www.ekdd.gr/

Hungary

National University of Public Service

http://en.uni-nke.hu/

Ireland

Institute of Public Administration

http://www.ipa.ie/

Italy

National School of Administration

http://www.sna.gov.it/

Italy

MENA-OECD Training Centre

http://www.tcmenaoecd.org/en/

Latvia

Latvian School of Public Administration

http://www.vas.gov.lv/en/

Lithuania

Lithuanian Institute of Public Administration

http://www.livadis.lt/_en/

Luxembour g

Le Gouvernement du Grand-Duché de http://www.fonctionLuxembourg publique.public.lu/ Institut national d'administration publique Institute of Public Administration & Management https://www.um.edu.mt/

Malta Netherland s Netherland s

Dutch Institute for Public Administration

http://international.pblq.nl/

European Institute of Public Administration

http://www.eipa.nl/

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Poland

Chancellery of the Prime Minister Civil Service Department

http://dsc.kprm.gov.pl/en

Poland

National School of Public Administration

http://ksap.gov.pl/ksap/

Portugal

National Institute of Administration

http://www.ina.pt/

Romania

National School of Political Science and Public Administration

http://www.snspa.ro

Slovak Republic Slovenia Spain

Network of Institute and Schools of Public http://www.nispa.sk/ Administration in Central and Eastern Europe Ministry of Public Administration of the Republic http://www.mnz.gov.si/ of Slovenia Instituto Nacional de Administración Pública http://www.inap.es/ (INAP)

Sweden

Swedish Agency for Administrative Development

http://www.statskontoret.se/

UK

Civil Service College

http://www.civilservicecollege. org.uk/

UK

Civil Service Learning

http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/

UK

Blavatnik School of Government University of Oxford www.bsg.ox.ac.uk Source: http://www.oecd.org/mena/governance/Schools-of-Government-2015.pdf, 2015 The meeting of the Directors of Institutes and Schools of Public Administration

(DISPA) as part of the European Public Administration Network (EUPAN) takes place every six months in the country holding the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union. The participants are directors from schools and institutes of public administration in the EU, other invited Central and Eastern European countries and representatives from international training organisations. The participants at the meeting and invited experts present the most successful projects and best practices, and form working groups to discuss current issues in public administration education. The objective of the meeting is to promote various joint activities, develop common training programmes and projects, and exchange experience and best practices. Specifically, in Greece EKDDA has developed a wide co-operation network with foreign counterparts, participates actively in international fora and meetings. Also, EKDDA takes part in UN and OECD programmes, as well as in EU Initiatives. EKDDA is a member of the International Association of Schools and Institutes of Administration (IASIA), of the

40


European Group for Public Administration (E.G.P.A.)13, and of the Directors of Schools and Institutes of Public Administration of the European Union network (DISPA). In addition through the years EKDDA has cooperated with: the National School of Administration (ENA – France), the European Institute of Public Administration (EIPA), the Federal Academy of Public Administration (BAKÖV – Germany), the Academy of Public Administration (CAPA – Cyprus), the Finnish Institute of Public Administration (HAU), the National School of Government (UK), the Institute of Education – University of London (UK). And has signed Memoranda of Understanding with: The National School of Administration of the Public’s Republic of China, the JFK School of Governance of the Harvard University (Harvard Kennedy School – USA), the National School of Public Administration of Italy (SSPA), the National School of Public Administration of Portugal (INA), the National Institute of Public Administration (INAP – Spain), The Institute of Public Administration & European Integration of Bulgaria and the Institute of Local Government Prague. All the above mentioned efforts are targeting to institute in a national, European and global level, effective and operational public bodies, which will cooperate for training public servants. Those efforts highlight the necessity of modernizing and developing modern public administrations in learning organizations. This case should be based upon an organizational culture, namely, a system of values, principles, and rules with direct or indirect effect on its servants, aiming at building upon an organizational learning culture, and knowledge management, which will be its key elements.

3. Concluding Remarks Much has to be also done in changing the environment in which bureaucracy operates. It is important to recognize synergy and reinforcement between efforts to improve efficiency and strengthening accountability, since higher accountability enforcement may lead to greater efficiency, and on the other, hand, greater efficiency will have higher compliance with the accountability process. A challenge in formulating equitable policies is to determine who will be affected and to ensure that adjustment measures enable all to gain access to new opportunities. While strategic alliances are important, it is noticeable that the measures

13

EGPA is a Regional Group of the International Institute of Administrative Sciences whose purpose is to strengthen contacts and exchanges among European specialists in Public Administration, both scholars and practitioners.

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which should be taken is also a matter of having sustained political will and resources, under a long-term approach. 4. References Kefis, V. (2005a), Total Quality Management, Theory and Models, Athens: pub. Kritiki. Kefis, V. (2005b), Total Quality Management, Athens: pub. Kritiki. Mpesila-Markidi, E.(1983), Constitution Vest of Gender Equality Principle, Athens: pub. Metaxas. Mpesila-Makridi, E. (2008), Implementing Gender Equality Principle, L. 3304/2005 & L. 3488/2006, at «Honorary Volume of Greek State Legal Council, 125 years», AthensKomotini: pub. Ant. N. Sakkoula. Mpesila-Makridi, E.(2009), Currnet Tendencies of Gender Equality L. 3488/2006 , at Law, Scientific Yearbook of Law Department Law, Economics and Political Science School N.10, Thank-offering for Loukas Theoharopoulos and Dimitra Kontogiorga – Theoharopoulou, Vol II, p.p. 395-402, Thessaloniki. Robokou – Karagianni, Aglaia (2001), «The social protection cycle of Greek Ombudsman», at Mpesila-Markidi, E.S. – Adam Magnisali, A. Robokou –Karagianni, A. Papazoglou – Mitropoulou (2001) (collective), Public Administration Regulation and Greek Ombudsman, Center of Research and Administration of Local Governance and Decentralization Concerns (K.E.D.I.T.A.A.), Panteion University, p.p. 25-48. Robokou-Karagianni, Aglaia & Rossides I. (2001), The Contribution of Business Administration to the improvement of Public Business. The model of Agrotiki Trapeza, Reprint 3rd Congress of Administration Scientists «Administration and Democracy: Quality, Effectiveness and Legalization», 9-1010/2009, Rethymno Odeon, Rethymno Campus of the University of Greece, pub. Sakkoula, Athens-Thessloniki, p.p. 763-780. Robokou-Karagianni, Aglaia & Vikas, I. (2014), Sustainable Development and Social Policy of Local Governance and current economic juncture, Reprint 4th Congress of Administration Scientists «Reforms in Public Administration: Potentials, Perspectives, Weaknesses», 1-2/12/2011, Aristotle University Research Dissemination Center (KEDEA), pub. Sakkoula, Athens-Thessaloniki, p.p. 261-269. Robokou-Karagianni, Aglaia (2014) “The European Ombudsman, the Principle of Good Administartion and the Code of Good Administrative Behaviour – key tools for the vision of EU Integration and defending citizens’ rights”, Review of Decentralization Local Government and Regional Development, Issue 75/2014, Athens, pp. 3-38.

