Program CBC – Athens Institute

15^th Annual International Conference on Global Studies:
Business, Economic, Political, Social and Cultural Aspects
20-23 December 2021, Athens, Greece
Program (Athens Local Time)
(Note: each presentation includes at least 10 minutes for questions and discussions if available)

Monday 20 December 2021

09.30-10.00
Registration

10.00-10.30
Opening and Welcoming Remarks:

Gregory T. Papanikos, President, ATINER

10.30-11.00
Laia Comerma Calatayud, Research Fellow, Barcelona Institute of International Studies (IBEI), Spain.
Title: The Global Governance of EU-China Investment Protection Agreements.

Summary

The present paper analyses the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment that has been agreed in-principle by the Commission and China with the aim to test whether the fact that it has been negotiated at the EU level brings relevant changes with respect to the pre-existing Bilateral Investment Agreements that the EU Member States had concluded individually with China. That is, I study whether negotiating at the EU level, or with a single-voice, brings relatively more favourable positions, i.e. higher protection for investment, increased governance provisions such as labour protection. This is studied from two points of view: the EU as a rule-making power, that is, using Investment Protection Agreements (IPAs) to export its values and norms to be adopted as international norms and values; and the EU as the combined weight of 27 Member States that act in synergy due to this pool of negotiations. Therefore, and most importantly, the paper contributes to the single-voice literature that studies the influence of the centralization of powers in the EU, but also to the foreign policy literature, to give insights on what added value and normative power does the EU bring to the table when negotiating bilaterally, in this case, with China; and what are the main obstacles that are found when trying to reach agreements, and the points where further cooperation can be envisioned. The methodology used has been text-as-data analysis of all the EU Investment Protection Agreements and Bilateral Investment Treaties between EU Member States and China, so as to trace the shifts, on the one hand, between the EU- and MS-level and, on the other hand, between the agreement with China – the CAI – and other IPAs that the EU has concluded: those are, with Japan, Vietnam, Singapore, Mexico and the CETA. In fact, those are not exclusively IPAs, but all international economic treaties that include investment provisions have been included, coded and analysed, so as to have a comprehensive overview of the abovementioned phenomenon. This way, we can account for other variables that may justify the differences between MS’ BITs with China and the CAI, and then be able to study the differences regarding their engagement with the global investment regime and their influence on global governance within this regime. For this analysis, the code used was the one created by Thompson, Broude and Haftel (2019), which built on UNCTAD’s IIA Mapping Project. They transformed UNCTAD’s raw coding into selected categories that measured the SRS by classifying the relevant provisions of the agreements into ninety-one indicators, clustered under forty-two categories, grouped in turn under eight broader dimensions that they consider central to SRS. With this analysis, it was found that the EU has indeed a significant influence both as a rule-making power, by managing to include in the treaties normative provisions that where non-existent at the BITs, and from the point of view of the benefits created by the single-voice, that is, by enforcing similar positions between itself, represented by the Commission, and the Member States, prior to negotiations, so that less conflictual stances are taken and more controversial ones get to be talked about and eventually included in the IPA, or the CAI in this case, since Member States do not undermine themselves and re-enforce EU’s negotiating leverage with vis-à-vis China.

