Incentives for quick penetration of electric vehicles in five European countries: perceptions from experts and stakeholders.

On the basis of 143 responses from experts and stakeholders from Germany, Austria, Spain, the Netherlands and the UK, we assess the perceived impact of a range of incentives for the uptake of electric vehicles (EVs). We find that the incentive that most respondents consider to have a positive impact is the development of charging infrastructure, with 75% stating so. This is followed by purchase subsidies, to narrow the difference in price of an EV and that of an internal combustion engine vehicle, with 68% of respondents stating that they have a strong or at least a partial positive impact. Pilot/trial/demonstrations of EVs, to expose potential buyers to EVs, are also perceived to have a positive effect, with 66% of respondents stating so. Tax incentives, which like purchase subsidies, narrow the gap between the total operating cost of an EV and that of a conventional vehicle, are also perceived to have a positive impact by 65% of respondents. Other incentives that are perceived to have a positive influence include climate change and air quality policies, consumer information schemes and differential taxation applied to various fuels and energy vectors

Development of vorticity patterns in stratified fluids

Imperial Users onl

Production of aluminium matrix composites

Imperial Users onl

Book review: What is digital sociology? by Neil Selwyn

In What is Digital Sociology?, Neil Selwyn offers a new overview of digital sociology, advocating for its mainstream acceptance as a valuable expansion of sociological inquiry, while dispelling the misconception that it is a entirely new or radically different form of sociology. This is an excellent introduction to digital sociology, recommends Huw Davies, that will be particularly helpful for students and any sociologist curious about the field’s scope and purpose

Pursuing Autonomy through Dialogue

In the Self-Access Learning Center (SALC) at a university in Japan, language learners create and implement individual learning plans. Strategies to facilitate reflective dialogue are used by learning advisors to encourage these learners to pursue their language goals and become increasingly less reliant on direction from their teachers. In this paper, a definition for autonomy is given, and the teaching setting is introduced, giving an overview of the SALC and outlining the ways learners use it, drawing on examples of learners at different stages on their journey to autonomy. After looking at theory and practical applications, this paper demonstrates that guiding learners through dialogue is an appropriate way to challenge meanings and raise consciousness, and move learners towards managing their own language learning.DOI: https://doi.org/10.24071/llt.2016.19020

Clinical governance: striking a balance between checking and trusting

Clinical governance emerged as one of the big ideas central to the latest round of health reforms. It places with health care managers, for the first time, a statutory duty for quality of care on an equal footing with the pre-existing duty of financial responsibility (Warden 1998). Clinical governance tries to encourage an appropriate emphasis on the quality of clinical services by locating the responsibility for that quality along defined lines of accountability. This paper explores some of the implications of clinical governance using the economic perspective of principal-agent theory. It examines the ways in which principals seek to overcome the potential for agent opportunism either by reducing asymmetries of information (for example, by using performance data) or by aligning objective functions (for example, by creation of a shared quality culture). As trust and mutuality (or their absence) underpin all principal-agent relationships these issues lie at the heart of the discussion. The analysis emphasises the need for a balance between techniques that seek to compel performance improvements (through externally applied measurement and management), and approaches that trust to intrinsic professional motivation to deliver high quality services. Of crucial importance in achieving this balance is the creation and maintenance of the right organisational culture.governance

AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE FACTORS DETERMINING RUMINANT LIVESTOCK DISTRIBUTION IN THE FAR SOUTH WEST

Major changes are taking place in all sectors of the livestock and meat producing industries from farm to consumer which impinge on the processes and pattems of livestock distribution from farm to slaughter. These changes are identified and described. A farm business survey of lowland beef and sheep finishers was undertaken, prior to the 2001 Foot and Mouth outbreak, to gain a better understanding of farm business behaviour in order to model the farm business strategies in relation to aggregate livestock channel utilisation. Statistically robust and predictive models using a number of derived latent strategic variables, distilling marketing and business orientations, were used in an adapted multivariate approach. Group profiling confirmed consistency with the cluster profiles. Results show that both lowland beef and sheep producers can be statistically classified into three distinct strategic groups. The marketing approaches that farm businesses use vary according to group membership. For lowland beef producers these are described as selling orientation, buyer focus and differentiation strategies. Sellers view beef production as a minor enterprise to provide supplementary farm income, but fail to meet procurement requirements and are limited to channel utilisation. Buyer focus are production orientated, understand distribution, have good market knowledge and meet procurement standards. Differentiators have similar attributes to buyer focus, but are more likely to differentiate and add value and actively seek markets to which they can sell. Lowland sheep producer strategies are described as opportunist, production and differentiation. Opportunists have similar attributes to sellers, and fail to meet or understand procurement requirements. Producers are as production orientated as buyer focus, but have poorer market and distribution knowledge and tend to focus primarily on production concerns. Differentiators, as with beef finishers, are more likely to differentiate and add value and actively seek markets to which they can sell. The developed typologies reveal that farm business marketing behaviour changes according to group membership and this has a significant influence on aggregate channel utilisation within the Far South West. For some fanners it would appear that channel utilisation is predetermined

Knowledge mobilisation: new insights for theory and practice

Knowledge creation, flow and promulgation are enmeshed in complex institutional and organisational arrangements. The concern over the under-use of research given this complexity has led to the development of strategies aimed at mobilising knowledge. Huw Davies and Sandra Nutley describe the objectives of a new UK project exploring and linking the theory and practice of knowledge mobilisation