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Purpose - Over the past 20 years public policy has sought to promote and formalise the socioeconomic role of universities under the auspices of the so called ''third mission''. The purpose of this paper is to consider how the third mission relates to, and has the capacity to reinforce the core missions of teaching and research. Design/methodology/approach - By highlighting the key limitations of contemporary debate the paper bridges the conceptual model/case-study dichotomy that characterises the literature. The paper draws on an ongoing study of higher education institutions in the UK and Europe. Findings - The paper contends that triangulating teaching, research, and third stream activities reinforces the respective dynamics of each component through their recursive and reciprocal development. Research limitations/implications - The paper forms the foundations of a de novo research agenda to better understand the dynamics of the third mission as a central facet of the contemporary university. Practical implications - The paper has implications for policy-makers and institutional strategy alike - identifying an unparalleled opportunity for institutional development by linking teaching, research, and third stream activities. Originality/value - By highlighting the importance that universities need to embody an ''inherent idea'' the paper contends the third mission presents the capacity for institutional development beyond the third mission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - This paper seeks to define a coherent management preference function for determining the conditions when the market can be effectively used in the management of spectrum based on abduction and volitional pragmatism. Design/methodology/approach - Volitional pragmatism based on the logic of abduction is used to provide an explanation for real world empirical observation of few spectrum trades in the UK. This is generalized for application with wider context of European frequency management. Findings - There has been a considerable regulatory effort directed toward spectrum trading in the EU. The UK experience with trading is clearly not what was expected. It was suggested that this is a result of an analytical approach based on deductive validationism subject to ceteris paribus assumptions. This approach does have merit but its application is over extended. This is due in large part institutional under specification of what constitutes the market and the nature of the transaction taking place. Research limitations/implications - The emphasis is in this paper is on the explanation of real world facts rather than normative prescription based on deductive validationism. Such an approach though fallible (all facts cannot be taken into account) is no less valuable in the process of regulatory decision making than deductive validationism. Practical implications - This paper provides a more coherent explanation of spectrum development and the spectrum management reform process. Originality/value - A set of conditions are provided for determining when the market can be used in the management of spectrum. This makes explicit the intended operation of the market as well as its limitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this article is to examine the governance of activation in relation to the decentralization and centralization of activation for social assistance recipients in Sweden, The Netherlands and the UK. Design/methodology/approach – This paper outlines broad trends in the governance of activation policies in Europe, focusing on processes of decentralization and centralization in Sweden (characterized by a context of shifting national and local level governance of policies, cultivated within a strong tradition of active labour market policies); The Netherlands (where there has been a deliberate shift in governance towards the local level); and the UK (typified by highly centralized decision making in policy design but local variation in delivery). Findings – The comparison identified different paths of decentralization and examines how these processes interact and overlap with modes of centralization/coordination of policies. Finally, the paper demonstrates the interface between the modes of decentralization and centralization. Originality/value – The investigation of vertical changes in the governance of activation in three country case studies provides an original in-depth analysis of types and paths of decentralization and centralization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]