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The Development of the Environmental Tax Policy Reforms in the European Union: A Perspective Approach

Abstract: This paper discusses the development and the implementation of environmental tax policies in EU Member countries as well as in non EU countries. The different categories and kinds of environmental taxes, their quantitative use in the EU member states as well as the factors that influence the potential for tax reforms are discussed. Reference is also made to the contribution of environmental fiscal reforms to a Green Economy. The principles and the motivational factors that can lead to a successful Environmental Fiscal Reform (EFR) are explained as well. The experiences and the practices of European, Asian and third countries are presented and policy lessons are drawn. Finally, the paper concludes and refers to the prospects of environmental fiscal policy reforms.

Keywords: Environmental Tax Policies; Environmental Fiscal Reform (EFR); Green Economy; European Union.

Dr. Charalambos N. Louca1 and Ms. Kalliopi Avanidou2

1

Corresponding Author: Dr. Charalambos N. Louca, Head of Business Department, Director of Research Department, American College, P. O. Box 22425, 1521 Nicosia, Cyprus. Email: [email protected] 2 Ms. Kalliopi Avanidou, Department of Geography, University of the Aegean, Mytilene, Greece. Email: [email protected]

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1. Introduction The political discussion on the adoption and the increased use of environmental taxation in Europe has started in the early 1990s. Since then, a number of environmental tax reforms (ETR) were introduced. The Scandinavian countries introduced ETR for preventing the environment from pollution, making the living environment healthier, improving living conditions and the standard of living as well as achieving greater economic efficiency. For achieving economic efficiency, it is necessary to restructure the EU economy and adapt it to the applied environmental reforms. This need for structural change of the economy is one of the key points underlined in the European Commission´s 2020 strategy. Making ETR an important component of the EUs economic strategy, underpins the need that the ETR must be implemented by all EU Member States and any environmental-harmful subsidies (EHS) must be removed. Currently, the share of the environmental taxes in the overall taxes received and the social security contributions is limited to 6.1%. Around 75% of these taxes are from taxes on energy and transport. Very few EU Member States obtain significant revenues from taxes on resources such as water, waste, landfill, or pollution. Environmental taxes are not intensively used in EU, due to the fact that there is already a high tax burden which leads to a social and political resistance against further increases. Also, there are concerns about the distributional and competitiveness impacts of these taxes (OECD, 2006). Concerning their distributional impacts, there is a feeling that poorer households will suffer proportionately more, especially in the case of taxing water consumption,

on

heating

energy

and

electricity

consumption.

Concerning

their

competitiveness impacts, the energy-intensive sectors will be worse off through an ETR. Also, the governments worry that these industries will be forced to be relocated in other countries if they are environmentally taxed. However, labour-intensive sectors with low energy consumption are likely to benefit from an ETR. Thus, further increases in environmental taxes are not strongly encouraged. No matter of the above mentioned negative consequences of adopting an ETR, a number of governments have made up their minds how to approach this issue and have applied the following policies and practices: 1. ETR is proportionally reduced by the tax burden on labour with low income. This contributes to the distributional and the competitiveness concerns and revenue is recycled. 2. Tax reductions or exemptions are made in order to help energy intensive industries. Exemptions as a policy, however, have weakened the financial incentive to reduce energy, resource consumption and pollution. So, in order to limit this negative effect,

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compensation can be applied in a digressive way for a given period in order to maintain incentives. 3. Revenues from environmental taxes are used to finance environmental spending or investments on energy saving. Thus, by limiting tax exemptions, the efficiency of the tax system is improved. Also, harmonization within the European Union is necessary. Each EU member country has to take into consideration its industrial structure when deciding tax rates. There are heavy industrial EU and other countries that cause high pollution levels whereas there are countries with light industries that cause very low pollution levels. 2. Environmental Taxes on Transport, Natural Resources and Air Pollution Taxes on transport are the second in rank biggest group of environmental taxes. As a tax base, vehicle taxation is a supplementary instrument that supports ETR. Transport is at one hand a substantial source of raising revenues and on the other a growing source of carbon dioxide emissions, air pollution, noise and congestion. In 2005, the European Commission had proposed the introduction of a Carbon Dioxide element on car taxation. At the beginning, Taxes on Carbon Dioxide could make up only one quarter and later half of the revenues (European Commission, 2005). By the year 2014, already eleven Member States had a Carbon Dioxide element in their car registration tax. Regarding annual circulation taxes, twelve Member States have a Carbon Dioxide element (ACEA, 2014). Considering natural resources, taxes on water abstraction and consumption (and also waste water discharges) and on waste generation (including specific packaging-waste taxes and those on types of waste management, such as taxes on land-filling or incineration)1 are two most commonly applied taxes. The Water Framework Directive (European Union, 2000), suggests EU Member States to restructure their water pricing in order to ensure that the allocation of costs is in line with the polluter-pays principle in order to give incentives for an efficient use of water. Thus, all water users (i.e., households, industries and the agricultural sector) bear the external environmental and resource costs as well as the costs for providing the infrastructure and the service of water supply and distribution. Taxes and charges on water have been successfully implemented in a number of EU Member States with a significant positive impact on consumption and water losses. In the Netherlands for example, waste-water taxes have reduced pollution by 90% over a period of

