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This paper aims at exploring the factors that are important for the digital development of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis compared to large-sized enterprises.

Using data from a survey in Greek firms during the pandemic, econometric models are estimated to identify factors that are related to the expansion of digital marketing and e-commerce practices of SMEs and large-sized enterprises based on the technology–organization–environment framework.

The results suggest that while further investments in information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure are important for the digital development of SMEs during the COVID-19 crisis, it is the innovative activities that advance the digitalization of large-sized enterprises. Also, SMEs, which implement flexible human resource (HR) practices (such as remote work) and face delays in the supply chain due to the pandemic, appear to have increased probability of expanding their digital marketing and e-commerce. On the contrary, HR practices do not seem to matter for large firms, while new regulations appear to discourage their digital development during the COVID-19 crisis.

This is the first study which empirically explores the digital reactions of SMEs compared to those of large-sized enterprises in a pandemic crisis context. It advances the limited knowledge on the potentially different responses of SMEs and large-sized enterprises to major external shocks with respect to their digital marketing and e-commerce expansion.

The purpose of this paper is to explore potential drivers of high-growth intentions of early-stage entrepreneurs in Greece before and after the onset of the financial crisis of 2008.

To this end, the authors use individual-level data retrieved from Global Entrepreneurship Monitor annual surveys (2003-2015).

The results show that high-growth intentions of Greek entrepreneurs are driven by different factors in the crisis compared to the non-crisis period. Male entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs with significant work experience seem to be more likely to be engaged in growth-oriented new ventures during the crisis period. The same appears to hold for entrepreneurs who are motivated by an opportunity and also perceive future business opportunities in adverse economic conditions. On the other hand, the educational level and the social contacts of founders with other entrepreneurs are found to drive ambitious Greek entrepreneurship in the years before the crisis, while they were insignificant after the crisis outbreak.

Based on the concept of ambitious entrepreneurship, this study contributes to the literature by investigating the determinants of entrepreneurial high-growth expectations in the Greek context emphasizing the crisis period in comparison to the pre-crisis years.

During the recent economic crisis, public procurement reforms have received a great attention as a key mechanism that enables significant cost savings and improves transparency in the public sector, particularly in countries which are under a process of extensive fiscal consolidation like Greece. This paper examines the effects of improved transparency on public procurement cost in the light of the ongoing structural reforms taking place in Greece. The basic finding indicates that ensuring transparent practices in public procurement processes reduces government expenditures by about 1.8 - 3.4 percentage points. A dataset on 2309 public supply contracts for goods was used, supplementing the pooled OLS estimates with quantile regressions.

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.