Bribery and Corruption

2015 ◽  
pp. 196-210
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
White Collar Crime ◽  
Public Officials ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Oil Contracts ◽  
The Individual ◽  
High Level ◽  
Personal Welfare ◽  
Political Economic

Bribes are mainly directed at government officials, although they could be directed at the employees and managers of business firms. However, bribery appears to be a self-defined crime. Bribery of small public sector employees is a white-collar crime. However, bribery also exists in high-level decision-making processes, whether political, economic, or corporate situations. These are large-scale bribes, consisting of millions and/or billions of dollars, paid out to executives and public officials in return for construction contracts, oil contracts, telecommunication contracts, etc. Although punishments exist and are implemented, it is up to the individual alone to make the final decision and choose between personal moral value system and personal welfare in opposition to serving the public welfare. This chapter explores bribery.

Bribery and Corruption

2015 ◽  
pp. 144-158
Author(s):  
Philippe W. Zgheib
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
White Collar Crime ◽  
Public Officials ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Oil Contracts ◽  
The Individual ◽  
High Level ◽  
Personal Welfare ◽  
Political Economic

Bribes are mainly directed at government officials, although they could be directed at the employees and managers of business firms. However, bribery appears to be a self-defined crime. Bribery of small public sector employees is a white-collar crime. However, bribery also exists in high-level decision-making processes, whether political, economic, or corporate situations. These are large-scale bribes, consisting of millions and/or billions of dollars, paid out to executives and public officials in return for construction contracts, oil contracts, telecommunication contracts, etc. Although punishments exist and are implemented, it is up to the individual alone to make the final decision and choose between personal moral value system and personal welfare in opposition to serving the public welfare. This chapter explores bribery.

Social inequality in the evolution of human societies

2019 ◽  
pp. 98-120
Author(s):  
Georgi Derluguian
Keyword(s):  
Social Inequality ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Mass Violence ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Tangible Assets ◽  
Transition To Agriculture ◽  
New Institutions ◽  
High Level ◽  
Political Economic

The author develops ideas about the origin of social inequality during the evolution of human societies and reflects on the possibilities of its overcoming. What makes human beings different from other primates is a high level of egalitarianism and altruism, which contributed to more successful adaptability of human collectives at early stages of the development of society. The transition to agriculture, coupled with substantially increasing population density, was marked by the emergence and institutionalisation of social inequality based on the inequality of tangible assets and symbolic wealth. Then, new institutions of warfare came into existence, and they were aimed at conquering and enslaving the neighbours engaged in productive labour. While exercising control over nature, people also established and strengthened their power over other people. Chiefdom as a new type of polity came into being. Elementary forms of power (political, economic and ideological) served as a basis for the formation of early states. The societies in those states were characterised by social inequality and cruelties, including slavery, mass violence and numerous victims. Nowadays, the old elementary forms of power that are inherent in personalistic chiefdom are still functioning along with modern institutions of public and private bureaucracy. This constitutes the key contradiction of our time, which is the juxtaposition of individual despotic power and public infrastructural one. However, society is evolving towards an ever more efficient combination of social initiatives with the sustainability and viability of large-scale organisations.

scholarly journals Framework for enhancing the estimation of model parameters for data with a high level of uncertainty

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gustavo B Libotte ◽  
Lucas Anjos ◽  
Regina Almeida ◽  
Sandra Malta ◽  
Renato Silva
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Compartmental Model ◽  
Gaussian Process Regression ◽  
Predictive Ability ◽  
Model Parameters ◽  
Study Case ◽  
Estimation Of Model Parameters ◽  
Reported Data ◽  
High Level ◽  
Political Economic

Abstract Reliable data is essential to obtain adequate simulations for forecasting the dynamics of epidemics. In this context, several political, economic, and social factors may cause inconsistencies in the reported data, which reflect the capacity for realistic simulations and predictions. In the case of COVID-19, for example, such uncertainties are mainly motivated by large-scale underreporting of cases due to reduced testing capacity in some locations. In order to mitigate the effects of noise in the data used to estimate parameters of models, we propose strategies capable of improving the ability to predict the spread of the diseases. Using a compartmental model in a COVID-19 study case, we show that the regularization of data by means of Gaussian Process Regression can reduce the variability of successive forecasts, improving predictive ability. We also present the advantages of adopting parameters of compartmental models that vary over time, in detriment to the usual approach with constant values.

scholarly journals LINCS Data Portal 2.0: next generation access point for perturbation-response signatures