Session I on Global Education 
11:00-13:00

11.00-11.30
Gerhard Speckbacher, Professor, WU Vienna, Austria.
Title: Peer Evaluations in a Creative Team Task: Evidence from a Classroom Experiment.
Summary
In this paper, we build on prior research on the attribution of success or failure to analyze, how members of diverse teams assess the performance of peers whom they consider similar (in-group) versus those team members whom they consider dissimilar (out-group). In line with social comparison theory, we argue that individuals show a tendency to assess the performance of in-group peers more favorably (in-group favoritism). However, whether this tendency prevails or even turns into the opposite, crucially depends on whether individuals have knowledge on joint team performance and on whether the team as a whole performed well (team success) or not (team failure). More specifically, we distinguish two settings when making peer performance assessments, one setting where team members do not have knowledge on whether the jointly produced outcome was successful or not, and one setting where team members know that their team succeeded or failed. Building on attribution theory, we argue that knowledge on positive or negative team outcome triggers a causal attribution process, where team members attribute responsibility for success or failure to their peers. The social comparisons involved in this attribution process are subject to self-serving biases and thereby distort peer assessments in predictable ways. As its core argument, social comparison theory posits that in ambiguous situations, individuals seek for social information from comparing themselves with others, and individuals who appear similar to the self are preferred reference points. Information on team success triggers a competitive situation among in-group team members where individuals compete for their share in team success with their in-group peers. Accordingly, in case of team success, evaluators downgrade the contribution of in-group team members as compared to a situation where they do not have knowledge on the positive outcome. Since out-group team members are less used as reference points for social comparison, such downgrading does not occur with respect to out-group team members. We test our hypotheses in an experiment with 247 international student participants and find evidence to support our hypotheses. Beyond our contributions to a better understanding of peer evaluations more generally, we discuss the use of classroom experiments as an innovative form of problem-based teaching. Students are made aware of their biases related to peers whom they perceive as similar or dissimilar.
11:30-12:00
Hind Aljuaid, Assistant Professor, Taif University, Saudi Arabia.
Mansoor Almalki, Vice President for Development and Quality, Shaqra University and Associate Professor, Taif University, Saudi Arabia.
Title: Implementing Global Citizenship Values in Teaching the English Language.
Summary
The ongoing globalization has largely contributed to an increasingly interconnected world. As a result, there is a need for the creation of global citizenship values among students to equip them to be more competitive and collaborative in resolving emerging global problems like climate change, healthcare pandemics, social justice, and human rights. The English language has become one of the tools to equip students about cultural diversity and cultivate respect for diverse communities. However, all these efforts have not been achieved through teaching the English language. The objective of this study was to explore how global citizenship values may be implemented in teaching the English language. Secondary research was conducted to identify past studies on the topic from different academic databases. Insights from past studies showed that key global citizenship values that teachers implement in the English language include human rights, morals, cultural equality, identity, diversity, intercultural competency, social justice, conflict resolution, negotiation, globalization, and sustainable development. Teachers implement global citizenship values in their language classrooms through brainstorming and encouraging critical thinking and asking questions. Through teacher-centered teaching educators largely explore local values, views, assumptions, and connections related to global citizenship. Teachers also encourage reflection and student-centered learning through a collaborative inquiry about global challenges and their solutions. Despite efforts to implement global citizenship values, teachers experience hurdles like student resistance, lack of a common implementation framework, low teacher competency, lack of professional development opportunities, and absence of a global citizenship curriculum. Future research should corroborate the findings by undertaking primary research using interviews and surveys questionnaires.
12:00-12:30
Jingjing Fu, Professor, Southwest Petroleum University, China.
Huang Wenjia, Postgraduate Student, Southwest Petroleum University, China.
Title: “MOOC + SPOC + live-lesson” mode in Legal Education of China.
Summary
The outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020 has greatly challenged the traditional teaching methods of higher education around the world. In the context of the normalization of the epidemic, it is a topic worthy of attention that how higher education should respond to this challenge. It is widely known that in order to prevent and control the further spread of the epidemic, many colleges and universities of world have adopted online and offline teaching modes such as MOOC and SPOC. Nevertheless, there is still a lack of relevant researches on how to lead this mode to a higher stage and a sustainable development direction to bring about the reform and innovation of higher legal education. Therefore, this article aims to share Chinese successful legal teaching experiences in the context of the epidemic with the rest of the world based on empirical analysis. The first contribution of this article is to explore the positive effect of the application of “MOOC + SPOC + live-lesson” mode in the legal teaching field in China. According to the analysis of structures and features of the “MOOC + SPOC + live-lesson” mode, it is concluded that the “MOOC + SPOC + live-lesson” mode can better help law students acquire legal knowledge and realize self-knowledge construction. While legal learning is faced with the situation of involving a wide range of concepts, profound theories, and the difficulty to analyze legal cases precisely, by the “MOOC + SPOC + live-lesson” mode, it’s easier to cultivate high-order thinking ability of legal learners, such as “tacit knowledge” and “implicit knowledge”. Secondly, this article explores the construction experiences of the development of “MOOC + SPOC + live-lesson” mode in China. China has constructed massive and high-quality online teaching resources under the way of “government guidance, the dominant role of universities, enterprises’ support and society’s participation”. Therefore, this article argues that the practical experience of online and offline legal education in China since the outbreak of COVID-19 mainly comes from the promotion of international online teaching platform，the cooperation among government，industry，university and research institutes, setting up professional industries in universities for forming a school-running model which integrates schools and enterprises, following the path of synergetic pattern, advocacy of the establishing of worldwide MOOC alliance. On this account, it achieves win-win cooperation in global education.
12:30-13:00
Angelica Baylon, Director, Maritime Academy of Asia and The Pacific, Philippines.
Title: Sustainable Development in Maritime Education and Training (SDiMET): Global Maritime Study towards a Global Maritime Professional.
Summary
Sustainable Development (SD) in Maritime Education and Training (SDiMET) can be seen as an innovative approach towards global maritime professionals (GMP) development. This IAMU funded study primarily reveals the perspectives of maritime representatives (i.e., presidents, administrative officers, leaders, and teachers) and maritime students on various areas of sustainability. The study looked into the conception and attitude towards SD, the awareness and commitment to SD, institutional measures to address SD, research and innovation of the Institution related to SD, and prioritization of SD in the maritime higher education institutions (MHEIs). A mixed-method approach to research was carried out with data obtained from the 73 institutional representatives and 405 students (from 31 IAMU members from 17 countries) involved in the study. Results suggest SD implementation in maritime higher educational institutions (MHEIs) are less than ideal and therefore needs improvement. Nevertheless, SD is of significant importance and has a place of high priority for MHEIs. However, barriers to the optimal implementation of SD principles in maritime higher educational institutions need to be strategically and committedly addressed. Using the S-D-I-M-E-T acronym for easy recall, MHEIS are encouraged to: S- Supervise campus by institutionalizing SD; D- Develop a team culture of Men and Women for sustainability roles; I- Incentivize or provide incentives to people’s SD initiatives; M- Mix or integrate SD principles into disciplines, policies, procedures, curriculum, and practices; E- Execute and Evaluate sustainable initiatives & projects; and T-Train people for sustainability. The paper ends with conclusions and other recommended actions in navigating the future of MET for sustainability and GMP development.

End of Session I on Global Education

13:00-13:30
Anastasios Elemes, Assistant Professor, ESSEC Business School, France.
Title: Audit-Firm Profitability: Determinants and Implications for Key Audit Matter Reporting.

Summary

We use a novel dataset that links audit-firm and client-firm financial statement information from the U.K.’s largest audit firms to examine drivers of audit-firm profitability and its implications for audit outcomes conveyed by Key Audit Matter (KAM) disclosures. We first explore the determinants of audit-firm profitability and conclude that Big-4 and non-Big-4 audit firms have fundamentally different profitability structures. Big-4 firms earn higher profit margins than non-Big-4 firms. Furthermore, Big-4 profitability increases with client size and complexity, while non-Big-4 profitability is higher for smaller clients and clients with losses. Next, we examine the relation between audit-firm profitability and KAM reporting. We find that more profitable audit firms address more KAMs. However, audit-firm profitability is less likely to affect audit outcomes for loss-making clients (i.e., when auditors are exposed to more litigation risk). Our results are robust to several endogeneity controls such as controlling for client-firm and/or audit-firm fixed effects, employing changes specifications, and using an instrumental variables approach, as well as to examining the external validity of our findings and using alternative outcome measures. Our study contributes to the literature by being the first to provide insights into audit-firm profitability and examine in detail its implications for audit quality and audit effort.

13:30-14:30 Lunch

14:30-15:00
Ronagh McQuigg, Senior Lecturer, Queen’s University Belfast, UK.
Title: International Human Rights Law, Domestic Abuse and the Covid – 19 Pandemic.

