Piraeus Bank

Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) is increasingly recognised as a potential factor that can strengthen social cohesion and societal resilience. Yet, existing scholarship often valorises ICH without fully examining the challenges, exclusions, and political tensions it can produce. This article addresses that gap by critically reviewing UNESCO frameworks, case studies, and academic literature to evaluate both the opportunities and the limitations of ICH in contemporary societies. Our analysis highlights how ICH can contribute to shared identity, intergenerational transmission, and adaptive ecological knowledge, while also noting the risks of standardisation, misappropriation, and nationalistic appropriation. Using a comparative and critical literature review approach, we synthesise examples from diverse contexts to illustrate the dual role of ICH as both a community resource and a contested political tool. The findings do not suggest that ICH universally or inevitably generates resilience or cohesion. Rather, they map the paradigms in which ICH has been mobilised for these purposes, showing both the potential benefits and the risks. On this basis, the article offers policy recommendations that emphasise community-led safeguarding, integration of traditional knowledge into resilience frameworks, and vigilance against exclusionary or exploitative uses of ICH.

The inclusion of a participant flow diagram in randomized clinical trials (RCTs) is a requirement of the CONSORT guidelines. The aim of this study was to assess the reporting quality of flow diagrams of RCTs published in orthodontic journals in relation to the CONSORT Flow Diagram for Parallel Group RCTs. RCTs published between January 2011 and December 2023 in five orthodontic journals were identified and trial characteristics were extracted. The reporting of the flow diagram (if included) was assessed for completeness in relation to the CONSORT flow diagram template. Descriptive statistics and cross tabulations between RCT characteristics and presence/no presence of a flow diagram were performed. On an exploratory basis, univariable associations between RCT characteristics and presence/no presence of a flow diagram were performed and univariable logistic regression to examine the effect of publication year on flow diagram reporting. Three hundred and thirty-four RCTs met the inclusion criteria. The majority were published in 2021 (n = 39, 11.7%), and had 2 arms (n = 279, 83.5%). Three-hundred and seven (92.0%) RCTs were published in journals endorsing the CONSORT guidelines. Two hundred and thirty-three (69.8%) RCTs included a flow diagram and from these, 48.1% (n = 112) were fully compliant with flow diagram reporting. 121 (51.9%) omitted at least one item of the CONSORT reporting template. Significant associations between journal type, CONSORT endorsement by authors, ethical approval status, presence of a published protocol, significance of the primary outcome, involvement of a statistician, presence of conflict of interest, center type, type of analysis undertaken and the presence/ no presence of a flow diagram were present. Across the study timeframe, the odds of inclusion of RCT flow diagram increased per additional year (OR:1.47; 95%CI:1.34,1.61; p < .001). Only five orthodontic journals. Despite improvements over time, the inclusion and reporting of CONSORT flow diagram for parallel group RCTs in trials published in orthodontic journals requires improvement. To mitigate potential biased interpretation of trial results, journal editors should ensure a complete CONSORT flow diagram is submitted by researchers.

This publication highlights the strategic combination of the preservation of heritage and innovation for supporting the sustainability of traditional crafts in Europe. Demonstrating both challenges and opportunities faced by artisans, there is a need to balance cultural authenticity and the pressures of current markets and environmental imperatives. The research has explored interventions at three levels of craft practice, education, and training and recommends practical directions on short- and long-term bases. Key findings include new materials and technologies to revitalize crafts, the integration of digital tools in education, and cross-border collaboration, which are considered vital for enhancing the visibility and viability of traditional crafts. The circular economy principles and eco-certifications emerge as key to aligning traditional crafts with global sustainability goals. The analysis also highlights cultural policies and funding mechanisms as a means of encouraging innovation and promoting the resilience of the craft sector. The publication, by weaving together case studies, policy analysis, and strategic recommendations, provides a comprehensive roadmap for stakeholders—from artisans and educators to policymakers and researchers—to ensure that the legacy and relevance of Europe’s rich craft heritage continue.

Abstract This study aims to examine the impact of the net‐zero policy on forward default risk at the firm level within the energy sector of the US, spanning over the period 2007–2021. The research employs Panel Vector Autoregression (PVAR) modeling, as well as linear and non‐linear Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) models to investigate this relationship. The findings suggest that the implementation of net‐zero policy measures can have complex effects on firms' default risk in both the short and long run. The PVAR results confirm a unidirectional negative impact of net‐zero policies on forward default risk over 2, 3, and 5 years. The symmetric ARDL model results show a negative long‐run impact on the future probability of default, with short‐run impacts being positive across all time horizons. The asymmetric ARDL model findings indicate that positive net‐zero measures reduce the probability of default in the long run and increase it in the short run across all time horizons. Conversely, negative shocks of net‐zero measures lead to an increase in the forward probability of default in the long run. The differences in findings between the long and short run are attributed to the effects of capital expenditures on infrastructure expenses required to achieve net‐zero results. This study contributes to the literature on financial outcomes and the impact of adopting sustainable development and net‐zero goals. The policy implications suggest that a supportive institutional framework must be provided to reduce the financial default in energy sector firms, which will assist in capital and infrastructure expenditures in the short run.