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (D1) ◽  
pp. D431-D439 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vasileios Stathias ◽  
John Turner ◽  
Amar Koleti ◽  
Dusica Vidovic ◽  
Daniel Cooper ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Access Point ◽  
Model Systems ◽  
Query Interface ◽  
Integrated Network ◽  
Data Architecture ◽  
Data Portal ◽  
The Individual ◽  
High Level ◽  
Point Level

Abstract The Library of Integrated Network-Based Cellular Signatures (LINCS) is an NIH Common Fund program with the goal of generating a large-scale and comprehensive catalogue of perturbation-response signatures by utilizing a diverse collection of perturbations across many model systems and assay types. The LINCS Data Portal (LDP) has been the primary access point for the compendium of LINCS data and has been widely utilized. Here, we report the first major update of LDP (http://lincsportal.ccs.miami.edu/signatures) with substantial changes in the data architecture and APIs, a completely redesigned user interface, and enhanced curated metadata annotations to support more advanced, intuitive and deeper querying, exploration and analysis capabilities. The cornerstone of this update has been the decision to reprocess all high-level LINCS datasets and make them accessible at the data point level enabling users to directly access and download any subset of signatures across the entire library independent from the originating source, project or assay. Access to the individual signatures also enables the newly implemented signature search functionality, which utilizes the iLINCS platform to identify conditions that mimic or reverse gene set queries. A newly designed query interface enables global metadata search with autosuggest across all annotations associated with perturbations, model systems, and signatures.

Political Responsiveness in a Patronage Democracy

2019 ◽  
pp. 38-70
Author(s):  
Jennifer Bussell
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Preliminary Evidence ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Local Politicians ◽  
Village Council ◽  
Primary Focus ◽  
Citizen Interactions ◽  
The Individual ◽  
High Level

This chapter draws on accounts from sustained, in-depth shadowing of Indian politicians, as well as large-scale politician surveys, to characterize the nature of politicians’ engagement with their constituents. It highlights the importance these politicians place on making time for citizen interactions and responding to requests—to the extent that high-level politicians spend, on average, a quarter of their time interacting with individual citizens. Critically, the primary focus of these contacts is requests for assistance with the same types of goods and services that are typically also requested of local politicians such as village council presidents, providing preliminary evidence that demands may at least partially originate from individuals’ failure to acquire these benefits at the local level—a topic to which the book later turns. Chapter 2 also shows that the individual benefits directly provided to citizens by high-level politicians are substantial.

scholarly journals Cereal resistance to Fusarium head blight and possibilities of its improvement through breeding

2009 ◽  
Vol 45 (No. 3) ◽  
pp. 87-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Kosová ◽  
J. Chrpová ◽  
V. Šíp
Keyword(s):  
Fusarium Head Blight ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Phenotypic Selection ◽  
Resistance Mechanisms ◽  
Head Blight ◽  
Cereal Breeding ◽  
Fhb Resistance ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Different Response ◽  
High Level

The aim of this review is to summarize recent information on Fusarium head blight (FHB) in small grain cereals, especially in wheat and barley. Basic information on FHB epidemiology, types of resistance and plant resistance mechanisms is included. Standard methods for the evaluation of the individual types of FHB resistance and the extent of infection are briefly described. Special attention is paid to the sources of FHB resistance of different origin and possibility of their exploitation in cereal breeding. Unfortunately, a high level of FHB resistance was detected in non-adapted germplasm or distant relatives, which is a serious impediment to breeding progress in this field. The present state of breeding for FHB resistance in wheat, barley, rye, triticale and oats was analyzed. It was shown that large-scale QTL detections provide new opportunities for increasing the resistance; however, multi-step phenotypic selection still remains to be the most effective tool. Pedigree analyses indicated that the latest progress reached in this field was obtained through the cumulation of resistance genes coming from heterogeneous sources with different response to FHB.

scholarly journals Enhancing the estimation of compartmental model parameters for COVID-19 data with a high level of uncertainty

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gustavo B. Libotte ◽  
Lucas dos Anjos ◽  
Regina C. Almeida ◽  
Sandra M. C. Malta ◽  
Renato S. Silva
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Gaussian Process Regression ◽  
Predictive Ability ◽  
Compartmental Models ◽  
Model Parameters ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Novel Coronavirus ◽  
Reported Data ◽  
High Level ◽  
Political Economic

AbstractResearch on predictions related to the spread of the novel coronavirus are crucial in decision-making to mitigate the disease. Computational simulations are often used as a basis for forecasting the dynamics of epidemics and, for this purpose, compartmental models have been widely used to assess the situation resulting from the spread of the disease in the population. Reliable data is essential to obtain adequate simulations. However, several political, economic, and social factors have caused inconsistencies in the reported data, which are reflected in the capacity for realistic simulations and predictions. Such uncertainties are mainly motivated by a large-scale underreporting of cases due to the reduced testing capacity in some locations. In order to mitigate the effects of noise in the data used to estimate parameters of compartmental models, we propose strategies capable of improving the ability to predict the spread of the disease. We show that the regularization of data by means of Gaussian Process Regression can reduce the variability of successive forecasts, thus improving predictive ability. We also present the advantages of adopting parameters of compartmental models that vary over time, in detriment to the usual approach with constant values.