Summary

The lockdown measures which were adopted by many states in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, although necessary to limit the spread of the virus, nevertheless resulted in those living in abusive relationships finding themselves to be even more isolated. In addition, the widespread anxiety created by the pandemic in terms of health concerns and also financial worries increased tensions within many relationships, all too often resulting in violence. The situation was exacerbated by the fact that, at the very time of rising rates of domestic violence, services available to victims were reduced. Using reports from the UN and voluntary organisations which work with victims of domestic violence, this paper will examine the increase in instances of domestic abuse since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. It will be argued that the paradox for those experiencing domestic violence was that, while home may have been safest place to be as regards the COVID-19 pandemic, it was conversely the most dangerous place in relation to the ‘shadow pandemic’ of domestic abuse. The paper will discuss domestic abuse as an issue for international human rights law, and will focus on the responses of UN entities such as the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW Committee), UN Women and the UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences, to the increased levels of domestic abuse since the onset of COVID-19. The paper will examine the recommendations of these entities regarding measures which should be adopted by governments to address domestic violence in the context of the pandemic and in a post-pandemic world. The COVID-19 pandemic has served to expose and exacerbate pre-existing difficulties with the responses of states to domestic abuse, as the surge in cases of domestic violence during the pandemic served to place even greater pressure on already inadequate service provision. The fact that the COVID-19 pandemic has raised awareness of the shortcomings of state responses to domestic abuse may contribute towards an improvement in such responses in the future. It is certainly the case that the increase in rates of domestic abuse during the COVID-19 pandemic has been widely covered by the media, thus raising public awareness of the issues involved. Likewise, the pandemic has brought into focus the benefits, and indeed necessity, of working together to achieve common goals at both the international and national levels. States must now act on the lessons of the ‘shadow pandemic’ and work towards a common goal of combating domestic abuse.

15:00-15:30
Presentation was cancelled due to presenter’s unavailability.

Session on Democracy
15:30-18:00

15:30-16:00
Gregory T. Papanikos, President, ATINER.
Title: The Use of Primaries by Political Parties: The Case of PASOK.
Summary
This paper examines the primary elections of the PanHellenic Socialist Party (PASOK) which were held on 5th and 12th of December 2021. Six candidates run for the position of the president in the first round and two runners-up in the second. As mentioned in the literature, there is a dearth of primary elections studies relative to general elections. The latter attract the attention of mass media for the obvious reason: they determine who or which party will govern the country or any other political entity. Nevertheless, there is a growing literature on primary studies. There are three aspects researched in this literature: (a) primary elections systems, (b) why a political party decides to hold primary elections and (c) the selection criteria candidates and voters. This paper uses this literature to analyze some facets of the history of PASOK’s primary elections, emphasizing the last one of 2021. The most important conclusion emerging from this analysis is that ideology did play a role, particularly the candidate’s stance on their possible collaboration with the right-wing or the left-wing parties. Another important conclusion is that PASOK voters opted for a younger candidate primarily because they want to get out of the current stalemate of PASOK’s low performance in general elections. As predicted in the literature, the competition between the six candidates resulted in a large turnout on the ballot date even though other factors played a role such as a very good weather.
16:00-16:30
Mary Joy Ponce-Torres, Book Author, Philippines.
Title: The Preservation of Democracy in The Philippines 1898-2021.
Summary
16:30-17:00
Trinh Nguyen Ba, Professor, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, Vietnam.
Title: Democracy Index as a Social Entropy Function.
Summary
In thermodynamics, it is common to use a number of quantities to denote the properties of a system, at a given time, for example temperature, pressure, number of components … Among them, which quantity depends only on the position and time of the system, not depends on the form of the process in it, is called the state function. Entropy is a thermodynamic state function, discovered by Rudolf Clausius in 1850. The Entropy function has two very basic properties: First, it denote the degree of freedom of the constructors, the degree of interaction of the components on other components in the system, that is, degree of personal expression of the components in the system. Second, the entropy value is always increasing in the isolating system. The general formula representing the entropy change is ∆S ≥0. From there one can compare the evolutionary level of a system at two different times. At the same time, on the basis of comparing the value of the entropy function, it is possible to compare the evolutionary level of two systems (with equivalent structure). Among social indicators (GDP per capita, democracy index DI, human development index HDI …), only the democratic index DI covers both meanings of the entropy function, because because it satisfies two properties of the this function: * The first is the index DI represents the degree of democratic freedom of structural units (individuals) in the system (society). * Secondly, the DI index always increases during social evolution (at least in 200 years past), that is, DI≥0. (https://voxeu.org/article/democratic-transition; https://www.sv.uio.no/isv/english/research/news-and-events/news/2018/v-dem.html) So, democracy index (DI) can be considered as the entropy function of society. Thus, we can use the DI index to classify the evolution level of countries. We divide the social evolution periods and level of evolution of a particular country on the basis of the DI index (see as the social entropy function). On the basis of the DI 2019 (Wikipedia, EIU.com), the countries around the world are divided into four groups of institutions as follows: Groups A, DI> 8, including countries with fully democratic institutions; Group B, DI: 8 -> 6, including defective democratic countries; Groups C, DI: 6 -> 4, including countries with mixed institutions. Groups D, DI: 4 – 0, include authoritarian states. Because the society evolved in the direction of increasing the DI value, so it is possible to rank 4 groups of countries according to increasing evolutionary level as follows: Group D → Group C → Group B → Group A In that order, most of the Nordic countries, North America, and Australia, belong to the group with the highest level of evolution. Most of the African countries are in Group D, the slowest evolutionary group. Countries that are not part of the capitalist system (socialist) are also included in this group D. Countries with high democracies, are formed by the natural evolution of society. New social forms created by humans (socialist) do not match the natural evolutionary laws of human society. In fact they had been and beeing collapsed.
17:00-17:30
Letizia Carrera, Professor, University of Bari, Italy.
Title: (Re) Educating to Political Participation. The Democratic Challenge.
Summary
In recent decades, an increasingly significant break in the bond that binds political subjects has been affirmed. An increasing number of citizens have distanced themselves from politics and have ceased to recognize themselves in it and in its institutional representatives. All this reflects and amplifies the crumbling conditions of the sense of belonging to a political community and the sense of personal and collective responsibility for a process of improvement that has ceased to be thought of as possible. The sense of betrayal that many citizens have experienced from the party drift of politics has contributed to trigger this distance from the public arena, from the agora, ending with the production of vicious circuits of renunciation to forms of vocality that they could instead oppose that same drift, imposing a virtuous reversal of march. The subjects found themselves increasingly poor in power and opportunities to participate in the government of their territories. These dynamics have produced the further effect of accelerating the progressive distancing from politics and the growing distrust towards the institutions, pushing the subjects towards individualistic orientations and a privatization of the experience that exposes them to risks of blocks from strategic rationality and of consequent choices of free riding, and to the loss of the sense of belonging to the civil society. The low degree of political effectiveness perceived subjectively and collectively, the feeling of not being able to affect the political level, has accentuated the distance lived with public dimension and the idea of the common good itself. This has impoverished the level of political culture, partly because of the impoverishment of the role of political formation performed in the past by the parties and the absence of other collective entities able to fill that gap. The increasingly low level of political culture of the citizens, both outcome and cause of this growing disaffection and deresponsibilization, exposes to the risk of an increasingly demagogic and populist policy that loses its anchorage of legitimacy in the legal rational dimension to move towards that charismatic-personalistic one. Reciprocally there is a growing reference and reliance on individual political personalities and new leaders who too often move the debate from the rational to the emotional level. The last decades, therefore, have undermined the conditions for the existence of a «critical citizen», a priority objective to ensure fully democratic decision-making and government processes. The goal of full widespread democratic participation requires training courses of political culture, starting from a rethinking and a redesign of the times and spaces of that training so that widespread conditions of learning knowledge and skills elicitation for a full voice are guaranteed. In fact, it is essential to go beyond the episodicity of these paths, toward structured and repeated occasions over time, and also to foresee the existence of third spaces spread over territories that can accommodate those opportunities for training aimed at citizens in an undifferentiated way and disregard the specific place of residence, thus protecting the principle of territorial democracy.
17:30-18:00
Paul Speck, Retired Professor, University of Missouri, USA.
Title: Media Revolutions and their Democratizing Effects.
Summary
Government requires decision making and discourse. The broader civic participation is (broad oligarchies, limited democracies, full democracies), the wider the political discussion and greater its vulnerability to the out-sized influence of populist appeals. That vulnerability is especially high when there are major developments in media and media use, (1) when authorities adopt a form of curated communication that excludes some portion of the public, (2) when the general public has increased access, motivation, and opportunity to participate in discourse, and (3) when entrepreneurial actors use the more popular medium to supplant traditional authorities and influence the public. I will briefly explore this thesis by focusing on three historical moments: Classical Athens, the Protestant Reformation, and the current impact of social media on American democracy. Many changes were afoot in each period. In Classical Athens, there was a rise in written culture. At the same time, oral culture was reaching higher levels than ever (Homeric readings, dramatic performances, Socrates, and Sophists) and constitutional changes created platforms (like the Assembly) that increased the impact of individuals who understood how to use oral arguments. Before and during the Reformation, there was a shift from manuscripts to printing and from Latin to vernaculars. The Catholic Church doubled down on Latin, official translations, official interpretations of the Bible, and Latin masses. Bibles translated into vernaculars, higher literacy, and cheaper bibles made Christian sources available to the masses. Reform Theologians who objected to Catholic dogma or hierarchy used literacy, religious tracts, group meetings, and inspirational sermons to persuade followers to reject the curated view of Catholic authority and to consider their own opinions. Social Media marks a significant change in media use. Modern sources of authoritative information (governments, schools, scientists, and news media) are all highly curated. In the late 20th Century US, the basis of authority and curation was generally fact and truth [though there were many exceptions]. With the rise of the Internet, people could instantly obtain almost any information anytime for free. Early on people sought out authoritative sources on the Internet. Then, people became less discriminating and search engines became more manipulative. More and more people found what they were interested in and comfortable with. Search engines and advertisers designed programs to maximize revenue. Political actors used social media to discredit authoritative sources and to create false narratives. Traditional sources lost the trust and attention of many citizens. Their effort to use traditional appeals to counter social reinforcement is largely unsuccessful. All three examples suggest that the public will (democracy) is easily highjacked when sources of more curated information prove unsatisfactory, when a new form of more accessible but less curated information develops, and social actors with ulterior motives (political, religious, financial) use the new medium to reshape public understanding.

