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PurposeTrade fairs have crucial socio-economic, cultural and political impacts. This paper aims to explore these multi-faceted effects at the local level from a citizens' perspective.Design/methodology/approachThe economic, social, environmental and socio-cultural effects of trade fair activity are studied by employing the case study of Thessaloniki International Fair. These impacts are examined based on the views of people in the local community of the host area, conducting a fieldwork survey with questionnaires.FindingsThe analysis, based on descriptive statistics, factor analysis and induction statistics, indicates that the economic, environmental and socio-cultural effects of trade fair activity on the city are largely viewed positively by residents of Thessaloniki. Differences in representations of fair's impacts are evident in what specific groups, according to age, educational level and occupation, expect from trade fair activity.Originality/valueWhile fairs' effects have been examined by studies in economics, sociology and politics, providing useful insights about the inter-linkages between trade fairs and host cities, they tend to pay little attention to citizens' perceptions on fairs' socio-economic implications. This paper enriches the literature on trade fairs' effects by adopting a citizens' perspective, being among the first studies to focus on representations, perceptions and views of residents of the host city to examine fairs' socio-economic implications.

Previous research has examined geographical variations in SME access to external finance, especially bank loans. Rather less attention has been paid to how far SME equity access difficulties in more peripheral regions, and cities within these regions, is a demand or supply side issue, and how far equity investments are concentrated in specific urban areas in peripheral regions. This paper examines these topics through an analysis of small firm equity deals across the UK regions, before focusing on the case of the Welsh economy. In the case analysis a low equilibrium for small business equity investment in Wales is identified, with low demand and poor supply of equity, but with a relatively high concentration of equity deals in the Cardiff urban area. The paper examines the potential implications of a low equity equilibrium and provides a challenge for further research in the area.

The novel coronavirus Covid‐19 was brought to the global spotlight in early 2020 and has already had significant impacts on daily life, while the effects could last for a long period. However, these impacts appear to have been regionally differentiated, since similar to previous pandemics, geography plays an important role in viruses’ diffusion. This paper enriches our knowledge about the initial territorial impact of the pandemic, from January to May 2020, studying the spread of Covid‐19 across 119 regional economies in 9 EU countries and explaining its underlying factors. Air quality, demographics, global interconnectedness, urbanization trends, historic trends in health expenditure as well as the policies implemented to mitigate the pandemic were found to have influenced the regionally uneven mortality rate of Covid‐19.

The 2007 global economic crisis and public policies implemented to resolve it have modified the conditions under which enterprises operate, thus having great effects on business tactics and decisions. This paper employs a comparative analysis of the pre- and post-crisis movements of Greek small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to Bulgaria in order to examine the impact of the crisis and the applied public policy on firm-internal relocation factors, such as size, sector and relocation incentive, and the effects of relocation on business performance. Greek SME movements to Bulgaria have recently increased considerably due to the adverse effects of the crisis on the Greek economy. Results demonstrate that, while in the pre-crisis period many Greek businesspeople viewed relocation to Bulgaria as an entrepreneurial opportunity for firm expansion, since 2007 relocation has been perceived as a necessity for the vast majority of Greek entrepreneurs in order to stay in business. However, evidence is provided for a clear division between businesspeople, managing strong, and medium-sized firms and seeking business growth and improved competitiveness, and entrepreneurs who own small, unproductive enterprises and who made efforts to maintain business without seeking quality improvement. Consequently, many of them failed to stay in business since they overlooked internal to firm changes.

The paper examines the funding of Welsh voluntary sector organisations (VSOs), in terms of income source and type, in the aftermath of the 2007-08 global economic crisis, seeking to explore marketisation trends. A detailed examination of voluntary sector income from 2010-11, at the beginning of the austerity period, to 2016-17, the financial year with the latest available figures, provides valuable insights to both academic and policy inquiry about VSOs and their financial resilience. Several works have examined the voluntary sector funding in the aftermath of the 2007-08 economic crisis (Osborne, 2012; Clifford, 2017). Osborne (2012) indicated that Scottish charities reacted positively to the effects of the recession, with Scottish Government funding increases compensating for the decline in voluntary donations. Clifford (2017) showed that English and Welsh charities’ income had significantly declined from 2008 to 2014. This paper provides some insights into how VSOs might respond to the current economic conditions affecting the Welsh economy.

This paper examines firm relocation in the aftermath of the 2007 global economic crisis. In particular, the paper analyses the unprecedented recent increase in the movement of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from Greece to Bulgaria using original insights by a survey of 103 Greek companies in Bulgaria. The findings suggest a reconsideration of the existing literature on firm mobility in order to explain the post-crisis movement of Greek SMEs. Entrepreneurs perceived firm relocation as a necessity, while, contrary to the existing literature, labour cost does not appear to have significantly influenced firm exit from Greece, the level of demand was highlighted as more important compared with the literature findings and access to external finance emerged as a major factor. Important among elements that attracted businesspeople to Bulgaria were low taxation and geographical proximity to Greece. The present analysis thus challenges the significance of firm relocation determinants in the literature.

