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This paper analyses the pricing behaviour of cross channel ferry companies in the eight year period between awarding the Channel Tunnel franchise and the completion of the construction of the Tunnel. The ferry companies appear to have ‘made hay’ by significantly increasing some published prices for car ferry journeys in real terms over the period. The paper presents a model of regulatory intervention which can account for increasing prices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the question: can the variation that have been observed in class mobility rates in England, France and Sweden be in fact attributed entirely to differences in the evolution of the class structures of these societies - or in other factors affecting the demand and supply conditions attending mobility; or is it rather the case that there are, in addition to such structural sources of variation, differences also among the three societies in the pattern of what we would term their social fluidity or, in other words, in mobility considered independently of structural influences? To use the conceptual language that has been conventional in mobility research- but from which we would wish to depart -- the issue could then be alternatively posed as that of whether the cross-national variation that we have demonstrated is confined simply to structural mobility, or whether it extends to exchange mobility as well. The source of mobility data in England, France and Sweden have been fully described in previous paper of these authors. Here it will be sufficient to say that the data derive from nationally-based sample survey inquiries undertaken in the three countries during the early 1970s.

Much has been written about the impact of the Channel Tunnel but the attention has been primarily on the gross economic implications of the investment which ignore questions of additionality and spatial effects. The completion of the Channel Tunnel will create a new transport infrastructure but this will be at the cost of lost opportunities for investing these resources elsewhere. Net national gains are, therefore, likely to be somewhat less than many anticipate. Equally, the importance of the tunnel for the South East's economy is uncertain both in terms of the overall long-term impact and the detailed implications for areas within the region. This paper attempts to examine the short and long-term implications for the South East. It attempts to do this by taking cognizance of environmental and social factors as well as reviewing the more standard 'economic' factors. The nature of available data coupled with inadequacies in our understanding of many key links in interacting spatial economic systems inevitably means that calculations are far from precise. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article presents a comparative study of the development and influence of large urban populations on social structure and politics in Birmingham, England and Lyons, France. Birmingham and Lyons were two of the most important towns in Europe in the period between the end of the Napoleonic Wars and the Revolutions of 1848. Before discussing the obvious differences, it is important to stress three points which the towns had in common: Neither town was distinguished by big enterprises. The second point that the towns had in common has been less frequently-stressed. The workers in Birmingham and Lyons were relatively well off--when in employments-compared with workers in other parts of England and France. The voice of the Birmingham and Lyons working classes was more than the voice of hunger. It was frequently, however, the voice of unemployment. The important difference between the social structure of Birmingham and Lyons should be stressed. While the social structure of Birmingham made for middle-class cooperation with the working clashes, the social structure of Lyons made for social antagonism and conflict. While the tendency in Birmingham was to try to build up political organizations based on cooperation between the classes, the tendency in Lyons was for fabricants, chefs d'ateliers and compagnons to meet and organize separately.