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25 years. Water consumption tax in Denmark decreased consumption by 26% over a period of 10 years in the 1990s. In both countries, the revenues from the taxes were used for supporting measures (ECOTEC, 2001). Another issue that arises is that of managing waste. The aim of using market-based instruments to manage waste is to decouple waste production from economic growth and to achieve collection and recycling targets according to the EU legislation as well as to turn waste into a resource. Under the Packaging Waste Directive (European Union, 1994), the Council can adopt economic instruments in order to achieve its objectives. However, Member States adopt national measures and implement the polluter-pays principle, while at the same time they respect their Treaty obligations, the internal-market rules and try to eliminate discrimination. Regulatory and market-based approaches have been used by EU Member States, in order to achieve a more sustainable and efficient resource use. As environmental effects vary between materials, differentiated charges are adopted in order to achieve a more precise internationalization. Examples where differentiated taxes have been adopted are Denmark and Latvia. In Denmark and the UK (before the Brexit referendum), where a significant amount of waste are land filled, they partially depend on the place and type of waste. In this case the polluter-pays principle is applied also in this case. Within the year 2014, the EU Commission has proceeded with a waste policy review. The objective of this policy review is to boost prevention, reuse, recycling, limit energy recovery to what is not recyclable, eliminate land filling, simplify and improve monitoring and statistics (European Commission, 2014a). Another objective that has been determined by the European Commission is to ensure the dissemination of best practices in using key economic instruments, such as extended producer-responsibility schemes (EPR), the use of landfill and incineration taxes, and of pay-as-you-throw schemes. These measures are supported by the Structural and Investment Funds. Under study are also measures for specific types of waste such as those in the construction industry, demolition and packaging waste.

3. The Contribution of Environmental Fiscal Reforms to a Green Economy A Green Economy contributes to improving (a) the well-being and the standard of living of all communities, (b) in achieving social equity among people, (c) in reducing environmental risks and (d) ecological scarcities. To create a Green Economy a number of policy measures have to be implemented. Prices must provide sustainable incentives for environmental improvements as well as for discouraging pollution and the unorthodox usage of the scarce

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natural resources. It is also understood that the self-interest is not in favour of environmental regulation as additional costs reduce the competitiveness of firms. Therefore, it is more practical to design environmental policies that use the self-interest of the publics and of the firms in favour of the environment. Environmental productivity can be increased via higher energy prices that will lead to decreasing energy costs. An Environmental Fiscal Reform (EFR) can be the transition towards a green economy. An Environmental Fiscal Reform can redistribute the burden of taxation and reforms the mechanisms of the fiscal system. Thus, the EFR changes the attitudes and the behaviours of consumers and reduces environmental damages. For example, Sweden and Denmark have achieved an increase in their GDP growth rate and a decrease in the GHG emissions through EFR. Research outcomes have also shown a substantial reduction in health damages and in health costs (IMF, 2014).

3.1. Green taxes contribute to reducing the budget deficit The countries’ budget deficit is reduced by imposing taxes on energy and on carbon emissions. EU Finance Ministers, Prime Ministers, EU-Commissioners and other policy makers support this view. Research studies have shown that, taxes on carbon and energy efficiency contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and raise revenues (Vivid Economics 2012). These taxes have less negative impacts on economic growth than other conventional fiscal measures (such as increasing income tax or value added tax). The reason is that in the countries studied (Hungary, Poland and Spain) higher taxes on energy have lead to the reduction of imported energy. Thus, there is a decrease in production and in the economic activities occurred outside these countries and outside the EU. However, domestic value added is increasing resulting to economic growth and to the creation of more working positions. Another issue which is worth to be investigated, is the economic maturity of the economies under study (i.e., if these countries are in a recession or not and in case that are currently in a recession as Spain, what will be the outcome of the study when they recover)? In any case, energy and carbon taxes contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and of course in the long-run the society benefits out of it. Although low-income groups will not benefit from rising taxes on energy and carbon emissions, it is preferable from increasing direct and indirect taxes. Thus, it is preferable for the society to apply the tax policy that benefits it more rather than applying both policies (i.e., direct and indirect taxes plus taxes on energy and carbon). The main objective is to increase the standard of living of the society and to establish a healthier environment for the people to live in.

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4. The Case of Germany in Taxing “Bads”: Refused Materials and Activities The “bads” are activities or materials that the society refuses either to carry out or to possess such as environmental pollution, unemployment and negative health impacts. Most of the energy we use in Europe is the outcome of fossil and nuclear fuels such as uranium, coal, natural gas and oil. Unfortunately however, their exploration causes health and environmental problems. This is the main reason why it is better to tax the resources instead of taxing labour and income. On the contrary, renewable energy sources have less negative impacts on health and the environment. The environmental fiscal reforms in Germany of 1999-2003 started as an Ecological Tax Reform (ETR) and comprised the reduction of social security contributions to the pensions’ fund. At the same time an electricity tax was introduced in combination with other energy taxes such as taxes on heating and transportation fuels. The tax burden on labour costs was lowered and shifted to tax the consumption of environmental resources, concrete fossil energy sources such as gasoline, diesel, heating fuels and electricity. Higher taxes on energy consumption were an incentive to use energy more efficiently and at lower levels as well as to foster innovations in new technologies. By lowering non-wage labour costs, new working positions were created and the rate of the economic growth has increased. By 2010 the number of working positions increased to 250,000. The emissions of carbon dioxide declined by three percent, the consumption of transport fuels decreased and the number of passengers using public transport and sharing cars has risen. Due to the reduced energy consumption, Germany succeeded in making substantial cuts on imports for expensive fossil fuels. The domestic spending of money, stimulated demand and created new working positions as well. In this way, Germany has implemented an Ecological Tax Reform that on the one hand has helped to reduce emissions and energy consumption and on the other has helped in the creation of new working positions. This well designed Ecological Tax Reform succeeded to avoid negative impacts by announcing taxes ahead of the time to be imposed; the taxes rose gradually and predictably so that the public could anticipate them. Investment and consumption decisions were linked to investment and consumption cycles, thus minimizing the costs of transition to a Green Economy. Energy intensive firms paid reduced tax rates in accordance to their competitiveness. Indeed many enterprises succeeded in reducing their energy consumption and costs. Thus, the demand for their efficient and energy-saving

