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We present a hybridization technique for summation-by-parts finite difference methods with weak enforcement of interface and boundary conditions for second order, linear elliptic partial differential equations. The method is based on techniques from the hybridized discontinuous Galerkin literature where local and global problems are defined for the volume and trace grid points, respectively. By using a Schur complement technique the volume points can be eliminated, which drastically reduces the system size. We derive both the local and global problems, and show that the resulting linear systems are symmetric positive definite. The theoretical stability results are confirmed with numerical experiments as is the accuracy of the method.

Theft of public assets from developing countries is an immense problem with a staggering development impact. These thefts diverts valuable public resources from addressing the abject poverty and fragile infrastructure often present in such countries. Although the exact magnitude of the proceeds of corruption circulating in the global economy is impossible to ascertain, estimates demonstrate the severity and scale of the problem at $20 to $40 billion lost to developing countries each year. What this estimate does not capture are the societal costs of corruption and the devastating impact of such crimes on victim countries. Theft of assets by corrupt officials, often at the highest levels of government, weakens confidence in public institutions, damages the private investment climate, and divests needed funding available for core investment in such poverty alleviation measures as public health, education, and infrastructure. This study's key objective is to mobilize policy makers on the existing difficulties in stolen asset recovery actions and convince them to take action on the featured recommendations. Such action will enhance the capacity of practitioners to successfully recover stolen assets. Los países en desarrollo pierden aproximadamente $ 20-40 mil millones cada año por causa de sobornos, malversación de fondos y otras prácticas corruptas. Sólo una mínima parte se recupera. Esta enorme brecha en la recuperación real de los activos robados apunta a la presencia de importantes barreras que impiden su recuperación. Con el fin de llenar este vacío, la Iniciativa para la Recuperación de Activos Robados (StAR) ha lanzado Barreras para la recuperación de Activos, un análisis exhaustivo de estos impedimentos y su impacto negativo. La cooperación internacional es fundamental. La Convención de las Naciones Unidas contra la Corrupción es una plataforma clave para fomentar este tipo de acción colectiva, como lo demuestran los compromisos asumidos por los gobiernos, la sociedad civil y el sector privado aun así, varias de las barreras identificadas no pueden superarse a través de la convención. Basándose en la experiencia de profesionales con experiencia práctica, este estudio tiene por objeto orientar a los responsables de formulación de políticas y promover recomendaciones prácticas destinadas a ayudar a las jurisdicciones en la elaboración de políticas efectivas para recuperar energéticamente los activos robados. El G-20, las organizaciones internacionales, instituciones financieras, agencias de desarrollo y la sociedad civil tienen un papel clave que desempeñar en asegurar un progreso concreto en la implementación de estas recomendaciones. Le détournement des fonds publics représente un obstacle de plus en plus significatif au développement économique des pays émergents. En effet, la disparition de ces ressources publiques essentielles empêche de réduire la pauvreté et pérennise la fragilité des infrastructures de ces pays. S’il est impossible d’évaluer le montant exact des produits de la corruption dans le monde, les estimations témoignent de la gravité et de l’ampleur du problème. Chaque année, on considère que la corruption prive les pays en voie de développement de 20 à 40 milliards de dollars. Ces chiffres ne reflètent pas l’ensemble des coûts de la corruption, ni l’impact dévastateur de ces infractions sur les pays qui en sont victimes. Les détournements de fonds publics perpétrés par des agents publics corrompus, occupant souvent les plus hautes fonctions de l’Etat, sapent la confiance dans les institutions publiques, met à mal le climat nécessaire aux investissements privés, et empêche la mise en œuvre de mesures contre la pauvreté, notamment dans les domaines de la santé publique, de l’éducation et des infrastructures. Réalisée dans le cadre de l’initiative StAR (Stolen Asset Recovery), cette étude s’appuie sur l’expérience de praticiens du monde entier rompus au processus de recouvrement des avoirs, et sur des études effectuées indépendamment par des collaborateurs. Ainsi, une cinquantaine de praticiens originaires à la fois des Etats requérants et requis, traitant quotidiennement des dossiers de recouvrement d’avoirs, ont été consultés afin de passer en revue les conclusions de cette étude avant sa publication. Les obstacles sont classés en trois catégories distinctes qui feront chacune l’objet d’une section : les obstacles d’ordre général et les problèmes institutionnels ; les obstacles juridiques et exigences qui retardent l’entraide judiciaire et enfin, les obstacles opérationnels et les problèmes de communication.