End of Session on Democracy

18:00-18:30
Hari Luitel, Associate Professor, Algoma University, Canada.
Gerry Mahar, Assistant Professor, Algoma University, Canada.
Title: Why Economists Disagree: An Illustration of Irreconcilability Using the US State Level Unemployment Rate Data.

Summary

The literature suggests two theories regarding the unemployment rate: the natural rate hypothesis (Friedman 1968, 1977) vs. the hysteresis hypothesis (Blanchard and Summer 1987). The natural rate hypothesis refers to the rate of unemployment towards which the economy naturally gravitates in the long run. It is also described as the equilibrium unemployment rate defined as the unemployment rate that would occur when the economy is at its full employment level of output. According to the natural rate hypothesis, the equilibrium unemployment rate is determined by the structure of the labor market, i.e., labor demand and labor supply, and is not affected by actual unemployment. The hysteresis hypothesis, on the other hand, posits that the equilibrium unemployment rate depends on the history of the actual unemployment rate; and accordingly, a random shock, like a recession, will have a permanent effect on the unemployment rate. Due to their opposing implications for policy, the fundamental differences between the natural rate hypothesis and the hysteresis hypothesis continue to exist to this day. The natural rate hypothesis supports the position that ‘market economy is self-correcting.’ Consider the example of labor market that Milton Friedman used in his presidential address to the American Economic Association in 1968. According to Friedman (1968, p. 8), “A lower level of unemployment is an indication that there is an excess demand for labor that will produce upward pressure on real wage rates. A higher level of unemployment is an indication that there is an excess supply of labor that will produce downward pressure on real wage rates.” An important implication of Friedman’s argument is that a favorable shock that leads the economy into economic expansion and results in a lower level of unemployment and/or an adverse shock that leads the economy into recession and results in a higher level of unemployment are indicators of market corrections. Thus, the natural rate hypothesis sees no need for government intervention to actively manage the rate of unemployment. In contrast, the hysteresis hypothesis suggests that a high unemployment rate that results from an adverse shock, if left unchecked, may continue and become a serious social problem even in the long run. This possibility provides a rationale for governments to play an active role in managing the economy and to fight against the high level of unemployment. In this research, we analyzed the unemployment rate using a panel of annual data from all 50 states for the period 1976 – 2020. Consistent with the literature, we found that, depending on the model chosen, the unemployment rate can be stationary or nonstationary, thereby supporting both the natural rate hypothesis and the hysteresis hypothesis. Unlike all previous studies that conform contradictory economic theories, our contribution to the literature is to report, using the unemployment rate as an example, more anomalies about the unit root tests that are used commonly. In conclusion, we explain why reconciliation among economists holding opposite views concerning the unemployment rate may not be possible.

