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Nicholas Giannakopoulos

University of Patras, Greece

I am pleased to contribute to the project because it provides an accessible bridge between academic research and policy debate. The Greek labour market offers important lessons on how employment, wages, inequality, and labour-market institutions respond to economic crises, structural reforms, and recovery. I hope this article will help researchers,

World of Labour role

Author

Current position

Professor, Department of Economics, University of Patras, Greece

Research interest

Labour economics, applied microeconomics, policy evaluation

Website

https://sites.google.com/view/nicholasgiannakopoulos/

Positions/functions as a policy advisor

Consultant to The World Bank; Member of the Greek Minimum Wage Experts Committee

Qualifications

PhD Economics, University of Patras, 2006.

Selected publications

  • "Sibling-sex composition and its effects on fertility and labor supply of Greek mothers." Economics Letters 102:3 (2009): 189-191 (with J. Daouli and M. Demoussis).

  • "Firm‐Level Collective Bargaining and Wages in Greece: A Quantile Decomposition Analysis." British Journal of Industrial Relations 51:1 (2013): 80-103 (with J. Daouli, M., Demoussis, and I. Laliotis).

  • "The wage curve before and during the Greek economic crisis." Empirical Economics 52:1 (2017): 59-77 (with J. Daouli and M.,Demoussis).

  • "Industrial Relations Reform, Firm‐Level Bargaining and Nominal Wage Floors." The Manchester School 88:1 (2020): 37-59 (with I. Laliotis).

  • "The short-term impact of the 2020 pandemic lockdown on employment in Greece." Empirical Economics 65:3 (2023): 1273-1307 (with G. Betcherman, I. Laliotis, I. Pantelaiou, M. Testaverde, and G. Tzimas).

Article(s)

  • The Greek labour market, 2000-2024

    Greece has faced major crisis-driven job losses, persistent long-term unemployment, wage compression, and a post-crisis shift toward minimum-wage-led wage setting

    Effrosyni AdamopoulouNicholas Giannakopoulos, July 2026
    Greece’s labour market tells a mixed story. After one of the deepest crises in Europe, unemployment has fallen and employment has recovered, yet many problems remain. Long-term unemployment is still high, real wages have not fully regained their purchasing power, and most jobs are in small firms with limited growth prospects. At the same time, major reforms changed how wages are set, reducing collective bargaining and making the minimum wage the main pay floor for many workers. This raises an important question: has the Greek labour market truly recovered, or has it settled into a new and more fragile balance? Understanding this is key for designing policies that support stable jobs, fair pay, and inclusive growth in the future.
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