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products and services has increased giving rise to the creation of new working positions. Also, public transport has been positively affected from tax reductions. At the same time, firms can do business with more efficient devices, methods and technologies. For example, they sell cars with low levels of carbon dioxide emissions. They produce cars and heavy industrial products more efficiently, or produce cars running on natural gas, sell well-insulated houses and LED-lamps. Thus, the Environmental Tax Reforms contributed to the establishment of a more efficient economic framework, made renewable energies profitable and placed the grounds for transforming the economy into a Green Economy. It must be noted however, that it is of great importance, governments soon after they announce a long-term ETR strategy, quickly to implement it in order to establish credibility and political commitment. This in turn will enhance the establishment of new businesses in the area of renewable and energy efficient technologies. This will benefit also the consumers who will be able to buy more efficient technologies. Later on, the Environmental Tax Reform in EU was further developed and covered the reduction of environmentally harmful subsidies (i.e., hard coal, commuters and building new houses). In 2011, the subsidies for nuclear fuel and aviation transport were reduced and as from 2005 public expenditures for road maintenance were reduced as well. Germany has introduced the distance and emissions related to heavily vehicle charge and heavily vehicle pay for the environmental and road damages. The system is operationally supported by the satellite. Austria, Switzerland and Hungary are examples of countries that have proceeded with similar Environmental Tax Reforms. 5. Environmental Tax Reforms – Countries of Good Practice 5.1. The Nordic Countries, the Netherlands and UK In the early 1990s, the Nordic countries, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom were the first ones to introduce Environmental Fiscal Reform policies. In the late 1990s the countries of Eastern Europe followed (Schlegelmilch 1999) with successful outcomes. These early Environmental Tax Reforms, entailed energy taxation and carbon tax element and they were not revenue based. Revenue base was used to lower social security contributions or income taxes. The reforms aimed at promoting renewable, energy efficiency and innovations related to environment. As a result of these reforms the rate of economic growth has risen and as mentioned above more working positions were created.

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These findings regarding Environmental Tax Reforms are supported by many research activities2. The OECD database provides a comprehensive overview of environmental taxes and comprises links to policy analysis and other studies3.

5.2. Ireland The fiscal crisis that Ireland experienced in 2008, resulted to an agreement in 2010 between the Irish government, the European Central Bank, the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) whereby the latter provided substantial financial support, on condition that a number of revenue raising and expenditure reduction targets were met. Also in 2010, a carbon tax rate of €15/tonne of CO2 was introduced. This tax covers CO2 emissions from sectors such as transport, heat consumption in buildings and heat and process emissions by small firms. 5.2.1. The contribution of the Carbon Tax in Ireland The carbon tax in Ireland covers Carbon Dioxide emissions from non-traded sectors (NETS) such as emissions from combustion for heat from residence, emissions in the transportation industry, from the commercial sector and from small and light industries. The tax is applied to petrol, heavy oil, auto-diesel, kerosene, liquid petroleum gas (LPG), fuel oil, natural gas, coal, peat and aviation gasoline (Department of Finance, 2010). The charge is applied at a reduced rate to heavy oil and to liquid petroleum gas that is used for horticultural production in glasshouses and for cultivating mushrooms. Following its introduction, a number of increases of the tax have been followed. From a fiscal perspective, the tax revenue raised in 2012, amounted approximately to 1% of the total tax revenue and 2.25% of the revenue was raised by the income tax. Indeed the tax reform within the period 2010 and 2012, contributed 24.6% of the tax increases required by the Troika. The total cumulative tax increases required in the period 2010 to 2012 amounted to €7,400 million, while the cumulative carbon tax imposed amounted to €919 million, contributing 12.4% of the cumulative total revenue from taxes. 5.2.2. The impact of the carbon tax on competitiveness Corporate taxes have the highest negative impacts on economic growth, followed by income taxes and then consumption taxes. Recurrent taxes on immovable property appear to have the least impact. A revenue-neutral growth oriented tax reform would, therefore, be to shift part of the revenue base from income taxes to less distortive taxes such as recurrent taxes on immovable property or consumption (OECD, 2009). However, taxes on immovable property substantially affect negatively the incomes of low or middle-incomers who have inherited immovable property. Since the economic recession, Ireland has not increased its corporate tax

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rate, but the tax share from income taxes has risen. Also, a health levy and an income levy were combined into the Universal Social Charge (USC). For most of the workers, the USC is at 7%, which means that for most of the people income taxes are at least by 7% higher than before the recession. Also, the Pay Related Social Insurance (PRSI) contributions have been increased. It is clear that the negative economic impacts in terms of employment would have been more severe if, instead of the carbon tax, income taxes had been raised even more, at least by 2.5%. The 2009 Commission on Taxation Report suggested the carbon tax design should allow for an exemption for companies with legally binding action based and/or targetbased emissions reduction agreements with the Sustainable Energy (Authority) of Ireland (SEAI). Evidence suggested that agreements-based tax exemptions could positively affect the environmental impacts and will effectively stimulate more emissions abatement than a carbon tax alone could achieve. Such exemptions could provide a more consistent treatment to nonETS and ETS firms. The measure would best be suited to large energy-using installations which fall just below the ETS threshold, rather than to small users. Environmental effectiveness, energy consumption and its composition are influenced by many factors, including economic activity and disposable income, weather and prices. The economic environment in Ireland has influenced the ability and the willingness that were biased towards current consumption and investment, as well as the expectations of the publics.

5.2.3. Equity Issues During 2005, almost 15% of the Irish households spent over 10% of their income on energy and this expenditure was expected by the year 2010 to rise to 19%. Studies by the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) on the distributional impacts of the carbon tax in Ireland showed that there were likely to be some regressive impacts, across different income groups, and between urban and rural households (Society of St. Vincent de Paul, 2008). Thus, there was a need for further developing the carbon tax policy in order to restrict these regressive impacts and address equity. The following steps were taken: 1. Prior to the introduction of the carbon tax in 2010, a number of other schemes were applied in order to tackle fuel and energy poverty of low income householders. 2. According to the budget statement, the yield from the Carbon Tax was used to boost energy efficiency, to support rural transport and to alleviate fuel poverty. Also, the Carbon Tax contributed to maintaining or reducing payroll taxes. 3. Of priority was the funding of sustainable energy programmes with €98m out of which the €50 million were from the proceeds of the Carbon Tax.

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4. As anticipated, since the introduction of the carbon tax, costs for fuel-related assistance in Ireland have increased. The Department of Social Protection took action to reduce these costs. From the case of Ireland, it is difficult to generalize conclusions for other countries, because each country’s culture, political and environmental circumstances are particular and unique. However, below are some implications for other countries either in fiscal recession or not considering introducing a carbon tax: 1. Crisis does indeed create opportunity although it is better to do without it. 2. Income plays a valuable role in meeting obligations for tax increases; 3. There is a trade-off between scope and effective rate of tax; 4. There is a need to revisit the analytics of recycling and the double dividend; 5. The imperative to raise income and reduce debt, limits the extent to which equity issues can be addressed; 6. Pay attention to the “Green Economy” performance and issues relating to the tax. An important rationale for the Irish carbon tax was that it stimulated new firms in investing in renewables and energy efficiency, encourage innovation and generally drive “the smart economy”; 7. Where the alternative is to raise taxes on labour, a carbon tax in general will not damage competitiveness; and 8. With any environmentally salient carbon tax, during the period 2014 to 2016, the rate is likely to be higher than the equivalent allowance price in the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS). If the points mentioned above are credibly addressed, the carbon tax can have positive impacts on the economies of the EU member countries.