20:30-22:30
Greek Night

Tuesday 21 December 2021

08:00-10:00 Urban Walk

10:00-10:30
Olga Mezentceva, Head Online Business School o Financial Analytics FABS, Russia.
Title: Impact of Tighter Monetary Policy on Shopping Mall Business Valuation in Russian Market.

Summary

The aim of this article is to research how more tightening monetary policy affect to shopping mall value within mergers and acquisions (M&A) deal. Our methodology based on business valuation and accountant methods. We investigated how EBITDA of target asset reflect on maximal acquision price. We found EBIDA is more dependent on rent indexation and behave in linear way. While credit rates rely on monetary policy and it is non-linear. Finally, when credit rates are decreasing there are more opportunities for shopping mall acquision. That it was previously when lending resources were more expensive and vice versa.

10:30-11:00
Presentation was cancelled due to presenter’s unavailability.

11:00-11:30
Nemanja Milenković, Assistant Professor, University of Belgrade, Serbia.
Title: Economic Development of EU Countries – Multivariate Outlier Detection.

Summary

The measure of a country’s economic development is one of the most critical and highly debated issues in economic research. Different approaches have been applied and numerous indicators have been used in the process to do so. The aim of this research is to present one synthesized indicator that can quantitatively point out any country’s development level. In this paper, the statistical I-distance method is thoroughly explained and applied to 28 EU countries. Furthermore, an improved method of I-distance (stepwise I-distance) procedure has been used in order to examine statistical significance of each development indicator. This procedure allows iterative exclusion of statistically insignificant indicators, whereupon the final results are obtained using the most important development indicators. Through defined procedures for the elimination and/or selection of indicators, the new method seeks to form an optimal set of indicators, while reducing the dimension of the complex problem at hand. The stepwise I-distance method takes into account the discriminatory power of each of the indicators used. Accordingly, a unique I-distance value is formed for each observation from the observed set. The research results show that this method can be used to detect multivariate outliers.

11:30-12:00
Raquel Patricio, Associate Professor, University of Lisbon, Portugal.
Title: Brazil: Country on Hold, Political Tension Running High.

Summary

On October 2, 2022, nearly 146 million Brazilians will head to the polls to select who will be their president until 2026. They will also pick 27 senators – one third of the 81-seat upper chamber –, 513 representatives, and 27 state governors. And while the polls will only open a year from now, make no mistake: the 2022 election has already begun. President Jair Bolsonaro, the incumbent facing an uphill battle for re-election, is traveling the country constantly to meet voters and present them with projects and policies to win their minds and hearts, seeking to create a positive new cycle around his otherwise embattled presidency. Since late last year, Mr. Bolsonaro`s rejection rates have steadily increased, with each new poll suggesting his chances of getting another four years are dwindling. Meanwhile, his biggest nemesis, former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, is quietly working behind the scenes trying to weave alliances that will make him the name to beat Mr. Bolsonaro. After governing Brazil for eight years – from 2003 to 2010 during the 2000s commodities super-cycle – Lula enjoys massive name recognition and popularity especially among lower-income voters. Indeed, if the elections were to be held today, no candidate would probably be able to beat him. Nevertheless, the elections are not today and bearing this in mind, several other candidates from the centre-left and the centre-right are jostling for space as a third-way alternative, an expression that in Brazil intends to mean anyone not named Lula or Jair Bolsonaro. These third-way alternatives want to profit from the sizable rejection rates that both frontrunners face but have so far failed terribly to enthuse voters. After all, none are polling above 10%, not nearly enough to mount a challenge against the two most popular – and at the same time most unpopular – politicians in Brazil. Notwithstanding, this third-way has a total voting intention of 29%, while Lula presents 42% and Bolsonaro has established in 23%. These numbers mean that Bolsonaro`s voting intentions indicate the maintenance of his far-right electorate, while he may not be able to reach the second turn and the third-way, in case it can rally upon the support of a single candidate, may be able to dispute the second turn with Lula. The framework of this research is a middle-range theory that covers the period from independence to the present day of the socio-political and economic as well as Brazil`s international insertion evolution throughout paradigmatic models. Therefore, the liberal-conservative model is followed by the developmental model, which by its turn is ensued by the neoliberal model. This is succeeded by the rise to power at the beginning of the XXI century by left governments, until between 2010 and 2018 there were a rise of right or far-right governments to power in the Latin American countries. After that, those countries have been living in phase in which left governments return to power in a cohabitation between right and left governments that prevents the formulation of a single model. To do our research this paper is divided into six sections. After this introduction, a first section approaches the paradigmatic model, which analysis the conservative wave in Brazil and Latin America, and the recent new progressive wave in the region and possibly in Brazil, while the second and the third sections analyses Jair Bolsonaro`s government and the October 2022 elections and its candidates and polls respectively, as a fourth section makes a critique of the candidates trying to structuring scenarios for the elections coming to an end with the conclusions of our research.

12:00-12:30
Adele Broodryk, Senior Lecturer, North-West University, South Africa.
Title: Effect of a Soccer Tournament on Baseline Psycho-Hormonal States of Collegiate Female Players.