Το παρόν άρθρο παρουσιάζει μια κοινωνικοοικονομική ανάλυση της μετανάστευσης μικρομεσαίων επιχειρηματιών στη βάση της διαφοροποίησης του κοινωνικού, οικονομικού και θεσμικού πλαισίου. Συγκεκριμένα, εξετάζει τις μετακινήσεις μικρών και μεσαίων επιχειρήσεων από την Ελλάδα στη Βουλγαρία, συγκρίνοντας τις κοινωνικοοικονομικές συνθήκες μεταξύ των δύο χωρών πριν και μετά το ξέσπασμα της παγκόσμιας οικονομικής κρίσης του 2007. Ο συγγραφέας υιοθετεί το εννοιολογικό μοντέλο της καπιταλιστικής ποικιλοχρωμίας για την ερμηνεία των διακριτών πολιτικών οικονομιών αναλύοντας τις επιχειρηματικές αποφάσεις για τη μετεγκατάσταση. Το άρθρο στηρίζεται σε στοιχεία έρευνας πεδίου που πραγματοποιήθηκε το 2014 στη Βουλγαρία.

Key words: competitiveness, territorial unit, firms, bankruptcy, Greece, Dubai In the modern globalized economy there are some concepts which are very important for the current socio-economic system. One of them is competition. Though in classical political economy, the economic realm, with competition as its centerpiece, seems to be carrying it over all other fields, today competition appears as the sole immanent category imbuing all aspects of everyday life. So, in current globalised economic background, competition has been extended in fields of education, health, wealth fare and among them, the spatial sciences and economic geography - competition among territorial units (cities, regions or states) in order to attract financial and human capital. The concept of territorial competitiveness was introduced in scientific and policy affairs almost 30 years ago and mainly during the last 15 years it has been the basis of territorial development policy. The scientific discussion regarding this concept is very rich since many authors, councils and organisations have put forward an opinion having articulated three particular approaches: the defending one which supports it, the critical one which disputes it and the neutral approach. The deep review of the three approaches and the role of territorial competitiveness in current territorial development policy contribute to a global view of the concept. This paper makes efforts to examine thoroughly the concept of competition in its relationship with space, if it direct or not, evaluating the existing theoretical propositions, participating in the discussion which takes place about territorial competitiveness with many interesting opinions expressed by economists, planners and geographers, exercising influence in decision making. It first focuses on the question whether territorial units¢ competition is a self-reliant concept or a concept which is derivative of firms¢ competition. Secondly, one of the basic aspects regarding territorial competitiveness is the comparison between the way that the firms and the territories behave mainly in case of bad economic performance and even bankruptcy. Within this context the cases of Greece and Dubai present remarkable interest regarding their behaviour after their bad economic performance.

Key words: regional inequalities, localist movements, integration, Castilla-Catalonia, Flanders-Wallonia Abstract: The expansive nature of the dominant socio-economic model lead to the current globalized economy based on open borders, the laws of the open market and the integration of local economic systems. This has as central component the establishment of supranational institutional forms (such as European Union). Economic integration combined with the function of the open market did not result in the elimination of inequalities. Forecasted convergence was far from reached. Historically, in some regions local populations developed ethnically premised movements in order to defend their local identity and culture and promote their relative economic position. Emanating out of an array of distinct ethnic, cultural, religious, societal and economic backgrounds, in many cases such localist movements looked down on their central state government and national institutions and aspired towards the development of alternative localist institutions arrangements. This paper examines the complex inter-determinations between localist movements and regional inequalities, the type and function of the emerging inter-relationships, and their resulting impacts on the acuteness of the two sets of phenomena examined. Negotiating between contrasting theoretical claims we shall examine the evolution of specific localist movements in relation to the regional inequalities of the broader areas in which they appear. We centre our case studies on the dual sets of Castilla - Catalonia and Flanders - Wallonia, whereby in Catalonia and Flanders there have developed strong localist movements vis a vis the central states of Spain and Belgium respectively. Bibliography Hess David J. (2009), Localist movements in a Global Economy, The MIT Press, May 2009

This chapter examines the ways in which the 2007 global economic crisis has influenced firm relocation factors. Firm mobility constitutes a dynamic process, with its aspects changing in response to significant broader processes, such as globalisation. Specifically, the recent crisis has modified the socio-economic conditions under which firms operate. In order to examine the crisis-driven changes in firm mobility, this chapter employs a comparative analysis of the pre- and post-crisis relocation of Greek small and medium-sized companies to Bulgaria, which has recently increased. Greece is at the epicentre of academic and political debate in Europe, being the European Union member state mostly affected by the crisis. In the context of the changing economic and institutional conditions, it is demonstrated that the significance of the firm relocation factors, such as labour cost and level of demand, records considerable differences between the pre- and the post-crisis period.