News

Dr Spyros Economides at The Economist’s Second Eastmed-London Investment Summit

Dr Spyros Economides, Associate Professor of International Relations and European Politics, LSE and Hellenic Observatory Deputy Director spoke at The Economist’s Second Eastmed-London Investment Summit on 'Brexit and Britain's Foreign Policy in the Eastern Mediterranean'.

The Hellenic Observatory at the Stelios Philanthropic Foundation in London 

Sir Stelios Haji-ioannou and the Stelios Philanthropic Foundation  hosted this year's  London School of Economics and Political Science - Stelios Scholars Reunion with guests from the Hellenic Observatory, LSE. Inspiring speeches from Sir Stelios Haji-ioannou, LSE Director Dame Minouche Shafik, Professor Kevin Featherstone & alumni Slava Polonski. 

Report: Feminization of occupations and its effect on gender wage gap in South Mediterranean Countries

Dr Vassilis Monastiriotis has collaborated on a report under the EU-FEMISE project, exploring how traditional cultural-economic roles played by women in the MENA region impact gender equality in the labour market, and the implications of this.

Kevin Featherstone at the 8th Thessaloniki International Symposium in World Affairs

Kevin Featherstone delievered a speech on the 'Governing amidst ungovernability: the case of BREXIT’ at the 8th Thessaloniki International Symposium in World Affairs on 20th October 2019. 

Kevin Featherstone at the Hippocratic Oration and Dinner

Kevin Featherstone gave the after-dinner speech at the annual dinner of the Hellenic Medical Society UK, on 12^th October 2019. Here he is receiving an award for ‘his lifetime commitment to Hellenism’. 

Kevin Featherstone at the KPMG 18 CFO Forum

Kevin Featherstone delivered a keynote speech at the KPMG 18th CEO Forum in Athens on 13th June 2019 titled 'Opportunities & Challenges for Greece in a Changing European Union'.

Vassili Monastiriotis at the University of Macedonia

Vassilis Monastiriotis gave a seminar at the University of Macedonia, Department of Balkan, Slavic & Oriental Studies on 9th May, presenting his recent paper (with Fatmir Besimi) titled “The role of EU integration in accelerating structural reforms in the Western Balkans: evidence, theory and policy”. 

Vassilis Monastiriotis at the 3^rd International Conference of the Economic Chamber of Greece

Vassilis Monastiriotis participated at the 3^rd International Conference of the Economic Chamber of Greece, moderating a panel on “Implementation of reforms as a precursor to facilitate market access” with Chris Allen (European Commission), Peter Dohlman (IMF), Michael Haliassos (Frankfurt) and Zsolt Darvas (Bruegel). The conference was held at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center in Athens on 8 May and hosted high-level participants including the Deputy Prime Minister Mr Yiannis Dragasakis, the leader of the opposition Mr Kyriakos Mitsotakis, the U.S. Ambassador to the Hellenic Republic Mr Geoffrey Pyatt, and others. 

Greece and the Euro: From Crisis to Recovery

On 12th April, The Karamanlis Chair in Hellenic and European Studies at the Fletcher School, Tufts and the Hellenic Observatory organised a conference on 'Greece and the Euro: From Crisis to Recovery'. The purpose of the conference was to assess the causes of the Gree crisis and the prospects for the Greek Economy after the conclusion of the economic adjustment programmes in 2018.

The papers presented in the conference, and the discussions around them, will be published in a special volume of the conference proceedings in both English and Greek.

Dr Ioannis Laliotis' new publication

On 27th March , Dr Ioannis Laliotis & Dr Nicholas Giannakopoulos published a paper on Industrial Relations Reform, Firm‐Level Bargaining and Nominal Wage Floors where they investigate the impact of the 2011 industrial relations reform in Greece that made firms with less than 50 employees eligible to participate to firm‐level bargaining. 

Dr Vassilis Monastiriotis' new appointment

Dr Vassilis Monastiriotis has been appointed in the Editorial Board of Investigaciones Regionales – Journal of Regional Research, published by the Spanish Association of Regional Science.

New publication by Dr Vassilis Monastiriotis

On 14th March Dr Vassilis Monastiriotis published a paper with Corrado Macchiarelli and Nikolitsa Lampropoulou on Comparative Economic Studies titled 'Transition Dynamics in European Labour Markets During Crisis and Recovery'. The piece is offering a detailed examination of the transitional dynamics underpinning changes in employment, unemployment and inactivity across the EU member states during the long period from before the crisis until the recent recovery (2004–2016). 

