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This paper explores the translation and implementation of Smart Specialisation in Wales. It finds that rather than taking a new approach to innovation policy, Welsh policy-makers are following a largely cluster-based rationale, which omits the important entrepreneurial discovery process to identify the real strengths of the region. The fresh idea presented by this paper is that a replication of past policy approaches that have been tried and found wanting is taking place rather than a new approach to innovation policy across Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A geodemographic classification aims to describe the most salient characteristics of a small area zonal geography. However, such representations are influenced by the methodological choices made during their construction. Of particular debate are the choice and specification of input variables, with the objective of identifying inputs that add value but also aim for model parsimony. Within this context, our paper introduces a principal component analysis (PCA)-based automated variable selection methodology that has the objective of identifying candidate inputs to a geodemographic classification from a collection of variables. The proposed methodology is exemplified in the context of variables from the UK 2011 Census, and its output compared to the Office for National Statistics 2011 Output Area Classification (2011 OAC). Through the implementation of the proposed methodology, the quality of the cluster assignment was improved relative to 2011 OAC, manifested by a lower total within-cluster sum of square score. Across the UK, more than 70.2% of the Output Areas (OAs) occupied by the newly created classification (i.e. AVS-OAC) outperform the 2011 OAC, with particularly strong performance within Scotland and Wales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In England and Wales, criminal prosecutions for recklessly causing serious bodily harm by transmitting HIV have occurred since 2003. Understanding how people respond to the application of criminal law, will help to determine the likely impact of prosecution. As part of a wider qualitative study on unprotected anal intercourse amongst homosexually active men with diagnosed HIV in England and Wales, 42 respondents were asked about their awareness of criminal prosecutions for the sexual transmission of HIV, and how (if at all) they had adapted their sexual behaviour as a result. Findings demonstrate considerable confusion regarding the law and suggest that misunderstandings could lead people with HIV to wrongly believe that how they act, and what they do or do not say, is legitimated by law. Although criminalisation prompted some respondents to take steps to reduce sexual transmission of HIV, others moderated their behaviour in ways likely to have adverse effects, or reported no change. The aim of the criminal justice system is to carry out justice, not to improve public health. The question addressed in this paper is whether desirable public health outcomes may be outweighed by undesirable ones when the criminal law is applied to a population-level epidemic. En Angleterre et au Pays de Galles, la transmission du VIH fait l'objet de poursuites pénales pour dommages corporels par imprudence depuis 2003. Comprendre comment la population réagit à l'application du droit pénal aidera à déterminer l'impact probable des poursuites. Dans le cadre d'une étude qualitative plus large sur les rapports anaux non protégés entre homosexuels actifs avec une infection à VIH diagnostiquée en Angleterre et au Pays de Galles, on a demandé à 42 répondants s'ils savaient qu'ils risquaient des poursuites pénales pour transmission sexuelle du VIH et comment (le cas échéant) ils avaient adapté leur comportement sexuel en conséquence. Les conclusions révèlent une confusion considérable quant à la loi et suggèrent que des malentendus pourraient amener des personnes séropositives à penser à tort que ce qu'elles font et ce qu'elles disent ou non est légitimé par la loi. Bien que la criminalisation ait incité quelques répondants à prendre des mesures pour réduire la transmission sexuelle du VIH, d'autres ont modéré leur comportement de façons qui auront probablement des effets négatifs, ou n'ont pas indiqué de changements. L'objectif du système pénal est de rendre la justice, pas d'améliorer la santé publique. Cet article se demande si les conséquences indésirables ne risquent pas de l'emporter sur les résultats souhaitables de santé publique quand le droit pénal est appliqué à une épidémie au niveau de la population. En Inglaterra y en Gales, desde 2003 se interpone acción penal por imprudencia temeraria al causar graves daños corporales mediante la transmisión del VIH. Entender cómo las personas responden a la aplicación del derecho penal ayudará a determinar el probable impacto de la acción judicial. Como parte de un estudio cualitativo más amplio sobre el coito anal sin protección entre los hombres homosexualmente activos diagnosticados con VIH, en Inglaterra y Gales, 42 entrevistados fueron interrogados respecto a su conocimiento de la acción penal por la transmisión sexual del VIH, y cómo (o si) habían adaptado su comportamiento sexual por consiguiente. Los resultados demuestran considerable confusión respecto a la ley e indican que los malos entendidos podrían llevar a las personas con VIH a creer erróneamente que la forma en que actúan y lo que digan o dejen de decir, son legitimados por la ley. Aunque la penalización motivó a algunos entrevistados a tomar medidas para reducir la transmisión sexual del VIH, otros moderaron su comportamiento en formas que probablemente tendrán efectos adversos, o no informaron ningún cambio. El propósito del sistema de justicia penal es hacer cumplir la justicia, no mejorar la salud pública. La interrogante tratada en este artículo es si los resultados deseables para la salud pública pesan menos que los indeseables cuando el derecho penal se aplica a una epidemia a nivel poblacional. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article forecasts the possible educational trends in Great Britain and Wales by the 1980s. The number of students leaving secondary school is expected to rise by 1981 and by the end of 1980s, the number of secondary students will decline by 25 to 30 percent. The first half of the decade will be characterized by economic recession and severe cut backs on expenditures of social services and one of the fields that will be greatly affected is the education sector. The growth of private education is one of the issues which will be faced by the national government. Moreover, the control of the central government and local authorities on the curriculum in secondary education is predicted to expand.

