https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/28469 Sun, 31 May 2026 19:12:50 GMT 2026-05-31T19:12:50Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/32135 Title: Business clusters formation as a means of improving competitiveness in the tourism sector Authors: Lagos, Dimitris G.; Courtis, Panayiotis G. Abstract: Business Clusters became foreground of economic thought in the 90s due to Michael Porter’s research work, who argued that the most successful export companies belong to group of enterprises of the same industry that are geographically close to one another. This issue became even more acute because of the globalisation of the economy and the need to plan and implement policies aiming mainly at strengthening the competitiveness of small and medium sized enterprises. Tourism, as an economic activity, includes a wide range of small and medium enterprises engaging in various sectors of it. It is argued that business clusters within the field of tourism economics define de facto the competitiveness of a tourist destination. Business clusters of small and medium enterprises which operate in a tourism destination are a prerequisite contributing to its competitiveness. Especially in Greece, it is alleged that clusters can maximise the abilities offered by technology, new markets and other external factors and contribute to the strengthening of competitiveness in the tourism industry. Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/32135 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/31868 Title: Long memory in volatility. An investigation on the Central and Eastern European exchange rates Authors: Bobeica, Gabriel; Bojesteanu, Elena Abstract: Understanding the evolution of volatility on the financial markets is essential for the comprehension and for the analysis of risk. This paper regards the topic of persistence of volatility in the exchange rates for four Central and Eastern European countries: Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Romania. Persistence in volatility shows how quickly financial markets forget large volatility shocks. The persistence of volatility is addressed as the presence of long-term memory in the second order moment of returns and in absolute returns. The main feature of a long-memory process is that its autocorrelation function decays slower than that of a short memory process, but faster than that of an integrated one. The paper also concerns the implications on risk assessment of detecting long-term memory in the volatility of the exchange rate. Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/31868 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/31867 Title: Impact of international volatility and the introduction of individual stock futures on the volatility of a small market Authors: Sariannidis, Nikolaos; Drimbetas, Evangelos Abstract: This study analyzes the effect of individual share futures as well as the international volatility spillover on the Greek market. We have found that individual share futures have had a beneficial effect on the volatility of the underlying stocks in various ways. We have also concluded that stock returns in the Greek market receive a mean spillover effect from the major markets of the European Union, from the U.S. and Japan markets and volatility spillover only from the major markets in the E.U. The methodology employed is the capturing asymmetries model proposed by Glosten et al. (1989) (GJR) and the period analyzed covers from August 1997 to January 2006. Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/31867 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/31865 Title: Finance, investment and macroeconomic performance Authors: Argitis, Georgios Abstract: Finance, power and distribution are issues that are largely absent in conventional macroeconomics. This paper outlines the implicit economic process embedded in the neo-classical and new-Keynesian constructions of macroeconomics regarding the finance-investment relation. It then develops a general post-Keynesian framework and argues that finance, power and income distribution are significant determinants of investment and macroeconomic activity. Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 GMT https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/31865 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z