3,450 research outputs found
Air transport in Africa: toward sustainable business models for African airlines
Although there is a vast amount of literature on airline business models and their evolution in changing global landscapes, there is a general lack of research into the applicability of those models, traditionally defined in European and North American contexts, to the African scene. Implicit in this study is the hypothesis that the African environment is unique enough to warrant its own host of strategies, which may be distinctive enough to form part of a new strategic template, or business model. Initially, a review of existing literature is undertaken to profile the African aviation environment and evaluate existing airline business models and their evolution, both globally and in Africa. The methodology consists firstly of a cluster exercise, whereby 57 African airlines are analysed in terms of their network and size, to yield a number of heterogeneous groups which serve to identify the current business models of airlines on the continent. Following this, eight airlines (representative of the groups outlined in the cluster analysis) were subsequently selected for analysis in terms of the Product and Organisational Architecture framework. While it was evident that the traditional models are followed in Africa, in some instances variations were apparent. Full-service network carriers and regional carriers were concluded as being the most prominent and stable in the African market. The applicability of the low-cost carrier model in Africa was also examined at length, with mixed results. The analysis also raised network density and connectivity as essential components of business models for delivering profits in an African context
Designing the payout phase of funded pension pillars in central and eastern European countries
Over the past decade or so, most Central and Eastern European countries have reformed their pension systems, significantly downsizing their public pillars and creating private pillars based on capitalization accounts. Early policy attention was focused on the accumulation phase but several countries are now reaching the stage where they need to address the design of the payout phase. This paper reviews the complex policy issues that will confront policymakers in this effort and summarizes recent plans and developments in four countries (Poland, Hungary, Estonia, and Lithuania). The paper concludes by highlighting a number of options that merit detailed consideration.Debt Markets,Pensions&Retirement Systems,Financial Literacy,Insurance&Risk Mitigation,Investment and Investment Climate
Monetary and exchange rate policy in Austria: an early example of policy coordination
This paper describes the evolution of Austrian exchange rate and monetary policy as an example of the benefits of policy coordination and credibility. This policy proved the performance of the Central Bank in achieving its twin objective of stabilizing the internal and external value of the currency. In this process, policymakers have sought to exploit the advantages of credibility by building a reputation for sticking to their policy. The evidence presented exhibits the increased coordination between Austrian and German nominal aggregates in the course of time. These accomplishments have apparently not tequired tying the real performance of the Austrian economy to any adverse permanent real consequences of German monetary policy, in particular, to its inflation-unemployment trade off.Austria ; Monetary policy - Austria
How well does NLO pQCD describe strangeness in collisions at = 200 GeV in STAR?
We present measurements of the transverse momentum spectra for
, , and their antiparticles in p+p
collisions at . The extracted mid-rapidity yields and
are in agreement with previous experiments while
they have smaller statistical errors. We compare the measured spectra for
and to the latest available calculations from
NLO pQCD and see good agreement for the above 1.5 GeV/c.Comment: conference proceedings, Strangeness in Quark Matter 2004, 5 pages,
submitted to Journal Physics G, final version submitted to journal incl.
modifications requested by edito
On the nature of the Herbig B[e] star binary system V921 Scorpii: Geometry and kinematics of the circumprimary disk on sub-AU scales
V921 Scorpii is a close binary system (separation 0.025") showing the
B[e]-phenomenon. The system is surrounded by an enigmatic bipolar nebula, which
might have been shaped by episodic mass-loss events, possibly triggered by
dynamical interactions between the companion and the circumprimary disk (Kraus
et al. 2012a). In this paper, we investigate the spatial structure and
kinematics of the circumprimary disk, with the aim to obtain new insights into
the still strongly debated evolutionary stage. For this purpose, we combine,
for the first time, infrared spectro-interferometry (VLTI/AMBER, R=12,000) and
spectro-astrometry (VLT/CRIRES, R=100,000), which allows us to study the
AU-scale distribution of circumstellar gas and dust with an unprecedented
velocity resolution of 3 km*s^-1. Using a model-independent photocenter
analysis technique, we find that the Br-gamma-line emission rotates in the same
plane as the dust disk. We can reproduce the wavelength-differential
visibilities and phases and the double-peaked line profile using a
Keplerian-rotating disk model. The derived mass of the central star is
5.4+/-0.4 M_sun*(d/1150 pc), which is considerably lower than expected from the
spectral classification, suggesting that V921 Sco might be more distant (d
approx 2kpc) than commonly assumed. Using the geometric information provided by
our Br-gamma spectro-interferometric data and Paschen, Brackett, and Pfund line
decrement measurements in 61 hydrogen recombination line transitions, we derive
the density of the line-emitting gas (N_e=2...6*10^19 m^-3). Given that our
measurements can be reproduced with a Keplerian velocity field without
outflowing velocity component and the non-detection of age-indicating
spectroscopic diagnostics, our study provides new evidence for the
pre-main-sequence nature of V921 Sco.Comment: 17 pages, 11 figures, 3 tables, accepted by Ap
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