Abstract Enhancing environmental quality is currently a key focus for policymakers. Furthermore, researchers are also prioritizing the investigation of novel variables that can influence environmental quality. The yield spread is commonly used as a leading indicator for business cycles in the macro‐finance literature, providing information about future expectations regarding business cycles. The yield spread also presents information about the borrowing costs of firms. None of the existing studies in the environmental economics literature has tested the impact of the yield spread on environmental quality, implying the level of the yield spread has not been considered a variable that can influence environmental quality. This study aims to fill this gap by providing evidence on the effect of yield spread (between 2‐ and 10‐year government bonds) on environmental quality in the United States from June 1976 to September 2023. The results indicate that an increase in the yield spread leads to a rise in environmental destruction. These results suggest two considerable consequences. First, optimistic expectations today lead to the overuse of resources and environmental destruction. Second, firms' higher borrowing costs may be forcing them to use less environmentally friendly production methods to offset more expensive financing costs and increase their profits. This study asserts that companies should enhance their environmental sensitivity, and policymakers should adopt a more proactive stance, based on the results of this study and other research that demonstrates the detrimental impacts of environmental regulation violations and poor environmental performances on companies' stock prices and financial performances.

The Baltic Dry Index is affected by the relevant dry bulk markets' indices in weighting, with the Baltic Panamax Index contributing at a very high weighting, increasing from 25 to 30% since January 2018; as a result, the Panamax shipping market plays a critical role in international trade. The economic perspective of this industry is affected by the micro-and macro-global changes, specifically by the changes in volume and frequency of dry bulk commodities. For example, the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic led the world economy to lockdown with a bull expected market. However, companies with Panamax ships managed to react and recover due to the Panamax market structure's nature. Dry companies operating in this market do so in a flexible economic environment with various cargoes available under open competition. As a result, the companies need to adapt to new changes such as regulations (emissions control

This paper analyses the distributional implications of consumer inflation in Greece and of the fiscal measures adopted to cushion its adverse impact on households in 2022. The analysis employs the tax-benefit microsimulation model for the European Union (EUROMOD) to study how inflation, income support measures, as well as measures aimed at containing prices affected households’ purchasing power and welfare across the income distribution. The study confirms that the purchasing power of lower-income households was more severely affected by the 2022 inflation surge than that of higher-income households, resulting in the so-called inflation gap. The unequal impact of inflation was further magnified by the high shares of consumption in the income of the poorer, resulting in a welfare loss differential of 9.2 percentage points between the bottom and the top income decile. The adverse distributional impact of the inflationary shock was largely offset by government policies, with a welfare loss of only 2.9% remaining for the population as a whole. Fiscal measures were shown to close the inflation gap and mitigated the welfare loss differential between the poor and the rich to just 0.7 percentage points. Price measures were dominant vis-à-vis their income counterparts in compensating for welfare losses across the income distribution and, most interestingly, had a significant progressive impact largely driven by the electricity subsidy, as the support provided was inversely related to consumption. However, given that they were not as well-targeted to low-income households, they were relatively cost-inefficient when compared with income measures. Nonetheless, the efficiency advantage of income measures may be severely undermined in the presence of extensive tax evasion, which points not only to the need for a careful design of targeted measures, but also to complementarities with structural reforms fighting tax evasion.

The paper investigates the potential effects of a sovereign credit rating upgrade to investment grade on the trajectory of the Greek economy. A cross-country empirical analysis of past upgrades suggests that an economy’s upgrade to investment grade is associated with a reduction in sovereign bond yields and spreads by about 70 basis points. In the long run, such an upgrade boosts real GDP and reduces GDP volatility by 2.5% and 0.48%, respectively. Furthermore, the findings derived from a dynamic factor model indicate that an upgrade to investment grade is expected to reduce Greek sovereign bond yields and pass through to the Greek banking sector by reducing its funding costs and narrowing the spread between Greek and euro area bank bonds. Subsequently, a DSGE model featuring a rich financial sector, calibrated to the Greek economy, is employed to trace the dynamic responses of key financial and real variables to an upgrade to investment grade. The model suggests that an upgrade to investment grade that reduces bank funding costs has a positive impact on the real and financial sectors of the Greek economy in both the short and the long run. Finally, counterfactual experiments illustrate that a sovereign credit rating upgrade to investment grade has a stabilising effect on both the banking sector and the real economy in the face of adverse shocks.