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1
Dimitropoulos, Panagiotis, Ioannis Kosmas, and Ioannis Douvis. "Implementing the balanced scorecard in a local government sport organization." International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management 66, no. 3 (2017): 362–79. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/ijppm-11-2015-0167.
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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the issue of performance management in the public sector and specifically the implementation of the balanced scorecard (BSC) methodology on a public (municipal) non-profit sport organization in Greece. The research provides a discussion on the BSC development process, the goals set on each pillar and the outcome that the organization achieved, in order to be used as a roadmap for other managers in the public sector. Design/methodology/approach The study used information extracted from the municipal board of Papagos-Holargos city in Greece, including board reports, documents and decision transcripts and open-ended interviews related to the implementation of BSC method, as well as to the impact of this decision on the quality of services, citizens’ satisfaction and the improvement of internal processes. Findings The results indicated that the citizens of Papagos-Holargos perceived sport services to be of enhanced quality related to/when compared to the previous years (based on a questionnaire submitted by the citizens of Papagos-Holargos at the end of the each sample per year). In addition, the staff improved its skills and abilities by participating in training seminars and, in general, the implementation of the BSC method on the municipal sport organization of Papagos-Holargos city sets the basis for an effective performance management which can enhance its future sustainability. Practical implications Managers of municipal and public sport organizations could use the findings of the study as a roadmap for discussing, evaluating and possibly implementing the BSC approach in their organizations’ daily operations. Originality/value This study fills a significant gap in the existing literature on the implementation of a traditional business performance management tool on a non-profit public sport organization.
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Pazarskis, Michail, Stergios Galanis, Maria Gkatziou, and Sofia Kourtesi. "Examining governance and performance of utility companies after mergers: a case from a municipal water company in Greece." Public and Municipal Finance 11, no. 1 (2022): 90–100. http://dx.doi.org/10.21511/pmf.11(1).2022.08.
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This study deals with the governance and performance of utility companies following mergers in local government organizations (LGOs). It is demonstrated by using the municipal water supply and sewerage company in city of Serres as a case study of how the reform initiative known as “Kallikratis” has impacted Greek municipal water and sewerage companies. As a result of the Kallikratis Program, the municipalities were merged, and new data were added to the map of local government in Greece. The methodological approach entails surveying the economic analysis of raw data using a number of financial ratios (financial statements of the municipal company). The study’s findings demonstrate that the municipal company of Serres was able to plan the actions that resulted in an improvement of the majority of the examined ratios after merger events, despite the extra responsibilities and geographic areas that the Kallikratis Program added to the municipal companies and the reduction of the extraordinary subsidies as a result of the Greek debt crisis. Eleven of the fourteen ratios perform better than they did before the merger, while three of them actually perform worse (2011–2018). However, various and contradictory results about the evolution of these ratios are seen over the crisis era, as some of them initially show a partial improvement (in the midst of the economic crisis period), but then they gradually deteriorate by the end of the crisis.
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Galanis, Stergios, Michail Pazarskis, Sofia Kourtesi, and Maria Gatziou. "Governance in local government organizations and their state-owned enterprises: Impact of merger laws in Greece." Corporate Law and Governance Review 4, no. 2 (2022): 77–88. http://dx.doi.org/10.22495/clgrv4i2p9.
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Corporate governance plays a key role for the companies of the private sector, and recently corporate governance started to be involved within the structures and activities of public entities and state-owned enterprises (SOEs). Many countries, including Greece, have put regional and municipal merger plans into place in order to reduce costs and enforced the ideals of economy, efficiency, and effectiveness in public administration. This study, focusing on these issues, illustrates the current state of Greek governance and recent legal developments after the merging of local government organizations (LGOs) and their associated municipal and regional-owned companies (SOEs) and provides new insights and conclusions regarding the implantation of governance in the LGOs and their SOEs after mergers
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Bartolacci, Francesca, Rosanna Salvia, Giovanni Quaranta, and Luca Salvati. "Seeking the Optimal Dimension of Local Administrative Units: A Reflection on Urban Concentration and Changes in Municipal Size." Sustainability 14, no. 22 (2022): 15240. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su142215240.