Cuba

2019 ◽  
pp. 145-161
Author(s):  
Andrew Boutros
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Government Control ◽  
Business Managers ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Media ◽  
Illicit Use ◽  
Corrupt Conduct ◽  
High Level

Cuba has long been saddled with a culture of corruption. A lengthy history of colonialism and a state-controlled economy have produced a country with a weak economy, product shortages, low wages, and an understanding that taking a little for oneself is not only acceptable but, in many cases, necessary to get by. Scarcity and rationing of resources have led to an environment where obtaining goods and services requires grease payments, workers steal items from their employers to sell on the black market, and employees are often absent so that they can earn extra money from side jobs. At the same time, poorly paid bureaucrats, business managers, and even high-level government officials supplement their income through illicit use of their positions. The centralization of power, strict government control of the media, and lax compliance oversight have led to a lack of transparency and accountability. While high-level corruption on a large scale is less common in Cuba than other parts of Latin America, lower-level corruption is widespread. Over the years, the ruling Castro regime has taken a number of approaches to curbing corruption that have led to laws and institutions aimed at eliminating corrupt conduct, fraud, waste, abuse, and cronyism. However, there is little protection for whistle-blowers in Cuba. Accordingly, a vital tool in the effort to detect and prevent bribery, the misuse of government funds, fraud, and other types of corruption is largely missing.

scholarly journals Modeling of Business Intelligence Systems Using the Potential Determinants and Theories with the Lens of Individual, Technological, Organizational, and Environmental Contexts-A Systematic Literature Review

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 3208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sumera Ahmad ◽  
Suraya Miskon ◽  
Tawfeeq Abdullah Alkanhal ◽  
Iskander Tlili
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Literature Review ◽  
Systematic Literature Review ◽  
Business Intelligence ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Intelligence System ◽  
Frequency Of Use ◽  
Study Results ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
The Individual

Race towards industry 4.0 increases the hyper competition and puts pressure on organizations to integrate the advanced technologies. Business intelligence system (BIS) is one of the top prioritized technologies that attracted the significant attention of policy-makers and industry experts due to its ability to provide more informed and intelligent knowledge for decision-making processes. It is evident by literature that organizations and industries are prone to integrate the BIS at large scale, but more than 70% BIS projects fail to give the expected results. Hence, it is pertinent to explore the significant determinants that influence the BIS adoption and acceptance in organizations. Although previous literature did not have any comprehensive review relevant to the individual, technological, organizational, and environmental determinants. Therefore, the current study tries to narrow this gap by a systematic literature review (SLR) of 84 studies that were published during the period of 2011–2020. A total of 93 determinants are identified based on content analysis by using text mining techniques of Yoshikoder and human coding skills. The identified determinants are ranked according to their frequency of use. A theoretical framework has been developed with potential determinants and theories. The study results will enrich the recent BIS literature and improve the understanding of practitioners’ decision-making processes to leverage maximum value from the adoption of BIS.

Czech Physical Planning at the Crossroads: Towards the Regulation of Large-Scale Retail Developments?

2010 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 290-303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jana Spilková ◽  
Radim Perlín
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Negotiation Process ◽  
Practical Application ◽  
Large Area ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
The Will ◽  
The Individual ◽  
High Level ◽  
Massive Development

The second half of the 1990s saw a dynamic development of Czech retailing and its spatial structure. Recent massive development of large-area commercial outlets in particular has revealed some problematic aspects and has also raised the question of whether their construction needs to be regulated. The role of local government in the decision processes concerning such developments is extremely weak and these processes are also complicated by a notably high level of bureaucracy. Although legislative documents proclaim the concept of sustainability as a key principle of future spatial development, its practical application will always depend on the will of the individual participants in the negotiation process. The authors argue that if a regulative approach to planning is chosen in the Czech Republic, planning offices must be respected bodies with enforceable rights and bound to act as strong authorities and effective agents of spatial plnning.

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