1 Journal of Regional Socio-Economic Issues, Vol. 9, Issue 1, January 2019 Journal of Regional Socio-Economic Issues, Vol. 9, Issue 1, January 2019 2 JOURNAL OF REGIONAL SOCIO- ECONOMIC ISSUES (JRSEI) Volume 9, Issue 1, January 2019 Journal of Regional & Socio-Economic Issues (Print) ISSN 2049-1395 Journal of Regional & Socio-Economic Issues (Online) ISSN 2049-1409 Indexed by Copernicus Index, DOAJ (Director of Open Access Journal), EBSCO, Cabell’s Index The journal is catalogued in the following catalogues: ROAD: Directory of Open Access Scholarly Resources, OCLC WorldCat, EconBiz - ECONIS, CITEFACTOR, OpenAccess 3 Journal of Regional Socio-Economic Issues, Vol. 9, Issue 1, January 2019 JOURNAL OF REGIONAL SOCIO-ECONOMIC ISSUES (JRSEI) ISSN No. 2049-1409 Aims of the Journal: Journal of Regional Socio-Economic Issues (JRSEI) is an international multidisciplinary refereed journal the purpose of which is to present papers manuscripts linked to all aspects of regional socio-economic and business and related issues. The views expressed in this journal are the personal views of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of JRSEI journal. The journal invites contributions from both academic and industry scholars. Electronic submissions are highly encouraged (mail to: [email protected]). Indexed by Copernicus Index, DOAJ (Director of Open Access Journal), EBSCO, Cabell’s Index International Institute of Organized Research (I2OR) database The journal is catalogued in the following catalogues: ROAD: Directory of Open Access Scholarly Resources, OCLC WorldCat, EconBiz - ECONIS, CITEFACTOR, OpenAccess Chief-Editor Prof. Dr. George M. Korres: Professor University of the Aegean, School of Social Sciences, Department of Geography, [email protected] Editorial Board (alphabetical order) Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zacharoula S. Andreopoulou, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Faculty of Forestry and Natural Environment, School of Agriculture, Forestry & Natural Environment, [email protected] Dr. Stilianos Alexiadis, Ministry of Reconstruction of Production, Environment & Energy Department of Strategic Planning, Rural Development, Evaluation & & Statistics, [email protected]; [email protected] Prof. Dr. Maria Athina Artavani, Department of Military Science, Hellenic Military Academy, Greece, [email protected] Prof. Dr. Elias G. Carayannis: School of Business, George Washington University, USA, [email protected]; [email protected] Emeritus Prof. Dr. Christos Frangos, University of West Attica, Athens, [email protected] Emeritus Prof. Dr. Andreas Demetriou, Department of Military Science, Hellenic Military Academy, Greece, [email protected] Ass. Professor Dr Vicky Delitheou, Department of Economics and Regional Development, Panteion University of Social and Political Sciences of Athens, Email: [email protected] Prof. Dr. Hanna Dudek: Warsaw University of Life Sciences, [email protected] Prof. Dr. George Gkantzias: Hellenic Open University, [email protected] Prof. Dr. George Halkos, Department of Economics, University of Thessaly, [email protected] Prof. Dr. Richard Harris: Durham University, [email protected] Assoc. Prof. Dr. Olga-Ioanna Kalantzi, Department of Environment, University of the Aegean, Email: [email protected] Prof. Dr. Stephanos Karagiannis, Panteion University, [email protected] Ass. Prof. Dr. Marina-Selini Katsaiti, Department of Economics & Finance, College of Business & Economics, United Arab Emirates University, UAE, [email protected] Journal of Regional Socio-Economic Issues, Vol. 9, Issue 1, January 2019 4 Emeritus Prof. Dr. Christos Kitsos, University of West Attica, [email protected] Assoc. Prof. Dr. Aikaterini Kokkinou, Department of Military Science, Hellenic Military Academy, Greece, [email protected] Prof. Dr. Elias A. Kourliouros, Department of Economics, University of Patras, [email protected]; [email protected] Assoc. Prof. Dr. Christos Ladias, Panteion University, Greece [email protected] Prof. Dr. Dimitrios Lagos, Department of Business Administration, University of the Aegean, [email protected] Assoc. Prof. Dr. Charalambos Louca: Head of Business Department, Director of Research Department, [email protected] Prof. Dr. Evangelos Manolas, Department of Forestry & Management of the Environment & Natural Resources, School of Agricultural & Forestry Sciences, Democritus University of Thrace, [email protected] Prof. Dr. Emmanuel Marmaras†: Technical University of Crete Prof. Dr. Ioannis Th. Mazis, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Faculty of Turkish Studies and Modern Asian Studies, School of Economics and Political Sciences, [email protected]; [email protected]; Prof. Dr. Maria Michailidis: Department of Management & MIS, University of