Comparing alternative instruments to measure service quality in higher education

The purpose of this work is to examine the performance of five alternative measures of service quality in the high education sector – SERVQUAL (Service Quality), Importance-weighted SERVQUAL, SERVPERF (Service Performance), Importance-weighted SERVPERF and HedPERF (Higher Education Performance). We aim at determining which instrument has the superior measurement capability. Data were collected by means of a structured questionnaire containing perception items enhanced from the SERVPERF and HEdPERF scales and expectation items from the SERVQUAL scale, both modified to fit into the higher education sector. The first draft of the questionnaire was subject to a pilot testing through a focus group and an expert evaluation. Data were gathered from a 360 students’ sample of a Portuguese university in Lisbon. Scales were compared in terms of unidimensionality, reliability, validity and explained variance. Managerial conclusions were also drawn.service quality scales; higher education; reliability

Comparing Airport regulation in Europe: Is there need for a European Regulator?

This paper provides an overview of how the major airports are regulated in Europe. In order to eliminate the potential of airports to exercise market power and protect the public interest, it has become increasingly necessary to set a common regulatory framework. We intend to discuss the need of a single regulator in Europe to monitor or establish the quality of service and the charges practiced by the airports, to ensure cost-relatedness, transparency and non-discrimination. The existing regulatory approaches regarding aeronautical charges and their economic implications are also analyzed. We propose the creation of a European Observatory for this sector.airports, economic regulation, European Observatory

Collision-Dependent Atom Tunnelling Rate in Bose-Einstein Condensates

We show that the interaction (cross-collision) between atoms trapped in distinct sites of a double-well potential can significantly increase the atom tunneling rate for special trap configurations leading to an effective linear Rabi regime of population oscillation between the trap wells. The inclusion of cross-collisional effects significantly extends the validity of the two-mode model approach allowing it to be alternatively employed to explain the recently observed increase of tunneling rates due to nonlinear interactions.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures. Replaced with improved versio

Optimal Conditions for Atomic Homodyne Detection on Bose-Einstein Condensates

The dynamics of a two-mode Bose-Einstein condensate trapped in a double-well potential results approximately in an effective Rabi oscillation regime of exchange of population between both wells for sufficiently strong overlap between the modes functions. Facing this system as a temporal atomic beam splitter we show that this regime is optimal for a nondestructive atom-number measurement allowing an atomic homodyne detection, thus yielding indirect relative phase information about one of the two-mode condensates.Comment: 9 pages, 5 figure

Front-lining green jobs in the sustainable urbanisation agenda

The global transition to a carbon-neutral economy is expected to create many opportunities in the labour market, often referred to as ‘green’ jobs. In developing countries, active public policy at the national and local levels are needed for reskilling and upskilling workers into greener, higher-productivity occupations. This requires a better understanding of what green jobs are and how to quantify them

Three ways in which cities can spur development and climate change adaptation

Cities in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia are among the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change due to their geographic features and low income per capita. Many of the challenges related to sustainable urbanisation in poor countries can be overcome by getting the city development model right, and by focusing on pursuing development and adaptation goals in tandem

The economics of urban planning: why land and labour markets matter

Masterplanning has resurfaced as an important planning tool in urban Africa in the last two decades. Given the rapid pace of urbanisation in lower-income countries more widely, planning ahead for the expansion of cities is crucial to ensure that residents are well-served with adequate public infrastructure and services. However, plans often do not account for the dynamics of land and labour markets, which have a fundamental impact on ever-changing urban form

A educação na República Checa

A República Checa, estabelecida em 1993 na sequência da divisão da antiga República Federal da Checoslováquia em dois estados (o outro é a Eslováquia), encontra-se num processo de transformação de uma sociedade socialista centralizada e planificada em estado orientado por princípios de uma economia de mercado, um processo iniciado antes da divisão, mais concretamente a partir de Novembro de 1989. Ao longo deste relato esta data surgirá com frequência