5.3. EFR in Asia Asia, is considering the introduction of Environmental Fiscal Reforms (EFRs) as well. China has received guidelines as to how it can apply the EFRs and exploit the potentials of its economy, but has not succeeded to set the appropriate political, legal and economic framework yet. Vietnam after consulting the German Development Implementing Agency, introduced the legal framework for an EFR. We can say that Vietnam is the first country in Asia that has successfully launched the first steps of an Environmental Fiscal Reform. 6. Policy Lessons The following are the general policy lessons learnt from an EFR:

52 


An economic policy framework for a Green Economy is the prerequisite of an EFR

and prices must reflect the environmental and social cost. 

Environmental Fiscal Reforms have been successfully implemented in industrialized

as well as in developing countries and have contributed to correcting market failures.

6.1. Lessons for designing and communicating the EFRs 

Cut the environmentally harmful subsidies, gradually and predictably increase

environmental taxes – without harming the incomes and the standard of living of low incomers – and lower the most distorting taxes. 

Wisely and ethically using revenues from the environmental taxes for the highest policy

priorities in a country (e.g., reducing unemployment, investing in health care, in education and in the infrastructure) ensures broad political support and makes it easier for the EFRs to be implemented and to be embraced by the publics. 

The governments must facilitate change by adopting policies for promoting efficient

and renewable alternatives (i.e., reduce tax rates for implementing new technologies and expenditure programmes that benefit the environment). 

Each country must choose the right EFR elements so that to protect on one hand the

vulnerable and on the other, all its people by improving their standard of living and enhance their incomes. Therefore, it is very important when taxing aviation, road transport and electricity to have in mind that the main objective is not to raise income for the government and to be spent unwisely, but to raise the standard of living of the publics. 

Therefore the incomes from the environmental taxation must be recycled in investment

policies that improve the environmental conditions in a given country. 

Progressively to tax motor fuels.



For the industry and the SMEs, Environmental Fiscal Reforms contribute to profit

making from higher efficiency and renewable energy. The innovative SMEs benefit, but firms which are energy-intensive must be given some allowances for reduced rates so that not to have high costs and at the end to cause negative impacts on their competitiveness. These firms must be ready to implement energy management systems. The governments must be able to exercise control in order to secure up to what level such systems are in effect by such firms. 6.2. Suggestions for an effective adoption of Environmental Fiscal Reforms 

Differentiating the taxation for sulfur free fuels or for natural gas in the transportation

industry is an effective and efficient tax instrument.

53 


Transport fuels can be highly taxed in order to support public transportation and efficient

cars that do not have high levels of carbon dioxide emissions. Countries however, must be able to establish an efficient public transportation system in order to serve the transportation needs of its citizens. 

Many countries such as France, the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and the United

Kingdom have taxed air tickets and they see this as another opportunity for raising funds since kerosene is untaxed. Indeed this is an opportunity for raising funds but investments in research must be made in order to offer alternative transportation solutions to the citizens who travel by air. 

Socially progressive reforms must be implemented in the case of taxing automobile

industries which often benefit from substantial tax subsidies at the expense of the environment and of the low-income households. 

Environmentally harmful subsidies which are given from the revenues received from the

taxpayers must be decreased and governments must aim at increasing public awareness. 

Subsidies in the form of non-internalized external costs must be reduced. This difference

in the decrease must be allocated to the health care system of a country and to those suffering from negative health impacts and have to face high health-care costs.

7. Conclusions, Discussion and Suggestions for Further Research Environmental taxes are viewed as a major revenue-raising option and European countries generate most of their revenues by levying taxes on labour and income whereas activities that cause environmental degradation and depletion of scarce natural resources (such as consumption of electricity, fuels and water as well as production of waste) are not satisfactorily taxed and account for a small fraction of government finances. This limits economic growth and employment and gives motives for over-exploitation of natural resources. In order to place a constraint to this disparity, an environmental fiscal reform can shift a percentage of government taxes from labour/income to environmentally harmful and resource-depleting activities. Such a reform can implement market-based policy instruments such as carbon taxes, emissions trading, water abstraction charges and others that are wisely thoughtful so that not to overload the tax payers with taxes that cannot afford to pay and instead of enhancing the economy and the standard of living of the citizens to cause discomfort and to make their way of living very hard and painful especially for the low income social classes. Another important issue, for which we must pay attention to, is phasing out of environmentally harmful subsidies to fossil fuels. Governments across the G20

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countries spend $88 billion every year subsidizing the exploration of fossil fuels. The combustion of fossil fuels causes adverse health effects and leads to serious climate change (Bast et al., 2014). Many European countries have applied environmental reform policies that contribute to energy saving, environmental improvements, to decreasing air and environmental pollution as well as to economic growth. In order to achieve economic growth, it is of great importance to pay attention to the way and the methods by which the revenues raised from environmental taxes are recycled in the economy. According to relevant scientific research, environmental and natural resource taxes contribute to improving public finances and stimulate economic growth. At the same time, pollution is discouraged. It is necessary, however, part of these revenues to be used for compensating vulnerable households that suffer from the impacts of the increase in environmental taxes and other charges. This has been also discussed and documented by the European Commission (2011), the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (Hagemann, 2012) and the International Monetary Fund (Parry et al., 2014). Also, the European Parliament is supporting such reforms. Referring to the European Commission, in November 2014, it proceeded with legislative proposals that would increase environmental taxes and align tax policy with the objectives of the EU energy and climate strategy for 2030. However, what it is important to notice is that the primary objective of the environmental and natural resource taxes is not simply to raise government funds but to stimulate economic growth, protect the natural environment and develop the standard of living of the society. If this is not the primary objective, any environmental taxes that simply raise government funds will result to social discrimination and to endless earth pollution. What concerns further research, this paper refers to study outcomes related to the impact of the EFR on the incomes of the governments up to the year 2012. It will be of interest to study the impact of the EFR on the real incomes of the consumers in the different countries where these policies have been adopted. It will be of interest to study also the impacts and the projected impacts on the health levels of the communities where the EFR have been applied. What’s more to understand is that the EU countries are not isolated from the rest of the world and any pollution in other regions of the globe is transmitted all around the world. For this reason, it is necessary all the countries all over the world to adopt policies for environmental reforms and it is urgent more than ever, countries all over the world actively to collaborate on this issue. More than that, since transport is a growing source of carbon dioxide emissions, air pollution, noise and congestion, this is an extra reason the burden from the

