BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Memento EPFL//
BEGIN:VEVENT
SUMMARY:Seminar "The Greek Crisis Under the Lens of Innovation Policy" by 
 Prof. Lena Tsipouri\, University of Athens
DTSTART:20150909T120000
DTEND:20150909T133000
DTSTAMP:20260916T203832Z
UID:b116f4e4e3c69569ec492963711b6f5ba2d00d6dec9bd3109a669334
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Prof. Lena Tsipouri\, University of Athens\n"The Greek Crisis 
 Under the Lens of Innovation Policy"Abstract\nA unique characteristic of G
 reece is that it has grown in episodes. Since statehood in the 19th centur
 y periods of exceptional growth were followed by debt crises and recession
 s and vice versa. During the growth episodes the development model changed
  from agricultural to manufacturing and then service-dominated economy (me
 asured in terms of contribution to GDP) but has never succeeded in transfo
 rming the productive capabilities into adaptive innovative businesses buil
 ding sustainable competitive advantages. Relying on low cost competition h
 as condemned the country to a sort of persistent developed countries’ mi
 ddle income trap.\nThe recent crisis can be considered as following the pa
 ttern of the economic history of the country: a period of above European a
 verage growth until 2008 was followed by a deep and persistent recession t
 hat is still troubling the country. I argue that the origins of this crisi
 s can be traced back to the growth period\, when again the public and priv
 ate sectors proved unable to transform into the knowledge economy. The glo
 bal crisis exacerbated but did not trigger the Greek difficulties:\n1. The
  GDP growth generated in the years 2000-2008 was lower than the correspond
 ing debt increase.\n2. Using lags this would have been no problem\, would 
 the debt finance investments be able to generate revenues to repay the deb
 t.\n3. However\, this was not the case: the grants from the Structural Fun
 ds of the EU and the accumulated private and public debt did not trigger a
 ny significant restructuring of the productive sector\, innovative investm
 ents or transformation into higher value added activities\; hence the debt
  could not be repaid.\n4. One can observe that during the growth period\, 
 characterised by abundant liquidity\, innovation policy could increase inp
 uts but not outputs\; the EU-imposed innovation policy generated research 
 capabilities and (onerous) public investments with limited capacity utilis
 ation and export performance.\n5. This may now be well-understood\, but th
 e current austerity period deprives the country from the financial resourc
 es necessary for growth-oriented investments (assuming the will to change 
 the development model).\n6. The challenge now is what next: can the countr
 y find a path into a new growth episode? What would it take to achieve it?
 Short Bio\nLena J. TSIPOURI is Associate Professor at the University of At
 hens\, Department of Economic Sciences. She studied Economic Sciences at t
 he Universities of Athens and Vienna\, completed her PhD (Doctorat d’ Et
 at)\, at the University of Paris II\, which received the first prize of th
 e year 1988 and undertook postdoctoral research with a Fulbright Fellowshi
 p at MIT\, Cambridge\, Massachusetts.\nProf. Tsipouri teaches Economic Dev
 elopment\, European Economic\, Integration\, Economics of Technological Ch
 ange and Theory of the Firm. Her scientific research and publications are 
 in the topics of research and innovation\, regional development and corpor
 ate governance. Her most recent publications include journal articles on t
 he Public Procurement of Innovation\, comparing policies of Science in Soc
 iety and Innovation\, articles on the Greek economic crisis and issues on 
 diversity.\nProf. Tsipouri is professionally involved in consulting work f
 or EU institutions\, the OECD and the UN in the same topics as her scienti
 fic research and is a member of several professional associations. She is 
 currently the chairperson for the EU Innovation for Growth Group.
LOCATION:EPFL\, Odyssea 0.16 http://plan.epfl.ch/?zoom=19&recenter_y=58637
 97.55235&recenter_x=731542.3296&layerNodes=fonds\,batiments\,labels\,infor
 mation\,parkings_publics\,arrets_metro\,transports_publics&floor=0&q=ody_0
 .16
STATUS:CONFIRMED
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR