Children aged 9-14 living in disadvantaged areas in England: Opportunities and barriers for cycling

The aim of this paper is to take a holistic perspective to explore levels of cycling and opportunities and barriers to increase children’s safer cycling in disadvantaged areas in England. The study was one part of a larger study which explored the factors underlying the high level of road traffic casualties especially among children in the most disadvantaged areas of England and to explore how this impacts on mobility and quality of life. The methods involved a cross sectional survey comprising school based questionnaire surveys with children aged 9-14 and focus groups with parents who had children within this age range. The surveys were conducted in 2007 and the focus groups during 2008. 4286 children completed the survey and eight focus groups were held. Bike ownership (77%) was high, use in previous week moderate (39%) but only 2% cycled to school. Ownership was significantly lower in minority ethnic groups. Despite young children’s strong preference to travel by cycle (30%) than walk or go by car, most parents felt it was too hazardous. It is unlikely that these findings would be any different from the rest of England, however the combination of environmental and social factors may elevate the risks for young cyclists in these areas. This paper concludes that a number of barriers exist to increasing levels of cycling among children living in disadvantaged areas particularly amongst ethnic groups. These barriers could be addressed by environmental modifications to reduce speeds and by reducing the levels of antisocial driving and riding in residential areas and around destinations where children travel, by providing cycle training to improve children’s skills and parent’s confidence, and by providing secure storage facilities for bikes. Until these barriers are addressed it is unlikely that cycling will increase despite the strong preferences children have to travel by bike. Such preferences to cycle provide an opportunity for local authorities to act on.     

Exploring the use of travel information – identifying contextual market segmentation in Seoul, Korea

As the amount of information is rapidly growing, and ubiquitous urban environments are emerging, the question which kind of information to provide is a major challenge for commercial and public travel-information service providers alike. This paper reports the analyses of recent data, collected in Metropolitan Seoul, about the acquisition of travel information. The study applies CHAID analysis to find homogeneous segments in travel information acquisition. Findings indicate that contextual variables are crucial to explain information acquisition behaviour, depending on decision context. The implication is that both socioeconomic and contextual variables are important to better understand the acquisition (and provision) of travel information. The results have important implications for managers and policy-makers, in particular in the way they respond to dynamic, contextual market segmentation.     

证券市场监管理论——公共利益论、部门利益论的比较与评述

对经典的监管理论,尤其是对公共利益论、部门利益论与捕获论形成的背景、内涵、优缺点、适用条件进行了完整的比较分析,认为这些理论观点对监管的研究和监管实践有着重要的指导意义,但每一种理论都是对监管的某一方面进行的研究,还没有一种理论能够对证券市场监管的所有问题做出满意的解释。要提高我国证券市场监管的效果,需要从整体上运用这...     

基于新公共服务理论的广西邮政改革的对策研究

邮政业作为公共企业,是公共部门的重要组成部分,以新公共服务理论作为理论基础来研究广西邮政的改革问题具有深刻的内在必然性。本文对如何深化邮政政策进行较为全面的研究和探索。     

对我国公共政策协调研究的思考

当前公共政策协调议题越来越受到关注。学术界关于公共政策不协调的现象、原因、影响、对策等方面已有一定的积累。有关政策协调的边界、理论借鉴、解释框架和实现路径等方面的研究有待进一步深化。     

我国政府购买居家养老服务保障现状与问题思考

政府购买居家养老服务保障模式作为实现政府、市场和社会三位资源整合的新型养老方式是迎接人口老龄化到来的优势养老选择,在国外和港台地区已经获得迅速发展并建立了长效运行机制。相比而言,当前我国政府购买居家养老服务事业正处于起步阶段,虽然部分地区已进行了有益的实践探索和总结,但服务的购买方、供给方、需求方都还面临着诸多困境：服...     

浅议公私权制衡理论

权力导致腐败,绝对的权力绝对导致腐败。公权的来源和本质决定了公权的行使不是任意毫无阻碍的,而应受到限制。考虑到执权者的个人素质问题,对公权行为的监管就更为必要。既要避免公权过分干预私权侵犯公民基本人权,又要防止公权在行使中由于方法和程序的不当侵犯人权,同时也要防范由于公权行使的不作为造成的在保障私权方面的公权缺位。用法律确定公权角色,使其既不缺位也不越位。     

农村公共产品供给的多元化体制构建

现行的农村公共产品供给制度安排的基本框架是“供给主导型”体制,在这种体制下,农村公共产品供给存在供给总量不足、供给结构失衡、供给绩效低下等问题。针对农村公共产品供给所存在种种问题,提出要构建“需求主导型”的多元化供给体制,而多元化供给体制的建立应是在相应机制的协调下多主体合作推动的结果。另外,又从机制设计的角度提出构建多元化供给体制的创新措施,并提出了相应的对策建议。     

高校公共事业管理专业毕业生就业困境及思考

公共事业管理专业毕业生遭遇就业困境,陷入理论与实际需求失衡的尴尬。究其根源在于专业教育发展速度超越体制改革步伐。摆脱毕业生就业困境的路径选择包括推进公共管理体制变革、规范专业教育发展、提升专业社会认可度、加强实践推进就业等。     

贵州学前教育公共政策现实问题分析

重要领域公共政策的有效推进对国家和社会的发展具有重要的作用,学前教育公共政策作为政府实行学前教育目标和任务的行动依据和准则,保障学前教育事业的健康发展,并直接影响社会的发展进步。