We document that the spread of the Mafia in Sicily at the end of the 19th century was in part caused by the rise of socialist Peasant Fasci organizations. In an environment with weak state presence, this socialist threat triggered landowners, estate managers, and local politicians to turn to the Mafia to resist and combat peasant demands. We show that the location of the Peasant Fasci is significantly affected by a severe drought in 1893, and using information on rainfall, we estimate the impact of the Peasant Fasci on the location of the Mafia in 1900. We provide extensive evidence that rainfall before and after this critical period has no effect on the spread of the Mafia or various economic and political outcomes. In the second part of the article, we use this source of variation in the strength of the Mafia in 1900 to estimate its medium-term and long-term effects. We find significant and quantitatively large negative impacts of the Mafia on literacy and various public goods in the 1910s and 20s.We also show a sizable impact of the Mafia on political competition, which could be one of the channels via which it affected local economic outcomes. We document negative effects of the Mafia on longer-term outcomes (in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s) as well, but these are in general weaker and often only marginally significant. One exception is its persistent and strong impact on political competition.

PurposeThis paper explores how a firm that is established in an environment characterized by uncertainty can engage with weak regulative institutions by developing operational and institutional capabilities.Design/methodology/approachWe employ a multiple case study approach with seven leading multinational firms in Brazil in industries that vary in industry concentration.FindingsFirms choose among alternative strategies for engaging with regulative institutions as an ongoing process, based on their assessment of four characteristics of the uncertainty they face and their capabilities. Strategies that require a firm to exert greater effort to adapt to institutions or influence institutions have a greater potential to catalyze for developing operational capabilities. Although firms in industries with different concentrations behave similarly in individually adapting to regulative institutions, firms in decentralized industries are more likely to collaborate to influence institutions, which enables them to both access public agents through network partners and better negotiate their own interests.Practical implicationsThis research guides managers in developing institutional engagement strategies to reduce the potential consequences of institutional uncertainty in their supply chain. It also suggests types of institutional capability aligned with decentralized vs concentrated industries.Originality/valueWe extend the construct of institutional engagement strategies from the context of entrance to a new international market to an ongoing process in firms that are established in an environment characterized by weak regulative institutions. We also examine the role of industry concentration in the application of institutional engagement strategies.

This article studies whether conformism behavior affects individual outcomes in crime. We present a social network model of peer effects with ex ante heterogeneous agents and show how conformism and deterrence affect criminal activities. We then bring the model to the data by using a very detailed data set of adolescent friendship networks. A novel social network-based empirical strategy allows us to identify peer effects for different types of crimes. We find that conformity plays an important role for all crimes, especially for petty crimes. This suggests that, for juvenile crime, an effective policy should be measured not only by the possible crime reduction it implies but also by the group interactions it engenders.

Large-scale landslides as a common geological hazard can be easily triggered by natural factors, while it is extremely difficult to be activated by anthropolical blasting operations. The paper presents a comprehensive analysis of characteristics of stress wave propagation in a blasting-triggered large-scale rockslide, termed Wangshan–Zhuakousi Landslide, to investigate the effect of blasting wave on multi-layer interface condition. A detailed analysis of the propagation of P wave in the filling joints was conducted to verify the reliability of the analytical model and the deterioration characteristics of the weak interlayer. The results indicate that the reflection tensile wave can be formed when P wave propagates from the basalt across the tuff interlayer. The theoretical equation for damage assessment of soft rock interlayers is proposed, which can be adopted in calculating the additional stress of soft rock mass in blasting operation. It is found that the material density is the most influential factor in attenuation rate. Besides, the longitudinal wave velocity of materials and the period of incident waves perform the identical effect on the attenuation rate. It is demonstrated that the cumulative failure of tuff layer plays a crucial role in triggering successive sliding. According to the modelling, the tuff interlayer appears to be in a compressed state before the complete damage under P-wave propagation. The locally tensile behaviour can be observed after the complete damage of the tuff. The underlying tuff interlayer forms a discontinuous cumulative damage zone, which significantly triggered major ruptures and destabilized the original bedding rock slope. This paper could prove new insight towards the enforcement of risk assessments and mitigation countermeasures for blasting-induced landslide.

While it is universally recognized that states are responsible for human rights conditions in their jurisdictions, it is less often noticed that this responsibility has two dimensions, one normative and one empirical. Normatively, most people agree that states ought to prevent human rights abuses. Empirically, however, states may not always be able to do so. In weak and failing states, agency loss and the inability to police effectively can lead to abuses by private individuals and rogue agents of the state. Thus, on balance, weak states typically have worse human rights records than strong ones. This is demonstrated by a global time-series cross-section analysis showing that indicators of state weakness — low tax revenues, corruption, and lack of law and order — all have a negative impact on human rights to personal security. The effect differs for different kinds of rights. Extrajudicial killings are highly sensitive to state capacity, while political imprisonment is more sensitive to democracy. Overall, however, it appears that the totalitarian model of human rights abuse by excessively strong states applies to a restricted set of cases. The more common problem is states that cannot effectively protect human rights. We must take state failure seriously when thinking about the causes of — and remedies for — human rights abuse.

This study examined failed states in the Central Africa region because the governance of many French-speaking countries in the sub-region is currently experiencing political uncertainty due to the rebel movements in countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the Central African Republique, and Chad.The paper defined the concept of statehood following the Montevideo Convention in 1936, before the Second World War. A state should have the following: 1. a permanent population; 2. a defined territory; 3. a government; and 4. the capacity to enter into relations with other states. The study applied a qualitative method to analyse the concept of a failed state in the Central African region. The researcher collected data from academics based in South African universities who had knowledge of and experience in the DRC.The analysis of the interviewees’ perceptions validated the claim that the DRC is one of the weakest states in sub-Saharan Africa and revealed that the DRC government’s inability to maintain law and order and security in the country was a significant problem. The study’s findings indicate that the DRC government must avoid poor governance that will lead to it being considered a weak or failed state. The government must improve state institution governance, foster political stability, and use the army to secure the borders. the borders.

The process of ethnogenesis (i.e., the formation of new ethnic groups) is here considered equivalent to the production of “governance goods” in situations where the state is weak or absent. In these cases, the process of ethnogenesis is a response to (1) the problem of social distance between heterogeneous groups which functions as a barrier to trade, and (2) the problem of providing public goods. As an investment in governance, ethnogenesis reduces the costs of trading and cooperating, and expands the scope for specialization. We rely on two examples of peaceful and productive relations between First Nations and European settlers in Canada between the early seventeenth and mid-nineteenth centuries to support our hypothesis. The emergence of “hybrid” cultural groups and identities fostered peaceful relations and facilitated trade in borderland areas in which state rule was virtually nonexistent. It also permitted these new groups to provide key collective goods within their own communities. This, in turn, facilitated international trade (especially in furs). Both of our examples suggest that cultural processes can be endogenous responses aimed at the production of governance.

Consumer law started in the 1960s and 1970s as consumer protection law, meant to compensate for the risks and deficiencies of the consumption society which led to an enormous increase. The target of the first generation of national consumer law was the weak consumers, those who could not cope with the increased choice and the resulting risks. The argument here presented is that the European Union by taking over consumer legislation gradually but steadily changed the outlook, from consumer protection law into consumer law. The weak consumer is not the one who is needed for the completion of the Internal Market. This is the famous average consumer which governs today’s’ normative design of the consumer law making and enforcement. However, the shift in paradigm does not set aside the need to strive for legal rules that cover the weakest in the society.