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In the search for a better administrative functioning as a key dimension of economic performances, changes in municipal boundaries and the creation (or suppression) of local administrative units reflect a progressive adjustment to a spatially varying population size and density. With intense population growth, municipal size reflects the overall amount (and spatial concentration) of services and infrastructures, being functionally related with agglomeration economies, land availability for building, and specific sociodemographic attributes of local communities. Based on these premises, the intrinsic relationship between settlement expansion, population growth, and municipal size in a metropolitan region of Southern Europe (Attica, hosting the Greater Athens’ area in Central Greece) was investigated in this study over nearly one century as a contribution to a refined investigation of the (changing) organization of local administrative units under a complete metropolitan cycle from urbanization to reurbanization. Based on descriptive statistics, mapping, (parametric and nonparametric) correlation coefficients, and econometric techniques, a quantitative analysis of the relationship between population size and density and municipal area provides pivotal knowledge to policy and planning adjustments toward a more balanced spatial distribution of population and administered land among local government units. Together with a slight decrease in the average municipal size over time, the average population density per municipal unit increased systematically, with a considerable reduction in spatial heterogeneity of settlements. The observed goodness-of-fit of the linear model explaining municipal area with population density, increased significantly over time. Empirical results of our study indicate that municipal size has slowly adjusted to population density across metropolitan areas, determining an imbalanced spatial distribution of resident population and a supposedly less efficient government partition. The recent administrative reform of local authorities in Greece (the so-called ‘Kallikratis’ law) seems to consolidate–rather than rebalance this organizational structure over space, reflecting spatially polarized settlements. Such conditions represent a base for informed analysis of the spatial structure of local administrative units as a pivotal element of economic sustainability and may contribute to the debate on the optimal size of municipalities at both urban and metropolitan scales of governance.
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Costopoulou, Constantina, Maria Ntaliani, and Filotheos Ntalianis. "Evolution of e-participation in Greek local government." Information Polity 26, no. 3 (2021): 311–25. http://dx.doi.org/10.3233/ip-190174.
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Local governments are increasingly developing electronic participation (e-participation) initiatives, expecting citizen involvement in local community affairs. Our objective was to assess e-participation and the extent of its change in local government in Greece. Using content analysis for 325 Greek municipal websites, we assessed e-participation status in 2017 and 2018 and examined the impact of change between these years. The assessment regards two consecutive years, since the adoption of digital technologies by municipalities has been rapid. The main findings show that Greek local governments have made significant small- to medium-scale changes, in order to engage citizens and local societies electronically. We conclude that the integration of advanced digital technologies in municipalities remains underdeveloped. We propose that Greek municipalities need to consider incorporating new technologies, such as mobile apps, social media and big data, as well as e-decision making processes, in order to eliminate those obstacles that hinder citizen engagement in local government. Moreover, the COVID-19 outbreak has highlighted the need for enhancing e-participation and policymakers’ coordination through advanced digital technologies.
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Emmanouil, Christina, Kalliopi Papadopoulou, Iliana Papamichael, and Antonis A. Zorpas. "Pay-as-You-Throw (PAYT) for Municipal Solid Waste Management in Greece: On Public Opinion and Acceptance." Sustainability 14, no. 22 (2022): 15429. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/su142215429.
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As municipal solid waste increases on a global scale, local and national governments strive for the implementation of efficient waste management systems in urban settings. The importance of the optimization of waste management lies with the fact that it constitutes a key step towards energy and material independence as well as the development of sustainable societies. In order for municipalities to fall in line with European legislations and strategies (i.e., European Green Deal, Waste Framework Directive, Sustainable Development Goals, etc.), they need to choose strategic, targeted schemes for adequate waste management, taking into account the area profile under investigation (i.e., population, demographic, public opinion, etc.). The present study investigates the level of knowledge of citizens regarding a pay-as-you-throw (PAYT) system in Greece. The aim of the investigation is to elucidate the attitude towards PAYT implementation within a socioeconomic context. A survey was conducted using an online questionnaire in 2021 while the results show valuable insight on the degree of public acceptance and understanding. At the same time, shortcomings (e.g., communication about the implementation from government and local authorities to citizens) have been pinpointed.
