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The aim of this chapter is to explore the economic impact of the ICT sector in the Greek economy. In the first stage of this study, the ICT sector is identified as a composite agglomerate of various manufacturing and service industrial sectors of the economy, following its international definition introduced by OECD. Under this concept, we explore the main structural indicators of its business activity and quantify its impact in the Greek economy (in terms of production value, GDP, investment, and employment), utilizing the basic principles of Input-Output analysis. We further investigate the ICT sector’s linkages with other industries as a ‘route’ for technology and innovation diffusion in the Greek production system by approximating the ICT sector as the enabling force for the digital transformation of production in the face of Industry 4.0. The empirical results of this analysis are accompanied by a review of some key qualitative characteristics of the sector and elaborate on major challenges and relevant policy implications that arise.

The main objective of this chapter is to explore how the adoption of corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices is associated with firm innovativeness, utilising a rich data survey of 3,500 Greek SMEs. Furthermore, by classifying SMEs into two groups, the high-performing and low-performing in terms of CSR, we explore whether and in which way the application of CSR moderates the relationship between innovation inputs (such as R&D expenditure and R&D collaboration) and innovation output. The findings obtained from the first stage of our analysis suggest that CSR practices drive the innovation process as well as the innovation output of SMEs, supporting thus SDG9. The empirical results obtained from the second stage of analysis indicate that the wide adoption of CSR practices may stand as an alternative way to established and more expensive drivers of innovation output in adverse times when firms lack financial resources especially in crisis-hit economies such as the case of Greece.

The main purpose of this chapter is to explore whether and how the productivity of SMEs is affected by qualified human capital, digital capabilities, and innovation activities. In doing so, we use a rich data survey of 3,500 Greek SMEs in the year 2012 and we perform conditional quantile regression analysis. The main findings of this study suggest that although human capital knowledge, ICT infrastructure, and organizational innovation are significantly affecting productivity at the mean of the distribution, the effects are highly differentiated in the quantiles. Thus, qualified human capital facilitates substantially the productivity of SMEs only in the middle and the higher quantiles of the productivity distribution. In addition, SMEs in some high and low quantiles seem to increase their productivity when they participate in R&D collaborations. Furthermore, a higher degree of ICT infrastructure and organizational innovation favors the labor productivity of SMEs in the low and middle quantiles. On the contrary, the internet usage by the employees of SMEs at the lowest quantile is harmful for their productivity. SMEs should adopt the most appropriate policies to increase productivity and enhance performance.