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transport tax to be used for investments in research projects in making innovations in transportation systems which are friendly to the environment and do not cause pollution. It is worthy to underline that governments have already understood that the time has reached its maturity when instead of taxing only pollution, energy and resource consumption, in order to raise funds they must also increase investments in research aiming at producing environmentally friendly energy resources which will contribute to raising the standard of living of their tax payers. After all this is the return that governments owe to their citizens. This paper contributes to literature by discussing successful practices of environmental tax reforms in the European Union as well as to underline their positive impacts on the countries’ economic growth and the populations’ living standards. Notes: 1. It has to be said that for both waste and water, it is not always easy in practice to distinguish charging covering the service cost from environmental levies. 2. FÖS (2014). [online]. http://www.foes.de/themen/oekologische-steuerreform-19992003/studien/ll [last accessed 14th April 2015]. 3. http://www2.oecd.org/ecoinst/queries/.

8. References ACEA, (2014). ACEA Tax Guide, Brussels. Bast, E., Makhijani, S., Pickard, S. and Whitley, S. (2014). The fossil fuel bailout: G20 subsidies for oil, gas and coal exploration, Overseas Development Institute and Oil Change International. [online] http://www.odi.org/sites/odi.org.uk/files/odiassets/publicationsopinion-files/9234.pdf [accessed 6 May 2016]. Department of Finance, (2010). Annexes to Summary of 2010 Budgetary Measures. Department of Finance, (2010). EU/IMF Programme of Financial Support. [online]. http://www.finance.gov.ie/viewdoc.asp?DocID=6856 [accessed 20 April, 2016] ECOTEC, (2001). Study on the Economic and Environmental Implications of the Use of Environmental Taxes and Charges in the European Union and its Member States. [online]. http://ec.europa.eu/environment/enveco/taxation/pdf/xsum_table_of_content.pdf [last accessed 13th June, 2016]. European Commission, (2005). Proposal for a Council Directive on Passenger Car Related Taxes, COM(2005) 261 of 5.7.2005. European Commission, (2011). Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic, and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions: A resource-efficient Europe - Flagship initiative under the Europe 2020 Strategy, COM(2011) 21 of 26.1.2011. European Commission, (2011). Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee, and the Committee of the Regions: Roadmap to a Resource Efficient Europe, COM (2011) 571 of 20.9.2011, Brussels. European Commission, (2014a). Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the

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Committee of the Regions: Towards a circular economy: A zero waste programme for Europe, COM (2014) 398 of 2.7.2014. European Union, (1994). European Parliament and Council Directive 94/62/EC of 20 December 1994 on packaging and packaging waste, OJEU L 365 of 31.12.1994. European Union, (2000). Directive 2000/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 October 2000, establishing a framework for Community action in the field of water policy, OJEU L 327 of 22.12.2000. Hagemann, R. (2012). Fiscal Consolidation: Part 6. What Are the Best Policy Instruments for Fiscal Consolidation? OECD Economics Department Working Papers, No. 937, Paris, France. International Monetary Fund (IMF), (2014). How Much Carbon Pricing is in Countries’ Own Interests? The Critical Role of Co-Benefits. Report by Parry I., Veung C. and Heine D. http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2014/wp14174.pdf last accessed 17th November 2014. OECD, (2006). The Political Economy of Environmentally-Related Taxes, Paris. OECD, (2009). Taxation and Economic Growth, OECD, Paris. www.oecdilibrary.org/docserver/download/1209011ec006.pdf?expires=1379419818&id=id&acc name=ocid84004878&checksum=6574502A9C8AC719DBB2BC964C556CC5. Parry, I. W. H, Heine, D., Lis, E., and Li, S. (2014). Getting Energy Prices Right: From Principle to Practice. International Monetary Fund, Washington. Saint Vincent de Paul, (2008). Society of St Vincent de Paul Submission to the Commission on Taxation. www.commissionontaxation.ie/VoluntarySector.asp. Schlegelmilch, K. (1999). Green Budget Reform in Europe – Countries at the Forefront, Springer Publishers, Berlin, 1999. [online]. http://wupperinst.org/de/publikationen/details/wi/a/s/ad/39/ [accessed 13th June, 2016]. Speck, S. (2013). Carbon taxation: Two decades of experience and future prospects, Carbon Management, 4(2), pp. 171-83. Vivid Economics, (2012). Carbon taxation and fiscal consolidation: the potential of carbon pricing to reduce Europe’s fiscal deficits. Report prepared for the European Climate Foundation and Green Budget Europe, May 2012 [online]. http://www.foes.de/internationales/green-budget-europe/gbe-projekte/cetrie/ [accessed 13th June, 2016].

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The Cyclades: Insularity and Education

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of the followed policies in contributing to minimize the disadvantages of insularity, focusing on education. A key for further improvements could be provided by sophisticated telecommunication systems connecting the islands amongst them and with the other centers of the country. JEL Category: R. Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate and Transportation Economics

Emmanuel V. Marmaras1

1

Emmanuel V. Marmaras Architect Planner (NTUA), Dr. (NTUA), PhD (Univ. of Leicester), ex-Professor of University of the Aegean (Department of Geography) and of Technical University of Crete (Department of Architecture) Chairman of the Society of Cycladic Studies. Email: [email protected]; [email protected];

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1. Introduction2 It is widely accepted that the Greek islands are a source of advantages and disadvantages, considered in the context of the socio-economy of this country. The advantages are shown during the summer months, when the islands are flooded by tourist waves, placing them in the centre of a vibrant economy, contributing in this way to the country’s budget. The disadvantages are felt clearer during the winter months, when the islands lose their summer liveness and a large part of their population living as isolated societies, because their whole ‘atmosphere’ is aggravated due to the lack of external communications. The Cyclades consist of twenty-four inhabited islands and a large number of uninhabited ones as well as many rocky islets, which are far from the nearest continental coast, forming in this way an isolated archipelago. By the use of the term ‘insularity’ an attempt to code the problem of island isolation is made, aiming to solve its negative effects. This attempt has also intervened in the agenda of the European Unıon (EU). Thus, a ‘climate’ of optımısm has been created, allowing the probability that the issue will be solved in the nearest future. Eurostat, the statistical agency of the EU, gave in 2001 a definition of the term ‘island’, taking into account its geomorphological, demographical and socio-economic features. According to this, ‘island’ is each part of land having a size of at least 1km2, that is more than one kilometre away from the nearest continental coast without having any fixed connection with it, created naturally, having a population of at least fifty persons which are living and working there, and finally it does not contain the capital city of any state. According to the Institution of Regional Development of the Panteion University (2012)3, three are the main features of the islands: Peripherality and the big distance from the nearest continental ‘poles’ of development. 