Dr Philipp Katsinas published a new paper

On 3rd March Dr Philipp Katsinas published a paper on 'The international face of Thessaloniki: The “Greek crisis,” the entrepreneurial mayor, and mainstream media discourses'. In this piece he argues that the serial repetition of positive images contributed to Thessaloniki being perceived as an example to be followed by other Greek local governments and the central state, acting as a best practice example for transformations envisioned on wider scales. The paper contributes to place‐branding debates by illustrating the important role of international media in the dissemination of place brands, and by analysing how media representations of place may serve the legitimation of processes of neoliberalisation on scales wider than the concrete urban setting where they occur. 

HO Staff at the Delphi Economic Forum

On 28 February –3 March  Professor Kevin Featherstone, Dr Spyros Economides and Dr Vassilis Monastiriotis participated in the Delphi Economic Forum IV that took place in Delphi, Greece. During the four-day international conference, Professor Kevin Featherstone chaired two sessions: ‘Brexit’ and ‘What’s next for the Eurozone’ and was a key speaker at ‘ Greece and the European Union: Renewing the vows’ and ‘The road to Sibiu and beyond’. Dr Spyros Economides was a key speaker at the session ‘Defence and Economy’ and Dr Vassilis Monastiriotis was a speaker at the session ‘A national plan for economic recovery’.

Dr Vassilis Monastiriotis and the New Minimum Wage in Greece

Dr Vassilis Monastiriotis was appointed to the Committee of Experts advising the Greek government on the setting of the new minimum wage in Greece. The Committee, studied a number of aspects of wage setting and employment dynamics in the Greek labour market and submitted its report to the government in late December 2018, recommending a sizeable increase in the minimum wage, partly reversing the reduction implemented in 2012 under Greece's Adjustment Programme. The recommendations were taking into account by the Ministry and the new level (which saw an 11% increase) became effective in February 2019. 

New publication by Professor Kevin Featherstone and Michael Cottakis
Kevin Featherstone & Michael Cottakis, published a piece on Capacity or Culture? Assessing their significance for the divergence in the fulfilment of common EU obligations by member states, Dahrendorf Forum, 4 February 2019. 

Dr Ioannis Laliotis co-investigator in research programme

Dr Ioannis Laliotis became the co-investigator in a research programme entitled as “Retention of the clinical and ambulance workforce in English NHS hospitals: Variations, trends and effects on patient outcomes”. It is part of the prestigious Efficiency Research Progamme of The Health Foundation that recently offered £1.8 million to innovative research ideas on health and social care provision in the UK. After an immensely competitive process, three experienced research teams were chosen to complete their work within the next 3-5 years.

Professor Featherstone at the LSE Continental Breakfast

On 6^th November 2018 Professor Featherstone was in Madrid to take part in the LSE Continental Breakfast discussion over The Brexit outcome, and why the EU will insist that ‘Brexit means Brexit’. 

Dr Ioannis Laliotis publishe a new piece

On October 2018 Dr Ioannis Laliotis & Dr Charitini Stavropoulou published a piece on Crises and mortality: Does the level of unemployment matter? reviewing whether mortality responds non-linearly and asymmetrically to unemployment in the context of national economic crises. 

Professor Featherstone at the LSE Alumni Association in Brussels

Professor Featherstone spoke to the LSE Alumni Association in Brussels on 9th October, updating them on developments at LSE and giving his assessment of the Brexit negotiations so far. His co-speaker was Margaritis Schinas, Chief Spokesman of the EU Commission. On 19th October he commented on the future of Anglo-Greek relations after ‘Brexit’ to an audience of policy-makers and officials at Ditchley Park, UK. 

Professor Kevin Featherstone in the 2nd International Conference on Europe in Discourse: Agendas of Reform

Professor Kevin Featherstone participated in the 2nd International Conference on Europe in Discourse: Agendas of Reform, September 21st - 23rd, 2018 in Athens. He spoke on ‘Completing the EMU’ proposing that a new agenda of the European Union could perhaps involve a shift towards a more federalist model that would further deepen the integration. He also acted as a discussant at a panel on 'Greece and the EU' sharing his views with the panellists George Katrougalos, Alternate Foreign Minister for Foreign Affairs, Kostis Hatzidakis, Vice President, New Democracy party and Anna Diamantopoulou, President of DIKTIO" Network for Reform in Greece and Europe.