Regime Change: Education to Work Transitions in England, 1980s–2020s

This paper argues the case for viewing a country’s transition regime as a totality in which different career steps and routes assign significance and value to one another. Following the destruction of major sections of Britain’s transition regime in the 1970s and 1980s, the paper explains how the regime has subsequently been reconstructed following the 1988 Education Reform Act, replacing the vocational education and training schemes of the 1980s with government-supported apprenticeships, almost uninterrupted employment growth since 1992, and the financialization of the corporate economy alongside uncapped expansion of higher education. England’s current transition regime keeps rates of youth unemployment and NEET below the European Union averages and delivers the fastest transitions in Europe. However, the reconstructed regime also locks-in features that may well become long-term problems, namely an expensive higher education system which leaves graduates with debts that many do not expect to repay in full, and substantial low wage, low skill, low productivity sectors in the economy and workforce

Tutorial: The quantum finite square well and the Lambert W function

We present a solution of the quantum mechanics problem of the allowable energy levels of a bound particle in a one-dimensional finite square well. The method is a geometric-analytic technique utilizing the conformal mapping w -\u3e z = we(w) between two complex domains. The solution of the finite square well problem can be seen to be described by the images of simple geometric shapes, lines, and circles, under this map and its inverse image. The technique can also be described using the Lambert W function. One can work in either of the complex domains, thereby obtaining additional insight into the finite square well problem and its bound energy states. This suggests interesting possibilities for the design of materials that are sensitive to minute changes in their environment such as nanostructures and the quantum well infrared photodetector

On Calculating the Current-Voltage Characteristic of Multi-Diode Models for Organic Solar Cells

We provide an alternative formulation of the exact calculation of the current-voltage characteristic of solar cells which have been modeled with a lumped parameters equivalent circuit with one or two diodes. Such models, for instance, are suitable for describing organic solar cells whose current-voltage characteristic curve has an inflection point, also known as an S-shaped anomaly. Our formulation avoids the risk of numerical overflow in the calculation. It is suitable for implementation in Fortran, C or on micro-controllers

Applying a Dynamic Model of Consumer Choice to Guide Brand Development at Jetstar Airways

This paper describes the use of a marketing science model by Jetstar, a subsidiary of Australia's leading airline, Qantas, to effectively and profitably compete in the low-cost carrier marketplace. We trace the evolution of the Jetstar strategy from a baseline calibration of its initial position, to its efforts to attain price competitiveness and service parity, followed by its highly focused, cost-effective service delivery strategy. We develop a hierarchical model with parameters estimated at the individual level. This allows us to study not only how service design and pricing initiatives shift the perceived performance of Jetstar relative to its competitors but also how the airline can move market preferences toward areas in which it has competitive advantage. The contribution of the research is substantial. The Jetstar market share went from 14.0% to 18.1% during the first five quarterly waves of the research, and profits went from $79 million in 2006-2007, before the study was commissioned, to$124 million in 2008-2009

Interrogating waithood: family and housing life stage transitions among young adults in North-West Africa countries

The term ‘waithood’ has become increasingly used to describe the situations of 20-something males and females throughout the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The suggestion is that, following a youth life stage, young adults’ lives stall due to males’ inability to obtain sufficiently stable and salaried employment to enable them to head new family forming households, which leaves young women, most of whom do not enter the labour market, unable to marry. We use quantitative and qualitative evidence from research in three North-West Africa countries (Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia) to argue that the situation is more nuanced. We conclude that youth life stage transitions in present-day MENA exhibit a region-specific combination of features. The combination is atypical globally, but neither intolerable for young people in MENA nor unsustainable societally

Etničke diobe, politika i vahabizam u postsovjetskom Sjevernom Kavkazju

This paper presents new evidence from a 1999 survey among 500 25-26 year olds in Vladikavkaz, capital of North Ossetia, and a survey of forced migrants who were entering North Ossetia from Chechnia in 2000. The paper seeks to explain how and why Islamic fundamentalism is able to contribute to the destabilisation of the present-day North Caucasus despite the fundamentalists being extremely small proportions of the populations in all the region\u27s republics.Članak predstavlja nove činjenice koje se temelje na anketi iz 1999. godine. Anketa je obuhvatila 500 osoba dobi 25-26 godina u Vladikavkazu, glavnome gradu Sjeverne Osetije, te prisilne migrante koji su došli u Sjevernu Osetiju iz Cečenije tijekom 2000. godine. Cilj je članka objasniti kako je i zašto islamski fundamentalizam u stanju doprinijeti destabilizaciji današnjeg Sjevernog Kavkazja usprkos tome što fundamentalisti predstavljaju veoma malen dio populacije u svim zemljama u regiji

Uses of Free Time by Young Adults in Arab Mediterranean Countries: Exposing and Addressing Boundary Issues in Leisure Studies

Evidence on uses of free time in non-Western societies exposes and forces us to address several boundary problems in leisure studies. A combination of qualitative and quantitative evidence from nationally representative samples of 15-29 year olds in Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia finds some familiar divisions in the age group’s use of free time – by social class and gender. However, the evidence also reveals some region-specific features: namely that for many young people free time is less clearly separated from the rest of life than in Western societies, work and play are frequently fused, and religious and political participation are sometimes pivotal in young people’s bundles of free time activities (youth sub-cultures)