Summary

Background. Playing a tournament can place a tremendous load on the body, not only physically but also physiologically and psychologically. Examining baseline cortisol responses is vital not only to indicate unconscious stress and anticipation, but also for performance as an inverse relationship exist between various hormones, psychological states and match outcome. Psychologically, anxiety plays a major role when it comes to sports performance, not only mentally, but physically as well. Objective and methods. The study examined the effect of a soccer tournament on baseline anxiety [Spielberger State-trait anxiety inventory questionnaire (STAI)], mood [Incredible Short POMS questionnaire (ISP)] and cortisol (saliva sampling) states. Eight sportswomen’s (age: 23.1 ± 3.2 y) data were collected an hour after waking, two weeks prior to, and each morning during, a five-day tournament. Results. On mornings prior to a match lost, a significant relationship was seen between cortisol and the anxiety-present subscale recorded (r = 0.5, p < 0.05), and between cortisol and the feelings of trait-anxiety (r = 0.7, p < 0.001). Following multiple regression analysis, the STAI questionnaire demonstrated to be adequate to predict possible cortisol surges (r2 = 0.7, p = 0.01). Measuring the innate anxiety characteristic, is a positive measure to foresee both psychological (present anxiety state, r2 = 0.8, p < 0.001) and physiological (cortisol surges, r2 = 0.7, p < 0.05) stress. Conclusions. Our results demonstrated that the application of an anxiety questionnaire can be used to reveal unconscious physiological and psychological stress that might influence performance negatively. It is recommended that a player’s state of anxiety (innate and current) be measured prior to a competition to adopt a strategy to overcome its negative consequences.

12:30-13:00
Joanna Lizinska, Professor, Poznan University of Business and Economics, Poland.
Leszek Czapiewski, Professor, Poznan University of Business and Economics Poland.
Jarosław Kubiak, Professor, Poznan University of Business and Economics, Poland.
Title: Value Migration in the Digital Economy: Empirical Evidence from Europe.

Summary

The main determinants of the new economy, which are knowledge, computerization and globalization, significantly affect the process of creating and measuring the value of a company. Currently, there is a gap in research on migration processes involving companies operating in the economy based on new technologies. The new logic of running a business also affects the income-risk relationship in many ways. The new economy determines the need to take into account changes in risk factors in the process of creating corporate value. The main objective of our research is to assess the migration of value to sectors based on new technologies on European stock markets. The research applies the approach of Slywotzki (1996) concerning the migration of values. The literature on the economy based on new sources of value continues to develop for many years. Previous studies indicate a variety of definitions of the concept of the new economy (Atkinson and Court 1999; Zacher 2001; Kelly 2001; Tapscott 2001; Nakamura 2000; Jorgenson and Stiroh 2000). The research will also use the approach, among others. Billington (1997), Baptista (1997), Moster, Moukanas (2001), Owen, Griffiths (2006). In particular, the concept of a synthetic index of value migration is used (Siudak 2000, 2013). The algorithm based on the method of linear ordering enables classification into particular development phases (inflow, stabilization and outflow of value), that reflect their potential of value creation. The analysis of value migration in terms of sectors allows for the assessment of value capture by industries belonging to the digital economy. This empirical research contributes to the area of finance. In particular, the research results help to discuss the changes that are happening in the digital economy in the area of value and risk of market entities on European markets. In our research, we measure the phenomenon of value migration for technology companies and the so-called traditional enterprises. Additionally, it is important to compare the value changes between sectors based on new technologies in European countries. Both the academic world, the regulatory sphere as well as investors and other participants of the capital market face the challenge of dynamic changes of risk factors related to shifts taking place within the value migration. Hence, the results of the research are important from the point of view of the functioning of the economy.

13:00-13:30
Dihya Hessas, PhD Student, University of Tizi Ouzou, Algeria.
Title: Organizational Change and its Impact on the Human Resource.

Summary

It is widely said that no profitable organization could possibly sustain in the future of this dynamic world if it remains the same as it was yesterday. Nowadays, change can not be avoided when it occurs, hence it is unstoppable. The inevitability of change has made most organizations to adapt and consider it as part of company’s existence. Change Management is often defined as a structured approach to transitioning individuals, teams and organizations from a current to desired future state, aimed firstly at employee empowerment for accepting that change. But that change inevitably brings fear: fear of being unable to adapt, fear of meeting or working with new people, fear of a new workplace or even new tasks that will be given. It is an evolutionary fear that brings resistance to everything that changes routine in our lives. For this, it is necessary to learn to manage it well by implementing a method of change that allows to lead it in the optimal conditions of success. However, membership of the organization and good communication are essential to ensure this change and avoid any form of resistance. The research problem is: What is the impact of organizational change on the human resource? The goal of this paper is to show, using a survey through an hypothetico-deductive method which will collect data of Algerian employees who have come across those changes, different perspectives and barriers which those fears bring and that they are possible to overcome even in the earlier stages of change management projects in order to become much more effective in our workplaces.

13:30-14:30 Lunch

14:30-15:00
Presentation was cancelled due to presenter’s unavailability.

15:00-15:30
Presentation was cancelled due to presenter’s unavailability.

