The purpose of this study was to measure Greek hospital performance using different input-output combinations, and to identify the factors that influence their efficiency thus providing policy makers with valuable input for the decision-making process. Using a unique dataset, we estimated the productive efficiency of each hospital through a bootstrapped data envelopment analysis (DEA) approach. In a second stage, we explored, using a bootstrapped truncated regression, the impact of environmental factors on hospitals' technical and scale efficiency. Our results reveal that over 80% of the examined hospitals appear to have a technical efficiency lower than 0.8, while the majority appear to be scale efficient. Moreover, efficiency performance differed with inclusion of medical examinations as an additional variable. On the other hand, bed occupancy ratio appeared to affect both technical and scale efficiency in a rather interesting way, while the adoption of advanced medical equipment and the type of hospital improves scale and technical efficiency, correspondingly. The findings of this study on Greek hospitals' performance are not encouraging. Furthermore, our results raise questions regarding the number of hospitals that should operate, and which type of hospital is more efficient. Finally, the results indicate the role of medical equipment in performance, confirming its misallocation in healthcare expenditure.

This study examines the causal linkage between environmental and financial performance in Greek manufacturing firms. Environmental performance is measured according to accounting data following the Eco Management and Auditing Scheme guidelines and ISO certification. Return on assets and return on sales are used as indicators of financial performance. Empirical findings suggest that there seems to be a link between these dimensions irrespectively of the particular sector of activity. Contrary to similar studies a "virtuous circle" does not exist as the avoidance of environmental improving investments is related to a better financial performance. On the other hand firms with superior financial performance seem to achieve a better environmental performance. At the same time firm specific and market characteristics significantly affect this relationship. These findings provide evidence that governmental and corporate actions are necessary in order to lead to a more sustainable corporate performance in the long run.

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The allocation funds mechanisms for universities and their departments seem to be a complex procedure for state authorities. Consequently, the question of how efficient universities and their departments are has been imposed by governments and policymakers. In this paper, we assess research performance of academic departments within a single Greek university. A Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) application with six model variants was used to estimate technical efficiencies relative to best practice performance. Furthermore, our input–output criteria are determined and used to measure the departments' academic performance. To deliver reasonable results a Tobit model is considered in a second stage to examine the degree to which “environmental effects” impact on departmental efficiencies. We find that “environmental effects” such as departmental infrastructure, age and schools' personnel have an important role.

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Little is known about the efficiency of health centers, despite their central role in primary health care strategy for several countries. This study evaluates the health centers in Greece, and identifies factors impeding the achievement of efficiency, with the aim of determining how their efficiency could be improved. Two alternative conceptual models are used to ensure the consistency of the efficiency results: one model is focusing on production efficiency and the other on economic efficiency. Subsequently a second stage analysis is performed to account for the impact of explanatory variables on efficiency. The use of DEA models alongside with bootstrap techniques allows calculating more accurately the efficiency scores that can reflect the performance of health centers more properly. The main drivers of health centers' technical efficiency for both conceptual models were the location characteristics, the population growth, the mortality rate and the competition. The scale efficiency of health centers in production model is reflected by the size of their respective covered populations, the location characteristics and the mortality rate while the economic model is affected by their size, the location characteristics and the percentage of population working in agriculture. Determining how these variables influence on efficiency is essential for determining performance improvement strategies.

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