The small geographical size and low productivity.



The physical insularity and the limited resources. The aim of this paper is to examine the effectiveness of the followed policies in

contributing to minimize the disadvantages of insularity, focusing on education. A key for further improvements could be provided by sophisticated telecommunication systems connecting the islands amongst them and with the other centers of the country.

2

This paper was presented in the Naxos Summer School 2016 in a similar form in Greek. Thanks are due to Athena Wallace who contributed in the present English translation. 3 Konsolas N. (scient. respons.)(2012), A Brief Presentation of the Strategic Plan of the South Aegean Region, issue X, Region of South Aegean, p. 28. (in Greek).

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2. Insularity Since the beginning of the 1970’s ‘insularity’ concerned Mediterranean, European and other International Organizations. The challenges facing the small islands and the necessity for an integrated development was recognized by the international community for the first time in 1992 and was adopted in 1994 as a specialization of ‘Agenda 21’ of the UN in policies, actions and measures to be implemented at the international, national and regional level. Lately, the Cycladic question acquired more specific dimensions. In this way, the Archipelago of the Cyclades became literally the centre of European policy, due to the fact that this is the main Greek island area with such characteristics of insularity, with the exception of a few other isolated islands (i.e. Skyros, Limnos). Here, many of the small islands present the phaenomenon of ‘double’ insularity, which means that their sea communication is possible via another more central island. In spite of the lack of a policy up to now, dealing exclusively with the insularity problems and an integrated development plan for the insular European regions, all the followed policies influenced to a larger or smaller degree these special areas. Moreover, according to article 174 of the Treaty for the Function of the EU (Lisbon 2007), the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) contributed to the alleviation of inequalities amongst the European regions and specifically in places lacking economic development, including islands, border and mountain areas. The Greek State followed, providing for a relative amendment in the Constitution revision of 2008, taking into account the particular conditions of island and mountain areas and taking care for their development. Nevertheless, after four ERDF Program Periods (now the fifth 2014-2020 is under way), that decisively contributed in creating infrastructure, the problem was never radically tackled. An example is the port modernization without resolving the issue of adequate sea connections. Also, the lack of specific data concerning each island, inhibits the formation and support of a policy that respects the particularity of the islands as a whole and individually. The promotion of a Cycladic ‘integrated’ plan based not only on tourism, as a first contribution would facilitate and satisfy the request for a development policy for the whole Aegean area. Concluding, we could summarize with the following. Apart from the incorporation of measures and policies that take account of insularity as a feature that needs special care in the Cyclades, the formulation of an integrated island strategy is still absent. The implemented policies are fragmented involving many authorities, without the establishment of an effective

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observing and coordinating mechanism at the regional level. In order to alleviate these misgivings, the effort must be oriented toward this direction for the improvement of this island complex and in general of the Aegean area. Which means that Greece should acquire in practice an island conscience. The policies to be followed should have a constructive character, aiming at mid-term and long-term positive effects concerning the islands viability. They should not aim simply in direct income increases for the islanders, that might have a provisional positive consequence, but do not lead to the eradication of disadvantages accumulated by the insularity through the ages.

3. The Education Question The issue of education for the islands was always central for Greece, being an insular country. The interest was focused initially in the education of the island pupils, which started from the period of governor John Capodistrias, who sent Gregory Konstantas, the Education Curator (1824-1828), to the islands. Konstantas, was active in creating schools, finding teachers and writing school books, by travelling throughout the continental and insular country. He wrote a Report ‘on Education problems’, comprising the duties of Curators. Later on, he submitted his suggestions to the Governor. The construction of the so called ‘Kallias’ buildings for elementary schools, followed in the beginning of the twentieth century and after that the School Program during the second term of Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos (1928-1932) –under the Minister of Education George Papandreou– was widely implemented, since it provided the possibility for local authorities to offer gratis suitable lots for school construction. Buildings from both these periods enrich the townships of the mainland and the islands all over the country. Secondary education in the islands, in modern terms, followed in the steps of Elementary education with the construction of new buildings mainly in the beginning of the 1960’s. In this way, education began to serve and refer to larger portions of the island community. Nevertheless, this was restricted to urban centres and large townships. This fact obliged those students that could, to move from their villages or farms to the large island settlements providing Secondary schools. Eventually, the transport of students is provided by buses, financed by the island communities specifically for this purpose. The situation has improved lately, in spite the difficulties still observed in the recruiting of teachers for both lower levels of education and the unhindered implementation of

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the approved programs. However, the percentage of population that graduated from the Elementary level was 29.1% between the 27 EU countries with Malta reaching 74.7%, Crete and the Baleares between 45 and 60% and finally Cyprus at 32.6%. In spite of the developments in the education of the islands, the Archipelago remained far from the domain of the Technological and University levels. Of course, the issue of Higher education has a different qualitative prerogative,

than that of lower education, since it

refers to a limited number of students and requests more preconditions, such as, larger investments and the presence of specialized scientific staff. The European Spatial Observatory Network (ESPON) research and studies reached similar conclusions4. In fact, it was recognized that even though the education of the labor force and continued learning plays a central role in the economic and social strategy of the EU, in the context of the Lisbon Treaty and the 2020 European Strategy, the percentage of population between the ages of 25–64 with a Higher education in the whole of Europe reaches an average of 22.4%, while in the southern European islands it is restricted to less than 20%. Specifically, in the islands of Sardinia, Sicily, the South Aegean, the Ionian Isles, Corsica and Malta the relative percentage was less than 12.5%. Cyprus and Crete were an exception to this rule. In the north, the Scandinavian islands surpassed 25% of the population. In addition, Research and Development (R&D) in the islands is also at a low level compared to the rest of the EU. The reason given, was due to the lack of information and knowledge, factors considered essential for the conquest of social equality and economic competitiveness. The lack of distinguished research institutes and the low attractiveness for high education and specialized human capital is also responsible for this poor performance. Specifically, it was found that while in the whole EU 1.9% of the GDP was stipulated for R&D and in the private sector the relative percentage was barely 0,20%, in all the islands the percentage was lower (Eurostat data, 2009) apart from Crete, that reached (2005) 0,94% of GDP, (i.e. in Sicily 0.80%, in Sardinia 0,58%, in Malta 0,54%, in the Northern Aegean 0,48% in the Baleares 0,33% (2007)). In historical terms, the first indirect reference to Higher education in the Aegean, had Smyrna as its headquarters. It was established there as the first Aegean University by Eleftherios Venizelos after the signing of the Sevres Treaty (1920) when Smyrna was ceded to Greece, under the leadership of Constantinos Karatheodori, a remarkable mathematician and Professor of the University of Berlin. Even so, the University was based in the Asia

4

The ESPON 2013 Programme, “The Development of the Islands–European Islands and Cohesion Policy (EUROISLANDS)”, Targeted Analysis 2013/2/2, Final Report, pp. 43-4.