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Pallis, Christos, and Petros Pallis. "The development of municipalities property management as a financial tool." Journal of Property Investment & Finance 32, no. 1 (2014): 78–93. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/jpif-09-2013-0054.
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Purpose – The concept was that municipal real estate was an asset which consisted of a combination of measurable and hard-to-estimate returns (including social benefits) rather than a public good. Many local government organizations attempted to capitalize and assess real estate, with a view to generating revenue for local authorities. Others proceeded to use direct private sector financing for the construction of municipal infrastructure, in exchange for the right to use public land for commercial development purposes. In Greece, the institutional framework for local government organizations prevented local government from playing an essential role, because of their limited powers and financial resources. There are two key questions coming up within this context, which are the main subject of the research: What are the financing instruments used by municipalities today? What are the financing instruments that municipalities would like to use today? No research has been done so far on the above questions at such sample level as used in the research, i.e. all the municipalities in the territory of Greece. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – The paper presents the literature review of the property management and the methodology of an empirical research through structured questionnaire that was sent to the entire population of Greek municipalities. Findings – The main findings regard the financial instruments used by the Greek municipalities and funding schemes from various sources. Apart from these funding sources which Greek cities actually use, the present research has investigated the sources of funding that municipalities would like to use. Practical implications – The paper consists a detailed road map for practical public management. Originality/value – The questionnaire was sent to the entire population of Greek municipalities, characterized in this way with considerable heterogeneity. The sample equals the whole population, which has been investigated for the first time, regarding the Greek Paradigm.
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Panayiotou, Nikolaos, and Vasileios Stavrou. "A proposed maturity assessment framework of the Greek local government Web Electronic Services." Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy 13, no. 3/4 (2019): 237–56. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/tg-03-2019-0018.
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Purpose This paper aims to construct an assessment framework to establish a maturity model for Web Electronic Services offered at a local government level and investigate the maturity of Greek municipalities in the E-Government field, trying to correlate how this is affected by demographic variables. Design/methodology/approach An original assessment framework regarding municipal Electronic Services was created based on the literature review. The assessment framework was included in a methodological approach supported by the PROMETHEE II method, as well as by selected statistical methods. The framework and the methodological approach were applied in the case of Greek municipalities. Findings The analysis revealed the low maturity level of Greek municipalities in Electronic Services sector. The Greek case study indicated that the proposed framework and methodological approach could provide useful insights to municipalities for the improvement of its E-Government Web services based on their strategic preferences. Research limitations/implications The assessment took place only in Greece, assessing all the country's municipalities and conducting research only in the municipalities’ websites. The proposed methodology suggests that the PROMETHEE II multi-criteria decision analysis method can support the assessment of the maturity level of local government entities. Moreover, the combination of the PROMETHEE II–empowered assessment framework with demographic statistical analysis can assist orthological decision-making concerning future investments in Web Electronic Services. The methodology could be a good option for future research efforts (assessments) in municipalities, in Greece and worldwide. Practical implications The framework is both easy to use and fairly complete. The fact that the assessment was conducted in all the Greek municipalities makes it much more reliable, as it provides the whole picture. The suggested methodology which includes the proposed framework could be used in the cases of municipalities in other countries to assist future actions concerning the investment in Web Electronic Services. Originality/value This study provided a medium-size framework, being both complete and easy to use during the evaluation process of all the municipalities in Greece. In addition, the statistical analysis received data from a decision-making tool to execute the clustering (Cluster analysis is usually performed based on the raw data).
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Tsimnadis, Konstantinos, Grigorios L. Kyriakopoulos, Garyfallos Arabatzis, and Efthimios Zervas. "Waste collection and treatment networks with source separation from Mobile Green Points (MGP): Citizens awareness and spatial planning for the collection of clean recyclable materials." IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1123, no. 1 (2022): 012069. http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1123/1/012069.