Session II on Global Education
15:30-17:30

15:30-16:00
Tilia Stingl de Vasconcelos Guedes, Teaching and Research Associate, University of Applied Sciences for Management & Communication, Austria.
Title: Study In COVID-19 Times – Investigating the Impact of the Pandemic on the Acceptance of E-Learning, Distance Learning, and Distance Teaching
Summary
The COVID-19 pandemic, which seems to be the most profound health crisis of the past hundred years, has been going on for more than one year and a half already. This crisis has not only affected most aspects of human lives but also has changed many of them long-term. In recent years, no other event or phenomenon has managed to spread across the world at such speed and shake society to its core. (Schwab/Malleret 2020) Measures enforcing social distancing have caused several upheavals in education. The sudden closure of most educational institutions put both students and universities’ staff into a demanding situation. As multiple scholars such as Berghoff et al. (2021) or Marczuk et al. (2021) argue, the unexpected pandemic caught even those educational institutes off-guard that were already familiar with digital educational tools and distance learning. Since the beginning of the pandemic, many educational institutions surveyed their students and employees on the impact of the sudden changes. (Arndt et al. 2020) Also in this research paper, the competence team for the Digitalisation of Communication at the FHW University of Applied Sciences for Management and Communication conducted a comparative study on the “Digitization of Teaching”. Two times, first at the very beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and second one year after the outbreak, this study investigated the behavior and preferences of students and teaching staff linked to their experiences with digital tools. The results were compared to related Austrian studies, such as contributed by Pausits et al. (2021), focusing on the following question: What was the impact on the acceptance of digital education by students and educators in Austrian post-secondary education that the COVID-19-related sudden shift to online education had? This paper presents the findings of this quantitative and qualitative research, which has examined the acceptance of e-learning by students and teaching staff by exploring their needs, questions, and requests. The research uses acceptance theory in its theoretical underpinnings. Its methodology consists of a quantitative survey of students and teaching staff, several semi-structured interviews with teaching staff as well as the review of studies on related topics (Pausits et al. 2021). The outcome of this study shows that full-time and part-time students have different needs and acceptance levels to distance learning and digital tools. However, after one year of being forced to work with digital tools, students’ and teaching staff’s attitudes have generally become more accepting and shifts in their needs and requests could be observed.
16:00-16:30
Maria Rosaria D’Acierno Canonici, Associate Professor, Parthenope University of Naples, Italy.
Title: “The Future of Education in Post-Pandemic Global World” Suggestions for a Better Methodology.
Summary
In this research, I would like to talk about my experience derived from the observation of results achieved by teenager students (15/16) during and after the long period of pandemic; a pandemic which has totally changed the learning/teaching process. Was the new methodology good or bad? In my opinion nothing is never totally negative or totally positive. Anyway, we were forced to mediate. Now that this terrible illness seems to fade out, I hope that we have learned something more, so to balance the two perspectives and include both of them in the school curriculum. I mean that, by considering the good effects of a distance and a face-to-face learning, we should offer our students both of them, leaving them the chance to choose which subject they prefer to study in a classroom or at home. Of course, the ones which require experiments in a laboratory should inevitably use face-to-face lessons, so offering the chance to stay together and communicate one another while collaborating and exchanging ideas and information. There are two perspectives to be analyzed: 1) Psychological and 2) Educational. From the psychological side, we have to distinguish, at least, two groups of students: a) the very confident and b) the very uncertain and shy. In fact, for some students, especially the very shy ones, who generally find difficult exhibit what they have studied in front of the whole class, working at home, and then expose their work when they think they have achieved a good level, following the lessons with a computer at home has helped them to achieve a more satisfactory level. It has helped to reduce anxiety and also to plan the time from a personal perspective. On the opposite, the very confident ones, working at home and searching new information has offered them the chance to reflect and discuss their opinions before giving a prompt and impulsive answer. In this case, they had the opportunity to modify their first knowledge by confronting it with other points of view. Also, for the teacher, working through a computer, has helped to reduce the stress derived from the urgency to apply the same technique for the whole class, without respecting each student’s time. I mean that, being the teacher forced to finish the program as established by the school curriculum, very often s/he forgets that the variety of the students’ personality, does not allow him/her to proceed with the same rhythm for all the students. In brief, s/he adapts his/her time to the most diligent students by stimulating them and punishing the slowest ones. Of course, attending school and trying to relate with one another is also fundamental for the growth of personality because it offers directly new experiences: their owns and those of others. Then, it has another advantage: motivation. Accepting other students’ evolution and advancement trains the mind to imitate others, not to compete with them, but to stimulate our knowledge, thus enriching our mind, our brain, and our cognition.
16:30-17:00
Kenneth Lee, Professor, Western New England University, USA.
Title: Keeping the Classrooms Open During the Pandemic.
Summary
On March 10, 2020, the Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States, declared a State of Emergency to respond to the COVID19 pandemic. Then in late March, Western New England University (WNE) changed its entire teaching protocol to online instruction for the remaining of the Spring semester. The decision to move all activities online was in response to state and federal guidelines to minimize social contact among all university personnel and students. For the next couple of months, university administrations throughout the country had to decide on the plan of action for the coming 2020 Fall semester. The majority of the institutions in the United States continued with an online teaching protocol. Weighing all the pros and cons, the WNE administration decided to open the university and have as many of the Fall semester courses in person as possible to better serve our students. Opening the university requires meeting state and federal health and safety guidelines. For example, one crucial guideline states that a minimum of 6-foot (1.83 meters) social distance be maintained. This policy presents a significant challenge to the university, as it reduces the number of students a classroom can hold. The first step is to inventory all existing classrooms throughout the campus and determine each room’s “Social Distance Capacity (SDC).” A team of staff goes to each room and validates the dimensions. The team then determines the optimum seating arrangement for each room to maximize the number of seats. Each room is unique, and obstacles such as doors, columns, and HVAC locations can reduce the seating capacity. Placing chairs near a wall eliminates a significant amount of required square footage and can increase the overall seating capacity. The team generally considers a hexagonal packing arrangement with circles of a 6-foot radius first. However, depending on the room dimensions and shape, this method may not always yield the maximum number of seats. We also placed a plexiglass shield on every instructor station. The second step is to consider all available larger spaces on campus that can convert into teaching spaces. For example, we converted a couple of large rooms in our gymnasium into teaching rooms. We also divided large areas in our campus center into several individual teaching spaces. Lastly, we rearranged the entire Fall semester room assignments by matching the enrollment of each course with the appropriate classroom. As a result, most courses only had a location change, with only a few courses with a time change. WNE also used the SDC data for the 2021 Spring semester courses. While we are planning to return to pre-COVID room assignments for the 2021 Fall semester, the SDC data will help the university better prepared for future pandemics or in case of a COVID resurgence.
17:00-17:30
William Frick, Professor, University of Oklahoma, USA.
Iman Ahmed Mohamed Azab, Postdoctoral Researcher, University of Oklahoma, USA.
Title: The Best Interests of the Student: Grounding Moral Commitment in Wisdom and Knowledge Traditions.
Summary
This proposal is derived from a substantive study focused on a professional ethic for education and how the best interests of the student can be interpreted and understood as providing a fundamental ethical imperative for the field. The study expands from the use and understanding of students’ best interests to applying the ethical construct to legal cases in education. Wisdom and knowledge traditions significantly overlap on the definitional aspect of interests. Even though empirical research has identified what is meant by “the best interests of the student” varies among practitioners, and the differences among those views are notable, these differences are manifest in relation to serving the particular and unique needs of individual students in their broad, varying social circumstances. This finding comports with the philosophical work of defining interests as both general and specific, recognizing the importance of interests ultimately focuses the educator on the differentiation that exists between students’ claims and appeals. Interests in the most important and fundamental sense, both empirically and philosophically, are normative: those things that are due to children – recognition and consideration of capabilities, needs, habits, and preferences along with attending to the safety, welfare, health, and educational claims of students for their success. This normative orientation focuses on both protection and growth. Ultimately, interests are directed toward the ends of human completion, the formation of students as full persons entailing the enlargement of their dignity, unique projects, and general purposes. The application of an ethic for the profession, where students’ best interests serve as the foundational moral consideration of ethical school leadership, is contrasted with US case law allowing for an analysis of what is legal many not necessarily be ethical.