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Minor city of Smyrna (today Izmir), instead of on an island in the Aegean sea, as stated in its title. Today’s University of the Aegean is a continuation of Karatheodori’s vision, was reestablished in 1984 and is one of the younger Greek universities. Today, thirty years after, with seventeen Departments, thirty-eight Post–Graduate Programs, many Summer Schools and Continued Education, the University of the Aegean is ranked among the larger universities of the country. The administrative headquarters are situated in the city of Mytilene on the island of Lesbos, while Faculties and Departments operate today in the island cities of Mytilene, Chios, Carlovasi (in Samos), Rhodes, Ermoupoli (in Syros) and Myrina (in Lemnos), comprising a University–Network that covers almost the whole Aegean. Especially, concerning the Cyclades, there was the thought of establishing a Department for Chinese studies in the context of University of the Aegean, that never materialized though. Today the Department of Design Engineers for Products and Systems is located in Ermoupoli (in Syros). The so called ‘Seminars of Ermoupoli’ also take place in Syros in the summer time, giving the opportunity to many distinguished scientists to converse constructively. Between the years 2004 and 2011 a ‘Summer School’ functioned in Paros and since 2012 till today it takes place as the ‘Naxos Summer School’. Both Schools provide the opportunity for students of the Department of Geography, of the Mytilene University Unit, as well for local students, to attend during a fortnight seminar courses taught from professors of Greek and foreign University institutions. The ulterior motive of the last Summer School was to create the preconditions to organize a University Department on the island of Naxos, that would operate within the framework of the University of the Aegean. Furthermore, the issue of Higher education in the Aegean and especially in the Cyclades doesn’t appear to be faced in a radical and effective way with the traditional method, that is the establishment of University units in every island. Probably, the ‘experiment’ of Summer Schools operating occasionally in different islands provide a provisional outlet, but do not constitute a final solution. The reason is mainly because the whole effort is based on some local authorities’ illuminous initiative as well, as the volunteer work of a few professors offering some of their summer holiday time to teach without payment. A qualitative transformation is needed based on new organization forms and methods. Maybe, a solution could be like the one proposed to the Municipality of Paros to restructure the local Library, in order that it specializes in a certain field on one hand, and secondly to connect to the Central Library of the University of the Aegean in Mytilene,

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enabling every islander to have the opportunity to reach the latest developments in knowledge and gradually to allow the installation of a hub of scientific research on the island. In reality, the idea progressed to a degree (an electronic connection materialized with the Central Aegean University Library), but the results were poor in users’ numbers. A depth of time might be needed, for more favourable circumstances. More important though, might be, before any action is taken, to diagnose what the real problem is concerning the islanders request for Higher education in their homeland: is it the betterment of the inhabitant’s gnostic level and their degree of scientific specialization; or is it to attract new population, that would remain during the winter months (students and professors) and, would provide an extra income to the locals? Even though both options seem to have equal weight, in the conscience of a large part of the population the second one seems to gain acceptance. The latter should be considered as an outcome of the constant effect of the features of insularity, which is the central issue for the islands as mentioned before. Such an outlook should be adopted by the Central Government for the sensitive island area. Actually, the remark in the aforementioned study of ESPON is not without importance, meaning that the human resources of the islands, especially in the Mediterranean, even with a high GDP and the existence of Universities there, lacks in knowledge and skills, meaning that their cognitive level is low compared to the European average. This is obviously, the result of the followed model of development, actually the one based on tourism, that usually requires a low education level. The existence of a University in these islands, produce high level scientific human resources that cannot be absorbed by the local economy and search for employment elsewhere. The example of Lesbos population’s negative reaction in 1984, to the installation of the University of the Aegean there and the closure of the Academy producing Elementary school teachers, shows their affiliation to a lower educational level more adapted to local needs. Therefore, it is likely that a targeted, technological level, education, would offer with the same terms more practical solutions for local needs and succeed, at last, in the gradual betterment of the overall educational level. Finally, the promotion of the ‘Society of Knowledge’ project, could also offer a double role for the islands. First, it could directly contribute to the increase of the GDP and secondly could influence positively though indirectly local productivity and improve issues relating to low accessibility among the islands and toward other sectors, such as, education and cultural services. The gradual penetration of the so called ‘Information and Communication Technologies’ should have two components: the accessibility to the Internet and the dexterity to use it. The first is related to the enhancement of existing infrastructure and

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the second to the ability of local people to actively participate in the process of the Society of Knowledge.

4. Conclusions Concluding, primarily the turn toward the so called ‘integrated’ development, which means the promotion of a possibly complete system of co-operating productive sectors; and secondly, through the electronic communication of the islands with the Internet, the main Libraries of the country and abroad, as well as, with scientific research institutes; and thirdly, with small educational units (as the Summer Schools or the establishment of certain Technological institutions’ departments focused on sectors like Tourism and Culture, Agricultural Development, Urban and Regional Planning e.tc.), seem to offer a substantial outlet from the islands’ isolation and definitely contribute to the enhancement of their quality of life. Especially, under the continuously degrading framework of the economic crisis, devastating the country for the last years, it offers a different outlook toward the established attitudes. Therefore, any chosen solution should overcome the inherent weaknesses, appearing during the winter months, and should take advantage of the comparative strengths offered during the attractive due to good weather months.

5. References Konsolas N. (scient. respons.) (2012), A Brief Presentation of the Strategic Plan of the South Aegean Region, issue X, Region of South Aegean (in Greek). The ESPON 2013 Programme, “The Development of the Islands – European Islands and Cohesion Policy (EUROISLANDS)”, Targeted Analysis 2013/2/2, Final Report.

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Book Reviews Book Presentations

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