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Abstract This paper studied the recycling and the reuse of Municipal Solid Wastes (MSW) with Source Separation. These practices are commonly utilized in the European Union (EU) and internationally, giving successful recycling and treatment examples mainly for 7 selected - segregated household waste streams: a) paper and cardboard b) plastics, c) metals, d) glass, e) clothing and textiles, f) Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) and g) Edible Oil Wastes (EOW). Greece implements lower recycling levels, 21%, of the annually produced MSW comparing to the EU. In 2021 the Regional Government of Attica launched a pilot program of rewarding recycling with Source Separation called “THE GREEN CITY”. This program consists of 60 Mobile Green Points (MGPs) that serve a unified citizen awareness and waste collection (7 MSW streams) network throughout Attica. This network includes numerous temporary parking and operation spots for the MGPs. A 56% of them is located next to recreation and green areas, registering at least 70,000 citizens in the program and collecting approximately 400 tons of clean recyclable MSW (April 2022). Therefore, “THE GREEN CITY” program serves the setting target of Directive 2018/851 for at least 55% by weight recycling and reuse of the Greek MSW by 2025.
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Skerletopoulos, Leonidas, Angela Makris, and Mahmooda Khaliq. "“Trikala Quits Smoking”: A Citizen Co-Creation Program Design to Enforce the Ban on Smoking in Enclosed Public Spaces in Greece." Social Marketing Quarterly 26, no. 3 (2020): 189–203. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1524500420942437.
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Background: Tolerance and acceptance of smoking indoors by consumers is common in Greece, and for the most part, authorities turn the other cheek in enforcing long-standing legislation banning smoking in enclosed public places. Focus of the Article: This case study describes the “Trikala Quits Smoking” initiative, which was designed to enforce smoking legislation in Trikala, creating a new social norm to counter the national indifference to enforcing the law regarding smoking indoors. Declared a smart city three times since 2009 and considered one of the most digitally progressive cities in the country, Trikala presents a good example of how to achieve behavior change in a high-context culture. This article outlines the processes used and the lessons learned to achieve the long-term goal of protecting adults and children from the effects of indoor second-hand smoking (SHS) by changing perception and acceptance of indoor smoking by the community, business owners, and local government. Program Design/Approach: A citizen co-creation approach was used to design the program to attain community buy-in and change existing social norms. The Socio-Ecological Model guided this process. It engaged upstream, midstream, and downstream stakeholders, including medical professionals, commercial business owners, the municipal leadership, and citizens to initiate the change. The deCIDES framework was used to guide project implementation. Planning for the initiative started in January 2017, with implementation commencing September 2017 and the project ending June 2019. Importance to the Social Marketing Field: This case study is the first documentation of social marketing in Greece. Implementation of this initiative shows the value of social marketing in changing social norms for high-context cultures. Methods: Primary data were gathered using a citizen-orientated information gathering process consisting of open community meetings, closed group stakeholder meetings, and project member meetings. Data from the city council regarding the number of fines issued to businesses provided evidence of the intervention’s success. Results: Before the start of the intervention, less than five percent of businesses were compliant with the law; after implementation, 90% of the businesses were compliant. Over 1,200 inspections took place, and only 50 fines for lack of compliance were issued over 18 months. The initiative was deemed successful in banning smoking in enclosed public spaces and shifting social norms about SHS. In late 2019, a national ban on smoking in enclosed public places was enforced by the newly elected parliament.
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Karamagioli, Evika, Eleni-Revekka Staiou, and Dimitris Gouscos. "Assessing the Social Media Presence and Usage Patterns of Major Greek Municipalities." International Journal of Civic Engagement and Social Change 2, no. 3 (2015): 1–20. http://dx.doi.org/10.4018/ijcesc.2015070101.
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Social media tools can enhance governments' abilities to interact with and engage citizens as well as to meet their expectations for transparency as they have the potential to make policy processes more inclusive and thereby rebuild the long lost confidence between governments and citizens. Little is known about how Greek local authorities capitalize on the potential of social media as communication channels. The purpose of this study is therefore to explore if and how 52 major municipalities all over Greece (administrative capitals of the corresponding prefectures) utilize Facebook, Twitter and YouTube for managing their external communication with citizens during the April-June 2014 timeframe, which covered the period of municipal elections in Greece that took place in mid-May 2014.