Nicosia, [email protected] Prof. Dr. Photis Nanopoulos, Former Director of Eurostat, [email protected] Prof. Dr. Nikitas Nikitakos, Department of Shipping Trade and Transport, University of the Aegean, Email: [email protected] Dr. Pablo Ruiz-Nápoles, Faculty of Economics, Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, [email protected] Assistant Professor Dr. Efstratios Papanis, Department of Sociology, University of the Aegean, [email protected] Assoc. Prof. Gerasimos Pavlogeorgatos (PhD), Department of Cultural Technology and Communication, University of the Aegean, [email protected] Prof. Dr. George Polychronopoulos, Professor, Member of the Board of Trustees, University of West Attica, [email protected] Prof. Dr. Kiran Prasad, Professor Sri Padmavati Mahila University [email protected]; [email protected]; Dr. Efthymia Sarantakou, Architect Engineer, adjunct lecturer at the Hellenic Open University and at the Technological Educational Institute of Athens, [email protected] Professor Yevhen Savelyev, Vice-Rector, Ternopil National Economic University, Ukraine,[email protected]; Professor Dr. Anastasia Stratigea, National Technical University of Athens, School of Rural and Surveying Engineering, Department of Geography and Regional Planning, [email protected] Prof. Paris Tsartas, Harokopeio University, Athens, Greece, [email protected] Prof. Dr. George O. Tsobanoglou, University of the Aegean, Department of Sociology, [email protected] Professor Dr. George Tsourvakas, School of Economic and Political Studies, Department of Journalism and Mass Communications, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Email: [email protected] Prof. Dr. George Zestos, Christopher Newport University, [email protected] 5 Journal of Regional Socio-Economic Issues, Vol. 9, Issue 1, January 2019 Table of Contents Editorial Board 3 Table of Contents 5 Paper 1: Quantifying Financial Efficiency through Data Envelopment 6 Analysis (by Aikaterini Kokkinou) Paper 2: Productivity Enhancement in Europe: A Management Approach (by 16 Charalambos Louca) Paper 3: The Eurozone Financial Crisis: Lessons and Prospects (by George M. Korres, Aikaterini Kokkinou, Maria Michailidis, Charalambos Louca and 22 Efstratios Papanis) Paper 4: Visitor-oriented strategic museum management for small regional museums. The Greek case of the Ethnological Museum of Thrace (by 33 Goulaptsi Ioanna and Tsourvakas George) Paper 5: Traditional Settlements in Greece. The Case of the Regional Unit of 45 Ioannina Law (by Anastasios Giotis) Book Review (by Vasilis Gavalas) 59 Call for Papers 61 Instructions to Authors 62 Journal of Regional Socio-Economic Issues, Vol. 9, Issue 1, January 2019 6 Quantifying Financial Efficiency through Data Envelopment Analysis Abstract: The issue of estimating technical efficiency in financial institutions is thought to be of particular research interest because empirical evidence shows that even though European Union financial institutions are widely analysed with respect to performance, yet little attention has been paid to the estimation of technical efficiency. The basic aim of this paper is the estimation of technical efficiency in financial institutions regarding technical efficiency attainment levels, considering a panel data model for inefficiency effects in production frontiers, providing translog effects, as well as industry effects, applying the deterministic nonparametric approach Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). Technical efficiency is determined using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) considering both input and output orientation measures, under Constant Returns to Scale (CRS) and Variable Returns to Scale (VRS) in both input and output orientation. Key words: Technical efficiency, Transcendental Logarithmic Production Function, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) Aikaterini Kokkinou1 1 Corresponding Address: Dr. Aikaterini Kokkinou, Associate Professor, Higher Military Academy of Greece, Athens, E-mail: [email protected] 7 Journal of Regional Socio-Economic Issues, Vol. 9, Issue 1, January 2019 1. Introduction Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is a mathematical programming approach for the construction of production frontiers and the measurement of efficiency relative to the constructed frontiers. The basic idea of this approach consists of enveloping the data (the observed input-output combinations) in order to obtain an approximation of the production frontier (best-practice frontier) and using this to identify the contribution of technological change, technological catch-up, and inputs accumulation to productivity growth. In DEA the inefficiency is defined as the distance from the frontier of a convex envelope of the data; therefore,