This article re-examines the recent claim that the economic position of bank clerks was stable or improving during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Using rich data from Williams Deacon's Bank, Manchester and Liverpool District Bank, and Sheffield and Rotherham Bank, it is shown that real salaries were declining between the 1890s and World War I. For some groups of clerks, this decline was considerable. In addition, promotion to higher levels, such as branch manager, was becoming more difficult and the returns to promotion were declining. The economic position of banking staff only recovered in the 1920s and 1930s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An account is given of the development of a distinctive set of education policies in Wales after devolution of power in 1999. In contrast to policies in England that emphasised consumer choice concerning accountability, and central state 'support' of the profession, Wales chose a more 'producerist' paradigm that emphasised collaboration between educational partners. Differences between the two societies are also in evidence concerning levels of expenditure, and the role of local authorities as delivery mechanisms. Performance data do not suggest that Wales has improved more rapidly than England, although there are considerable difficulties in making these kinds of assessments. Conclusions are drawn concerning the legacy of Welsh educational change for the New Labour/Blairite paradigm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the economic implications of cleaning in response to the flow of visitors through historic houses. The section reflects on work carried out in properties of the National Trust for England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, which is the largest accredited museum authority in the U.K., with 175 furnished properties open to visitors for seven months each year, on average five days per week and four to five hours a day. According to the study, although it describes how control of dust influences property management and housekeeping policies in the National Trust, the outcomes are applicable to historic properties in general and to museums and galleries where significant interiors and collections are exposed to dust.

The article reports that in England and Wales there has been a general rise in marriage rates from 1950 until the mid-1960, followed by considerable fluctuations, and a dramatic fall since the early 1970's. These movements have generally been explained in terms of demographic phenomena such as "the marriage squeeze." In order to explain the movement of marriage rates and marriages over the post-war period in Britain it is necessary to consider the factors influencing the decision to marry. Marriage may be viewed as a partnership whose aim is to maximize, subject to certain production constraints, the expected well-being of the couple. An important source of this well-being is the raising of children, as well as mutual love and companionship. These cannot be purchased nor provided by oneself, so, in economic terms, the man's and woman's inputs in providing these satisfactions are complementary. An economic model of the decision to marry has been developed by sociologist Gary Becker and is now part of the new home economics. From it one can deduce that the propensity to marry is a function of the relative earning capacities of men and women, the relative scarcity of unmarried persons of the opposite sex and real income. The income elasticity of marriage is only found to be significant among men below age 25 and women below age 20, and it increases as one moves down the age distribution.

Claims to be democratising the governance of public policing has a long trajectory in the UK, the most recent manifestation of which is the introduction of elected Police and Crime Commissioners (PCC) across 41 police force areas in England and Wales – see thePolice Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 (Part 1). The electoral basis of PCC appointments underpins their democratic credentials. The Act also establishes Police and Crime Panels in each force area to provide regular, public scrutiny of the PCC. In her ministerial foreword, the Home Secretary, Theresa May, claimed that this signalled ‘the most radical change to policing in 50 years…we will transfer power back to the people’ (Home Office, 2010). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]