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Lappas, Georgios, Prodromos Yannas, Amalia Triantafillidou, and Alexandros Kleftodimos. "DO GREEK MUNICIPAL WEBSITES MEET CITIZENS’ PERCEPTIONS ON ISSUE IMPORTANCE?" Jurnal Teknologi 78, no. 12-3 (2016). http://dx.doi.org/10.11113/jt.v78.10021.
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The purpose of the present study is first to evaluate local e-government initiatives in Greece from a citizen perspective and then to test how well Greek municipalities perform on the most important e-government applications as perceived by citizens. Towards this end, a citizen survey was conducted using an instrument that contained 14 indices and assessed citizens’ perceived importance of e-government as well as e-democracy features incorporated in municipal portals. Results indicate that Greek citizens are not ready to move forward with the adoption of more participatory and deliberative tools of local governments’ websites. Moreover, Greek citizens want easy to complete online services while they place emphasis on the informational content of the local governments’ websites. In addition they desire simple ways to communicate with their local governments such as contact or email forms and suggestion boxes. Based on the citizen survey results, a quantitative website analysis was conducted to examine the level of sophistication of Greek municipal portals in regards to the most important e-government features. Results suggest that Greek local governments can be regarded as laggards in the provision of online services to citizens and businesses as well as the inclusion of information for tourists.
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CIOMMI, Maria Teresa, laria ZAMBON, and Luca SALVATI. "POPULATION DYNAMICS, AGGLOMERATION ECONOMIES AND MUNICIPAL SIZE: A LONG-TERM ANALYSIS." Journal of Urban and Regional Analysis 11, no. 1 (2020). http://dx.doi.org/10.37043/jura.2019.11.1.1.
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Under the hypothesis that modifications in municipal boundaries and creation (or suppression) of new administrative units reflect a progressive adjustment toward a more balanced distribution of population over space, the present study investigates the long-term relationship (1928-2012) between urban expansion, population dynamics and municipal area in a growing metropolitan region (Athens, Greece). In expanding regions, municipal size is a key variable outlining the amount and spatial concentration of services and infrastructures, resulting to be functionally related to population density, agglomeration factors, land availability to building and characteristic socioeconomic profiles of local communities. A statistical analysis of the relationship between population density and municipal area provides basic knowledge to policy and planning adjustments toward a more balanced spatial distribution of population and land among the local government units. Descriptive statistics, mapping, correlation analysis and linear regressions were used to assess the evolution of such relationship over a sufficiently long time period. The average municipal area in Athens decreased moderately over time, with a slight increase in spatial heterogeneity. Conversely, the average population density per municipality increased more rapidly, with a considerable reduction in spatial heterogeneity. The observed goodness-of-fit of the linear relationship between population density and municipal area increased significantly over time. The empirical results of our study indicate that municipal size has progressively adjusted to population density across metropolitan areas, determining a more balanced spatial distribution of the resident population, which was consolidated by the recent administrative reform of the local authorities in Greece (the so called ‘Kallikratis’ law). Such conditions represent a base for the informed analysis of the spatial structure of local administrative units and they contribute to the debate on the optimal size of municipalities and other administrative districts with relevant impact on both urban and metropolitan scales of governance.
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Velissari, J., A. Vantarakis, and M. Zamparas. "Country Report: How do Greek municipalities currently promote health and health equity?" European Journal of Public Health 29, Supplement_4 (2019). http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/eurpub/ckz185.731.
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Abstract The establishment of municipalities in Greece is governed by Kallikratis Law (2011). There are 325 municipalities in Greece. The municipalities promote activities relating arts, education, health, sport and social services. In addition, there are a few national laws giving municipalities extra possibilities. Main financial sources of municipalities are municipal taxes, fees and duties, VAT tax. Central government finances major infrastructure projects in the municipalities, based on individual projects. Also, some NGOs are helping municipalities in their social role. Aim The investigation of the promotion of health and health equity in municipal level. Findings: Social determinants of health are the main causes for health inequalities at a municipal level. Due to that, some municipalities have developed programs to mitigate them. Municipalities have developed the National Intermunicipal Network of Healthy Cities - Health Promotion has as its sole purpose the prevention of diseases, health Promotion, the screening control of high-risk population groups and generally promote integrated policies in the field of Public Health. Today includes 218 (67%) KALLIKRATI Municipalities from all regions of the country. Municipal social capacities are: kindergartens, programs for migrants, daily care centres for elder people, health care centres (urban and rural), community nursing /home nursing care, mainly to elder and vulnerable groups. Environmental hygiene: The most important role is the collection of household waste and their appropriate disposal, as well as the protection of the environment. There are difficulties in promoting health and health equity by the municipalities: a) lack of financial & human recourses, b) lack of explicit responsibility of Municipalities c) lack of capacity about health issues and 4) bureaucracy. Conclusions There is place for action at the municipal allowing municipalities to implement various programs relating to healthy living environments.
