MNEs and flexible working practices in Mauritius

We compare how far companies based in Africa, India and the 'global North' operating in Mauritius adopt high-trust flexible working practices, and how these are linked to different clusters of wider labour management practice. Using comprehensive firm-level data collected in late 2011, we find that African/Indian company practices are closer to those of indigenous firms than to those of Northern companies. The different company groups operate in quite different ways but regional MNEs operate in a similar way to indigenous companies. We therefore conclude that Rugman and Verbeke’s ‘regionalization’ theory also applies to the HR field. We further find that both a relatively strategic approach to HRM and measures to develop employer-employee interdependence are, respectively, linked directly and indirectly to flexible working incidence

Overcoming the barriers to implementing urban road user charging schemes

Urban road user charging offers the potential to achieve significant improvements in urban transport, but is notoriously difficult to implement. Cities need guidance on the range of factors to be considered in planning and implementing such schemes. This paper summarises the results of a 3 year programme which has collated evidence on the issues of most concern to cities. A state of the art report has provided evidence on 14 themes, ranging from objectives and design to implementation and evaluation. A set of 16 case studies has reviewed experience in design and implementation across Europe. The paper summarises their findings, provides references to more detailed information, presents the resulting policy recommendations to European, national and local government, and outlines the areas in which further research is needed

Optimal and Long-Term Dynamic Transport Policy Design: Seeking Maximum Social Welfare through a Pricing Scheme.

This article presents an alternative approach to the decision-making process in transport strategy design. The study explores the possibility of integrating forecasting, assessment and optimization procedures in support of a decision-making process designed to reach the best achievable scenario through mobility policies. Long-term evaluation, as required by a dynamic system such as a city, is provided by a strategic Land-Use and Transport Interaction (LUTI) model. The social welfare achieved by implementing mobility LUTI model policies is measured through a cost-benefit analysis and maximized through an optimization process throughout the evaluation period. The method is tested by optimizing a pricing policy scheme in Madrid on a cordon toll in a context requiring system efficiency, social equity and environmental quality. The optimized scheme yields an appreciable increase in social surplus through a relatively low rate compared to other similar pricing toll schemes. The results highlight the different considerations regarding mobility impacts on the case study area, as well as the major contributors to social welfare surplus. This leads the authors to reconsider the cost-analysis approach, as defined in the study, as the best option for formulating sustainability measures

ASSIST-ME

BARTIN, BEKIR/0000-0001-6941-228X; Mudigonda, Sandeep/0000-0003-1734-673XThis paper presents Advanced Software for Statewide Integrated Sustainable Transportation System Monitoring and Evaluation (ASSIST-ME), an application for visualizing and analyzing the output of transportation planning models in a geographic information system environment. ASSIST-WEE was developed on a customized version of the AreGIS 9.2 Developer Engine in the Microsoft .NET Framework. The tool is built on a flexible framework that allows for adoption of any traditional transportation planning model, as demonstrated with the output of two major transportation planning models on different software platforms: the New York Best Practice Model, running in TransCAD, and the North Jersey Regional Transportation Model-Enhanced, running in CUBE. ASSIST-ME allows agencies and planners to easily work with transportation planning model output, analysis of which is often time-consuming and requires extensive training. It offers four key functionalities: data visualization, demand analysis, path analysis, and benefit-cost analysis. Data visualization and demand analysis enable the user to work easily with direct model output; the custom path and cost analysis tools support analyses beyond those possible with other software packages. The benefit-cost analysis functions utilize the latest quantification-monetization approaches employed in research and by government agencies and require no external applications or procedures. This process can be used for any planning scenario, but ASSIST-ME also allows for customization to modify input data or analysis procedures according to the user's needs. ASSIST-ME incorporates data visualization, data analysis, and output reporting functionalities in a single user-friendly setting that requires minimal training or knowledge of the models themselves.New York Metropolitan Transportation Council; North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority; New Jersey DOTThe authors acknowledge and appreciate the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council, the North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority, and the New Jersey DOT for funding the development of this tool

Road Pricing for Hazardous Materials Transportation in Urban Networks

Hazmat, Road pricing, Urban transportation,