Call for Papers "Vierteljahrshefte zur Wirtschaftsforschung": The Greek Tragedy

More than ever, Greece is in dire straits. Even after the Greek government underwent its fifth change since the start of the crisis, the Greek economy did not arrive at a path of sustainable growth. It has become clear that the economy will not achieve prosperity solely through the recommendations of the so-called Troika—now being renamed “the institutions”—which include cutting costs and public expenditures, and pursuing institutional reforms (although these are urgently needed).

While GDP has declined by more than one-fourth in cumulative terms, unemployment has reached record highs. Although the recent depreciation of the euro improved price competitiveness of Greek products, an end to the downward spiral is still out of sight. Despite some progress in the reform process, the main steps have not been implemented yet. Economic decisions within the country are still highly shaped by policymakers and public officials. The level of state and political dirigisme is unique within the European Union.

Despite its membership in the euro area, the country is still in transition. Greece lacks a competitive industrial structure. With export shares of about 25 per cent of GDP, Greece is a rather closed economy. The export portfolio mainly consists of tourism, food, and beverages. While other euro-area economies invest around 3 percent of their GDP in R&D, Greece invests only 0.7 percent. Due to the austerity measures, even this share is in danger. Overall, in order to move forward and set itself on a path toward economic stability, Greece needs a coherent economic policy encompassing many different fields.

In this “Vierteljahrsheft” we aim to discuss potential policy strategies and reform options that could be a step forward in solving the Greek tragedy. More specifically, we aim to focus on all aspects of the current debate on Greek reformation, in order to make it more attractive to the Greek people and the increasing number of Greeks living in the diaspora.

Some examples of critical current issues in Greece are:

• Transition to an innovation-based and industrial economy
• Deregulation, administrative reforms, and taxation
• Fiscal policy and the Greek programme
• Labor economics, unemployment, and youth unemployment
• Migration to and from Greece and the Greek diaspora
• The Greek healthcare system
• The Greek education system
• Energy economics and the environment in Greece

The ultimate goal of the Vierteljahrsheft is to provide policy advice and make an impact on the policy debate concerning Greece. Therefore, author(s) are encouraged to focus primarily on non-technical economic policy analysis and address their manuscripts to policymakers and the interested public. Formal analyses should be kept to a minimum, and instead be formulated as addenda.

All interested authors are invited to send a one-page summary of their planned contribution before June 30, 2015 to the Editors, Prof. Dr. Alexander Kritikos akritikos@diw.de and Prof. Dr. Christian Dreger cdreger@diw.de. Authors whose proposals have been accepted will be notified before July 15, 2015. The completed manuscripts must then be submitted before October 31, 2015, at which point they will be peer reviewed. English manuscripts should be no longer than 15 pages.

We are planning for each author to have the opportunity to publish the main insights of her/his contribution as a commentary piece in a well-known Greek newspaper.

Call for Papers DIW "Vierteljahrshefte 4/2015" (PDF, 19.62 KB)

Informationen regarding the "Vierteljahrsheften" here.

Information for the authors here.