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Caraballo-Cueto, Jose, and Juan Lara. "Deindustrialization and Unsustainable Debt in Middle-Income Countries: The Case of Puerto Rico." Journal of Globalization and Development 8, no. 2 (2017). http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/jgd-2017-0009.
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Abstract Puerto Rico recently became the largest bankruptcy case in the history of the U.S. municipal bond market. This debt crisis has not been the subject of significant scrutiny in the economic literature, though many researchers focus on case studies, such as Greece and Argentina, to analyze a country’s indebtedness. The underlying economic factors that influence unsustainable debt in upper middle-income countries are generally understudied. We attempted to contribute to filling these gaps in the related literature. Using econometric analysis, we found that Puerto Rico’s government indebtedness is, to a large extent, connected to a sharp decrease in manufacturing employment (i.e. deindustrialization) suffered by this economy, and weak evidence that it was caused by an excessive government payroll or overgenerous federal programs. In light of our empirical results, we discussed how the consequences of deindustrialization ultimately led to increase government borrowing.
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Karagianni, Maria. "Making Thessaloniki Resilient? The Enclosing Process of the Urban Green Commons." Urban Planning 8, no. 1 (2022). http://dx.doi.org/10.17645/up.v8i1.5990.
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In the global hegemonic resilience discourse, green infrastructure is projected as a “win-win” approach to urban planning. Following the trend of adopting resilience as the new silver bullet for urban development, and in the midst of the recent financial crisis, Thessaloniki, Greece, joined the 100 Resilient Cities network of the Rockefeller Foundation in 2014. This event marked a shift in the city’s public space production and governance programme, introducing new private actors in decision-making processes, an emphasis on green space economic benefits, and an extensive regeneration programme heavily focused on the city centre. The article scrutinises these changes to uncover the policy implications of the turn to resilience in green public space production. Based on data on green public space spatial distribution; semi-structured interviews with municipal representatives and senior employees and representatives of the government, civil society, and local professional associations; policy document analysis; and comparative analysis of all relevant development and planning documents, and drawing on Brenner and Theodore’s (2005) conceptualisation of neoliberalism, the article argues that greening policies in Thessaloniki form an ongoing enclosing process of the urban green commons that articulates in a threefold manner: their discursive construction as “natural assets,” the implementation of spatially selective policies, and the post-politicisation of decision-making processes.
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Epstein, Ben, Leticia Bode, and Jennifer M. Connolly. "Do squeaky wheels get the grease? Understanding when and how municipalities respond to online requests." New Media & Society, August 18, 2021, 146144482110312. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/14614448211031249.
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Citizens often attempt to interact with government through online modes of communication such as email and social media. Using an audit study, we examine when and how American municipalities with populations of over 50,000 respond to online requests for information. We develop baselines for municipal responsiveness, including the average rate, time, and quality of responses, and examine whether these response attributes vary based on the mode of communication or the tone of the request. Overall, municipalities responded to 54% of email requests and 38% of Twitter requests. A majority of responses were received on the same business day. Responses are slightly faster on Twitter, but of higher quality on email. Governments are more likely to respond to frustrated constituents on email, but respond faster to frustrated queries on Twitter, though with lower quality responses. These findings contribute to our understanding of local government responsiveness and have significant implications for democratic accountability and resident compliance with and the effectiveness of local government policies. Furthermore, our scholarly understanding of local government communications with residents, and particularly the promise of social media as a tool of two-way communication, may be underdeveloped.