Privatising Britain's passenger railway : expectations and outcomes of the 'free' market approach

Merged with duplicate record (10026.1/676) on 03.01.2017 by CS (TIS)This is a digitised version of a thesis that was deposited in the University Library. If you are the author please contact PEARL Admin ([email protected]) to discuss options.The privatisation of the British railway industry was announced in 1992, and a central plank of the government's strategy was to liberalise British Rail's (BR's) passenger market at the time of its divestiture. Competition was to be introduced both for the market, through franchising, and in the market, by freeing up access to the rail network. This thesis examines the policy adopted to promote competition in the British passenger railway industry. Its central aim is to assess the extent to which the promotion of competition between passenger train operators was an appropriate policy goal. In pursuit of this aim, the thesis critically evaluates the evolution, outcome and future prospects of rail liberalisation policy and closely examines the translation of neoliberalism - the theory of political economy upon which rail privatisation was based - into practical policy measures. A significant original investigation, drawing upon the experiences of key personnel involved in framing, executing and operating within the policy, augments secondary data to provide an in-depth level of analysis not currently available within the literature. The study employs predominantly inductive, qualitative methods of data collection and analysis, which together constitute a relatively novel investigative approach within transport geography. The empirical results are presented and discussed against the background of the other `network' industry privatisations of the 1980s and early 1990s. The main findings are that, despite the sale of BR having been considered by the government for more than a decade, the privatisation and liberalisation strategy advanced by the 1992 White Paper, New Opportunities for the Railways, was not the result of a coherent policy analysis. The opportunities for, and even appropriateness of, a neoliberal agenda to promote competition between train operators were not sufficiently well understood by government when the proposals were adopted. Competition for the market, nevertheless, would appear to be a workable and `successful' policy option, with the scope to offer long-term benefits to the rail industry should future governments choose to seek them. Competition in the market, on the other hand, is far less appropriate and continued emphasis on this aspect of rail policy could damage the industry's prospects in the coming years. Finally, the overall success of franchising seems to have occurred despite the muddled circumstances in which the Conservatives formulated rail privatisation policy, whereas the general failure of `on-rail' competition seems to reflect them.Department of Geographical Sciences, University of Plymout

Youth and Therapeutic Insurgency in Eastern Congo: An Ethnographic History of Ruga-Ruga, Simba, and Mai-Mai Movements, 1870 - Present

This is an ethnographic history of child soldiering in the eastern regions of the Democratic Republic of Congo. It focuses on deployments of mai (Swahili: "water") medicines and charms during periods of intergenerational conflict from the late 19th century to the present. Why do recurring insurgencies invoke the discourses and practices of these particular medicines, wielded primarily by the young? At the heart of this question lie the antecedents, events, and afterlives of the 1964 Simba Rebellion: likely the most massive mobilization of child soldiers in post-colonial Africa. The Simba's roots are traced through ruga-ruga movements in the late 19th century, Anioto leopard-men violence in the Belgian Congo, and carceral sites like the National Penitentiary for Delinquent Youth at Niangara in the late colonial era. The dissertation concludes by examining the proliferation of mai-mai movements in contemporary eastern Congo and the international development industry that seeks to manage the violence of these young warriors. Working across time and scale, from a microhistory of an individual child combatant to deeper regional histories of generational dynamics, the focus remains on links between violent children, war charms and medicines, and forms and practices of adult authority. The study invigorates contemporary analyses of child soldiering by foregrounding temporally deep, emic interpretations of links between age, violence, medicine, and immaturity. It builds arguments from a broad array of evidence, including oral interviews, vernacular narratives such as the Mwindo Epic, mission archives, periodicals, and colonial security archives. The geographical focus is on the northern parts of what is now North Kivu province.PHDHistoryUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/145866/1/jonshaw_1.pd

NMR studies of adsorption processes upon activated carbon

This thesis is concerned with the adsorption behaviour of adsorbate molecules upon activated carbon. Limitations in bulk gravimetric measurements mean that the mechanism of adsorption for adsorbates upon carbonaceous materials is poorly characterised. The information obtained from NMR experiments performed upon the adsorbate molecules is applied to provide additional understanding of the adsorption process. A systematic study of a phosphate/phosphonate - adsorbent system is performed, and a theoretical basis for the results observed is discussed in terms of molecular mobility and the penetration of molecules into pores of differing sizes. Calculated pore volumes obtained from NMR data are discussed. It is demonstrated that phosphate and phosphonate molecules adsorb initially within larger pores at the surface of the adsorbent and subsequently progress deeper within the porous volume. The effects of magic-angle spinning and proton decoupling upon the adsorbate spectra obtained are also addressed. Relaxation measurements are used to study the motional freedom of adsorbed molecules and the measurements provide further corroboration to the interpretation of spectra expounded. The study is then extended to analyse the adsorption of adsorbate molecules upon carbon adsorbents with other adsorbate molecules pre-adsorbed. Analysis of spectra provides information upon the movement of both the primarily adsorbed material and secondary adsorbate within the pore volume. Preferential adsorption of phosphate molecules over water molecules is demonstrated. Finally, dynamic NMR techniques are used to characterise the exchange of adsorbate within the porous volume with excess adsorbate upon the exterior of the carbon adsorbent

Exploring attitudes towards a randomised controlled trial of venous access devices – a nested pre-trial qualitative study

Purpose: This pre-trial qualitative research study was carried out to explore patient and clinical staff attitudes to central venous access devices (CVADs). In addition, views about participation in a randomised controlled trial (RCT) were explored with the aim of maximising recruitment to an imminent RCT of three CVADs. Methods: Three patient focus groups (each comprising three patients) and 23 interviews with clinical staff were conducted. Interviews and focus group discussions were digitally recorded, transcribed verbatim, anonymised, uploaded to the QSR NVivo10 qualitative software programme and thematically analysed. Results: Analysis of focus group interviews revealed the added challenges that a CVAD poses to patients with cancer. Four key themes emerged: continuity of daily life, pain and discomfort, stigma (a mark of disgrace associated with certain conditions) and self-preservation. The findings show the impact of a CVAD on patients’ ability to manage their condition. Clinical staff interviews highlighted several potential barriers to recruitment; a lack of equipoise (genuine clinical uncertainty as to which intervention is the most beneficial), concerns about the logistics of device insertion and a perceived requirement for education and training. Conclusions: This qualitative study raises awareness of key areas of concern to patients who need a CVAD for chemotherapy delivery. It was identified that there is a need for clearer patient information around CVADs. Additionally it allows investigators to identify barriers to recruitment in a timely manner in order to minimise the potential for conflict between the roles of carer and researcher and consequently, maximise recruitment to the RCT

The long-term effects of in-work benefits in a life-cycle model for policy evaluation

This paper presents a life-cycle model of woman's labour supply, human capital formation and savings for the evaluation of welfare-to-work and tax policies. Women's decisions are formalised in a dynamic and uncertain environment. The model includes a detailed characterisation of the tax system and of the dynamics of family formation while explicitly considering the determinants of employment and education decisions: (i ) contemporaneous incentives to work, (ii ) future consequences for employment through human capital accumulation and (iii) anticipatory effects on the value of employment and education. The choice of parameters follows a careful calibration procedure, based of a large sample of data moments from the British population during the nineties using BHPS data. Many important features established in the empirical literature are reproduced in the simulation exercises, including the employment effects of the WFTC reform in the UK. The model is used to gain further insight into the responses to two recent policy changes, the October 1999 WFTC and the April 2003 WTC/CTC reforms. We find small but non-negligible anticipation effects on employment and education.