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"You're lucky he didn't have an ice pick in his hands. I know how this guy performs." -Mobster Paul Volpe speaking about a Buffalo-mafia enforcer named "Cicci" Canada is lauded the world over as a law abiding, peaceful country - a shining example to all nations. Such a view, also shared by most Canadians, is typically naïve and misinformed. Throughout its history, to present day and beyond, Canada has been and will continue to be home to criminals and crime organizations that are brilliant at finding ways to make money - a lot of money - illegally. Iced: The Story of Organized Crime in Canada is a remarkable parallel history to the one generally accepted and taught in our schools. Organized...
Digital divide across countries and within countries continues to persist and even increased when the quality of internet connection is considered. The note shows that many governments have not been able to harness the full potential of digitalization. Governments could play important role to facilitate digital adoption by intervening both on supply (investing in infrastructure) and demand side (increase internet affordability). The note also documents significant dividends from digital adoption for revenue collection and spending efficiency, and for outcomes in education, health and social safety nets. The note also emphasizes that digitalization is not a substitute for good governance and that comprehensive reform plans embedded in National Digital Strategies (NDS) combined with legal and institutional reforms are needed to ensure that governments can reap full benefits from digitalization and manage the risks appropriately.
How could the GovTech improve budget processes and execution efficiency? Could the GovTech strengthen redistributive function of public expenditure? Based on an event-study method, this paper finds that the introduction of digital budget payments and e-procurement could significantly enhance budget transparency and help expand the coverage of social assistance to reach the most vulnerable population. Exploiting staggered adoption of digital budget payments, a synthetic control regression identifies meaningful increase in pre-tax income shares among the bottom 50th percentile and female workers, especially for emerging market and developing countries, with effects materializing gradually over...
This book offers a unique and insightful econometric evaluation of the policies used to fight transnational terrorism between 1990 and 2014 using a sample of 124 countries. It proves that foreign aid plays a crucial role by inducing recipient governments to protect the donors’ political and economic interests within their sphere of influence. In contrast, US troops on the ground are counter-productive as they increase the supply of terrorist attacks from the host countries, even though this effect has been significantly reduced by the Obama administration.
Outsourcing has been seen as a phenomenon allowing competitive advantages for organizations, but some studies do not include the causes and consequences of this particular strategy. Consequently, the objective of this book is to fill this gap by combining several studies from different perspectives. The various chapters presented here follow several approaches, which researchers explore in different contexts. This book intends, therefore, to add to the body of knowledge about outsourcing. Furthermore, it shows how the outsourcing strategy can stimulate organizations' development in various countries and regions worldwide.
The book presents new advances in the field of manufacturing technologies. It focuses on the design and engineering of manufacturing processes; additive manufacturing and reverse engineering; assembly, disassembly and circular processes; system simulation, optimization and digital manufacturing; and materials processing technology. Keywords: Human Robot, Short Term Production Planning, Thermoplastic Composite Components, Compostable Materials, Diffusion Bonding, Superplastic Forming, Hardening Technologies, Physical Simulation Tests, Numerical Model, Dissimilar Material Welding, Additive Manufacturing, Laser Powder Bed Fusion, Fused Deposition Modeling, Laser Sintering, Fused Filament Fabrication, Manufacturing System Laser Welding, Wind Blades, Bandsaw Machine, PVC Tubes, Submerged Arc Welding, Multi-Layered Coatings, Cryogenics, Metal Piercing, Picosecond Laser Processing, Carbon Nanotube; Fiber Reinforced Composites, Tools With Complex Geometry. Carbon/Epoxy Composite, Rheological Additives, PP/flax Fibers, Human Well-being, Extruded Rods & Pipes, Laser Welding, E-mobility, WAAM Process, Glass Fiber.
With the emergence and structuring of the Lucanian ethnos during the fourth century BC, a network of cult places, set apart from habitation spaces, was created at the crossroads of the most important communication routes of ancient Lucania. These sanctuaries became centers of social and political aggregation of the local communities: a space in which the community united for all the social manifestations that, in urban societies, were usually performed within the city space. With a detailed analysis of the archaeological record, this study traces the historical and archaeological narrative of Lucanian cult places from their creation to the Late Republican Age, which saw the incorporation of ...
"Elio Vittorini holds a major position in 20th-century Italian literature thanks to both his narrative production and his activity as editor and militant intellectual. This work aims to present the English-speaking reader with a comprehensive study of the author, his times and his work. Particular attention has been paid to the interconnection between Vittorini's work as a fiction writer and his political commitment which saw him move from revolutionary fascism to communism, to independent left-wing militancy. The combination of extensive archival research with a re-appraisal of his fiction and of his editorial activity provides a full picture reaching beyond the traditional restricted view of Vittorini as the anti-fascist author of ""Conversazione in Sicilia""."
SMART GRIDS for SMART CITIES Written and edited by a team of experts in the field, this second volume in a two-volume set focuses on an interdisciplinary perspective on the financial, environmental, and other benefits of smart grid technologies and solutions for smart cities. This second volume in this groundbreaking two-volume set continues the authors’ and editors’ mission to present the concepts and best practices of smart grids and how they can be utilized within the framework of a technological tapestry to create smart cities. Continuing to go through the challenges and their practical solutions, this second volume includes chapters on waste management, e-waste, automotive and transportation engineering, and how internet-of-things can be utilized within these “smart” technologies, and many others. Like its predecessor, this exciting new volume covers all of these technologies, including the basic concepts and the problems and solutions involved with practical applications in the real world. Whether for the veteran engineer or scientist, the student, or a manager or other technician working in the field, this volume is a must-have for any library.