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A BSTRACT This article provides an iterative fitting algorithm to generate maximum likelihood estimates under the Cox regression model and employs non-Gaussian distributions-the jump diffusion (JD), variance gamma (VG), and normal inverse Gaussian (NIG) distributions-to model the error terms of the Renshaw and Haberman () (RH) model. In terms of mean absolute percentage error, the RH model with non-Gaussian innovations provides better mortality projections, using 1900-2009 mortality data from England and Wales, France, and Italy. Finally, the lower hedge costs of longevity swaps according to the RH model with non-Gaussian innovations are not only based on the lower swap curves implied by the best prediction model, but also in terms of the fatter tails of the unexpected losses it generates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bulk sampling of phosphate-rich horizons within the Late Cretaceous of the Anglo-Paris Basin yielded numerous teeth of members of the Squatiniformes. Along with isolated tooth remains, two museum specimens comprising partial articulated encoskeletal remains including the holotype of the species Squatina cranei Woodward, 1888 a are described, and a new subgenus Cretascyllium is proposed for species of the genus Squatina with high degree of heterodonty and triangular anterior teeth. The species Squatina (Cretascyllium) cranei comb. nov. and Squatina (Cretascyllium) hassei comb. nov. are referred to this subgenus. The genus Parasquatina Herman, 1982 previously erected on a single tooth is valid, and two new species P. justinensis sp. nov. and P. jarvisi sp. nov. are described along with a third taxon Parasquatina sp. An enigmatic tooth referred to ?Neoselachii incertae sedis is also reported. The palaeoecology of these taxa is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines differentiation by task as it is used and perceived in French and English primary schools. It highlights the influence of national context on teaching and learning. The study rests on classroom observations in 12 Key Stage 1 classes located in socially disadvantaged areas. The first section sets the mission of schooling in a historical and political perspective. It is followed by an analysis of the field research, which shows systematic ability grouping and differentiation by task in the English sample, as opposed to the French approach based on equal entitlement. These contrasts are then related to culturally situated conceptions of learning, of self-esteem and the notion of failure. These notions convey subtly different meanings either side of the Channel. Ultimately, pedagogical practice corresponds to contrasting social constructions of the pupil and conceptions of learner identity related to broader educational and social values in both cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the continental origins of ironworkers and the status of the iron industry in the Weald, England from 1451 to 1544. These workers have migrated from Bray, France. Bray has been regarded as of little account in the development of the industry, but is focused, in this article, as the birthplace of British iron industry. Although nothing is so far known about the actual process of recruitment of ironworkers for the Weald, the social and economic trends which caused difficulties for the industry in Bray are examined and their relationship is shown to the course followed by the migration in quantitative terms. From statements previously made on the subject, it has been inferred that the numbers involved were quite small, but economist David Crossley has recently suggested that they were probably significant and it has been calculated that not less than 500 male immigrants were involved. The vital contribution of this migration to the industrial development of Britain is beyond doubt.

This article explains the reasons behind the failure of French revenue farms from 1600 to 1660. The experience of the first half of the seventeenth century in France tended to show that separate, smaller leases on the indirect taxes were more profitable and carried fewer risks for the lessees. The concept of a revenue farm, the leasing by the crown of a tax to a private contractor for a set number of years in return for a fixed annual rent, any additional profits of the farm accruing to the contractor, is immediately familiar to students of English financial history in the seventeenth century. The customs were leased as the great farm between 1604 and 1643 and again between 1662 and 1671. The great wine-producing area of south-west France had its own levy on the transportation of wines which formed part of the farm. The taxes levied together within the farm consisted chiefly of customs duties, both on exports and imports between France and abroad, and between the area of the farm and the rest of the kingdom. The indirect taxes were thus heavier in France than in England and also covered a wider range of commodities.

Failure of regeneration of Tilia cordata in north-west England is associated with almost complete sterility of the seeds. Between 1964 and 1979 significant numbers of fertile seeds were recorded only after the exceptionally warm summer of 1976. In contrast, large or moderate crops of fertile seed were produced at sites in central and southern England in at least 8 of these years. Comparative studies of pollination, fertilization and seed development at sites in north-west England, central England and northern France show relatively small differences in the proportions of flowers which are pollinated but significant differences in the rates of extension of pollen-tubes. In samples collected in 1977 from north-west England germinated pollen was present on most receptive stigmas but many pollen-tubes extended only a short distance down the style and the few which reached the base appeared to be arrested in the ovary wall. In French samples pollen had germinated on all receptive stigmas and numerous pollen-tubes had reached the ovary within 2 days of pollination. These differences cannot be attributed to variation in the incidence of self-pollination, as at least some trees of T. cordata in northern populations are almost certainly self-fertile. The differences are correlated with temperatures at the time when the samples were collected. When pollen-tubes are growing in sucrose solutions, their rate of extension shows a large response to temperature over the same range (15 to 25 °C). Analysis of records shows that temperatures in north-west England at the time of flowering are frequently too low to permit fertilization. This is confirmed by studies of the development of ovules. Although a high proportion of ovules in T. cordata lack embryo sacs, normally at least one is functional in each ovary. In over 90% of fruit formed in north-west England, embryos are contained in none of the 10 ovules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]