End of Session II on Global Education

17:30-18:00
Larissa Pochmann da Silva, Professor, UNESA, Brazil.
Title: A Global Model for Transnational Class Action? Trying to Solve the Puzzle.

Summary

Class actions spread from sea to sea and are taking all over the world on their full significance the relevance to provide access to justice and to redress victims, with different modelos, considering who has standing, class certification or opt in v. opt out. In a globalized world, where damages cross state boundaries, it frequently raises the need of the recognition and the enforcement of a class action from one country to another to ensure that victims receive redress. Based on the different models of class actions, the recognition and enforcement of a class action from one country to another is a main battleground. For example, since Morrison v. National Australia Bank [2010], United States federal courts refuse to recognize and enforce foreign class actions in the country. Canada is considered a relevant jurisdiction for the theme, with the cases Silver v. IMAX [2013] and Kaynes v. BP P.L.C [2016], but both of the claims were just related to recognition and enforcement of U.S. proceedings. In Latin America, it is important to mention the Petrobrás case, which is still pending in different courts. In Europe, two claims are on focus, the Shell case [2009] and the Converium case [2008]. But what are the minimum requirements that should be met for recognition and enforcement? The accurate study of minimum due-process requirements that should be met before transnational class actions are recognized or enforced and how could they be harmonised worldwide, with the discussion of the Spanish model as an example, would bring more efficiency to class actions and improve global civil justice.

18:00-18:30
Pablo Lerner, Professor, Zefat Academic College, Israel.
Title: Rethinking a New Legal Status of Non-Human Animals.

Summary

The paper will analyze a seminal question on animal law: the deobjectivation of animals, that is the recognition that animals are not goods or chattels, but sentient beings. The meaning of the deobjetivation of animals should not be detached from the discussion between welfarism and abolitionism. Welfarism focuses on avoiding the unnecessary suffering of animals, while still enabling their use for human purposes, such as farming. On the other hand, abolitionism strives for the recognition of animal rights, forbidding the use and certainly the consumption of animals by humans and even rejecting that animals should be considered as property. Accordingly deobjectivation of animals is far from fleshing out an abolitionist approach but should be seen as a more progressive welfarism, reflecting the evolution of animal law over the years. The paper does not reject the fact that this new welfarism is not changing paradigms and should not be seen as a “revolution” in animal law.. With all that said, enacting a “symbolic” principles may contribute over the time to improve the situation of animals, enlarging judicial discretion or triggering further legislative reforms. One of the question of this deobjectivation of animals, is if they should be considered as independent legal entities. If the answer is positive, do they deserve constitutional protection? Moreover, constitutional subjects such as the right of standing of animals, and the use of habeas corpus to improve their living conditions, are gradually accepted as part of a natural discussion about animal protection. The development of a new legal category between personhood and property might enrich animal law. Creating and understanding new legal categories will not afford by itself conclusive answers, but may help to ask the right questions.

20:00-21:30
Dinner

Wednesday 22 December 2022
Educational Islands Cruise

Thursday 23 December 2023
Delphi Tour

Scientific and Organizing Committee

Gregory T. Papanikos, President, ATINER.
Dr. Sharon Claire Bolton, Vice President of Research, ATINER & Emeritus Professor, The Management School, University of Stirling, Scotland.
Peter Koveos, Head, Finance Unit, ATINER & Professor of Finance, Syracuse University, USA.
Dr. Henry Thompson, Head, Economics Unit, ATINER & Emeritus Professor, Auburn University, USA.
Dr. John Pavlik, Head, Mass Media and Communication Unit, ATINER & Professor, Rutgers University, USA.
Panagiotis Petratos, Vice President of Administration and ICT, ATINER, Fellow, Institution of Engineering and Technology & Professor, Department of Computer Information Systems, California State University, Stanislaus, USA.
George V. Priovolos, Academic Member, ATINER & Retired Professor, USA.
Theodore Trafalis, Director, Engineering & Architecture Division, ATINER, Professor of Industrial & Systems Engineering and Director, Optimization & Intelligent Systems Laboratory, The University of Oklahoma, USA.
Cleopatra Veloutsou, Head, Marketing Unit, ATINER & Professor in Marketing, University of Glasgow, UK.
Dr. David Philip Wick, Director, Arts, Humanities and Education Division, ATINER & Retired Professor of History, Gordon College, USA.
Dr. Carol Anne Chamley, Head, Nursing Unit & Associate Professor, School of Health and Social Care, London South Bank University UK.
Paul Contoyannis, Head, Health Economics & Management Unit, ATINER & Associate Professor, McMaster University, Canada.
Dr. Chris Sakellariou, Vice President of Finance, ATINER & Associate Professor of Economics, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.
Dr. Yannis Stivachtis, Director, Center for European & Mediterranean Affairs (CEMA) and Professor, Jean Monnet Chair, Director of International Studies Program & Director, Diplomacy Lab Program, Virginia Tech – Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, USA.
Dr. Vickie Hughes, Director, Health & Medical Sciences Division, ATINER & Assistant Professor, School of Nursing, Johns Hopkins University, USA.
Dr. Zoi Apostolia Philippakos, Co-Editor, Athens Journal of Education, ATINER & Assistant Professor, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, USA.
Dr. Andriana Margariti, Head, Medicine Unit, ATINER & Professor, Queen’s University Belfast, U.K.
Valia Kasimati, Head, Tourism Unit, ATINER & Researcher, Department of Economic Analysis & Research, Central Bank of Greece, Greece.
Dr. Georgios Zouridakis, Lecturer, University of Essex, UK.
Thomas G. Papanikos, President, Institute of Local Development (ΙΤΑΘΑΠ), Sardinia, Akarnania, Greece.
Mr. Vangelis Kritikos, ex-President of Asteras Tripolis Football Club and President of Panhellenic Association of Sports Economics and Managers (PASEM).