One Mandarin Benefits the Whole Clan: Hometown Infrastructure and Nepotism in an Autocracy

This paper studies nepotism by government officials in an authoritarian regime. We collect a unique dataset of political promotions of officials in Vietnam and estimate their impact on public infrastructure in their hometowns. We find strong positive effects on several outcomes, some with lags, including roads to villages, marketplaces, clean water access, preschools, irrigation, and local radio broadcasters, as well as the hometown’s propensity to benefit from the State’s “poor commune support program”. Nepotism is not limited to only top-level officials, pervasive even among those without direct authority over hometown budgets, stronger when the hometown chairperson’s and promoted official’s ages are closer, and where provincial leadership has more discretionary power in shaping policies, suggesting that nepotism works through informal channels based on specific political power and environment. Contrary to pork barrel politics in democratic parliaments, members of the Vietnamese legislative body have little influence on infrastructure investments for their hometowns. Given the top-down nature of political promotions, officials arguably do not help their tiny communes in exchange for political support. Consistent with that, officials favor only their home commune and ignore their home district, which could offer larger political support. These findings suggest that nepotism is motivated by officials’ social preferences directed towards their related circles, and signals an additional form of corruption that may prevail in developing countries with low transparency.nepotism, infrastructure construction, official’s hometown, political connection,political promotion, social preference, directed altruism

One mandarin benefits the whole clan: hometown favoritism in an authoritarian regime

We study patronage politics in authoritarian Vietnam, using an exhaustive panel of 603 ranking officials from 2000 to 2010 to estimate their promotions’ impact on infrastructure in their hometowns of patrilineal ancestry. Native officials’ promotions lead to a broad range of hometown infrastructure improvement. Hometown favoritism is pervasive across all ranks, even among officials without budget authority, except among elected legislators. Favors are narrowly targeted towards small communes that have no political power, and are strengthened with bad local governance and strong local family values. The evidence suggests a likely motive of social preferences for hometown

Imagined Communities and Identities in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Learning: A Literature Review

Imagined community and identity have been recognized as critical aspects in English language learning. Imagined community refers to the ideal community that learners wish to get engaged in, while imagined identity refers to the ideal self that language learners wish to become in the future. However, there is a scant research on these two notions in relation to English as a foreign language (EFL) learning. To that end, this paper aims to present the literature review of the contemporary theories on imagined communities and identities in EFL learning. It first discusses the imagined communities regarding the functions, community of practice, notions of imagined communities and concepts of imagined EFL classroom communities. It then scrutinizes imagined identities in terms of poststructuralists’ theory, English language learners’ identities, notion of imagined identity and EFL learners’ imagined identity. This paper is hoped to provide a timely and needed conceptual framework for other relevant constructs (e.g., English language learning investment) in English language learning

Modélisation numérique du comportement des milieux granulaires à partir de signaux pénétrométriques : approche micromécanique par la méthode des éléments discrets

In the field of in situ mechanical characterization of soils, penetration tests are commonly used. Penetration tests measure the properties of soils in the domain of large deformations. The tip resistances, deduced from pile driving theory, can be measured either in dynamic conditions (q d ) either in static conditions (q c ). Recently, the measurement technique in dynamic conditions has been improved and it is now possible to record the whole response of the soil during one impact in terms of tip force and penetration distance. The exploitation of this new curve provides information not only on dynamic tip resistance but also on additional mechanical parameters involved during the driving of the tip. The objective of this work is to develop a numerical model in 2D able to reproduce the penetrometric record obtained experimentally by static or dynamic penetration tests. This model is based on the discrete element method with a simple linear contact model. After the validation of the model, a parametric study was performed essentially on the loading type (static or dynamic), the penetration rate, the particle size of the granular material and the arrangement (density variation). Besides the influence of these parameters on the penetrometer signals and the tip resistance, a particular attention was focused on micromechanical analysis: energy dissipation in the medium, force chain evolution, contact orientation. This analysis requires the development of specific numerical tools to better understand the penetration mechanism and try to explain the macroscopic mechanical response obtained. The penetration rate influences significantly only in the dense flow regime on the static and dynamic penetration tests. There is no significant microscopic difference between static and dynamic penetration tests with similar penetration rates. Regarding the influence of the characteristics of the material, the numerical results obtained conform to the real results when the particle friction or the compactness of the medium varies. Concerning the particle size, the dynamic signal variation and the dynamic tip force increases when the average particle diameter increases.Dans la pratique actuelle du génie géotechnique, les essais de pénétration tels que les CPT, SPT, Panda sont largement utilisés pour caractériser mécaniquement les sols, au travers notamment d’une caractéristique de rupture appelée résistance de pointe. Par ailleurs, les dernières évolutions technologiques apportées aux essais de pénétration dynamique (Panda 3) permettent d’obtenir pendant chaque impact une courbe charge–enfoncement donnant la charge en pointe en fonction de l’enfoncement à partir de la mesure et du découplage des ondes générées durant l’essai. L’exploitation de cette nouvelle courbe fournit des informations non seulement sur la résistance de pointe dynamique mais également sur des paramètres mécaniques complémentaires mis en jeu pendant l’enfoncement de la pointe. L’objectif de cette thèse est de développer un modèle numérique en 2D capable de reproduire les signaux pénétrométriques obtenus expérimentalement par essais de type statique ou dynamique. Ce modèle est basé sur la méthode des éléments discrets avec une loi de contact linéaire simple. Une fois le modèle validé, une étude paramétrique a été réalisée en jouant essentiellement sur les modes d’application de la sollicitation (vitesse d’impact ou de pénétration), la granulométrie du matériau ainsi que l’arrangement granulaire (variation de la densité). Outre l’influence de ces paramètres sur les signaux pénétrométriques et la résistance de pointe mesurée, une attention particulière est portée sur l’analyse micromécanique : dissipation d’énergie dans le milieu, évolution des chaines de force, orientations des contacts. Cette analyse nécessite de développer des outils numériques spécifiques afin de mieux comprendre le mécanisme de l’enfoncement et tenter d’expliquer la réponse mécanique macroscopique obtenue. L’effet de la vitesse n’influence significativement que sur les essais de pénétration statiques et dynamiques en régime d’écoulement dense. A vitesse d’enfoncement comparable, il n’y a aucune différence significative au niveau microscopique entre les deux modes de sollicitation statique et dynamique. En ce qui concerne l’influence des caractéristiques du matériau, les résultats obtenus par le modèle numérique conforment aux celui réel lors que le frottement entre particules ou la compacité du milieu varie. Concernant la granulométrie, la variation de la courbe charge-enfoncement et la force de pointe dynamique augmente lorsque le diamètre moyen augmente

One Mandarin Benefits the Whole Clan: Hometown Favoritism in an Authoritarian Regime

We study patronage politics in authoritarian Vietnam, using an exhaustive panel of ranking officials from 2000 to 2010 to estimate their promotions’ impact on infrastructure in their patrilineal hometowns. Favoritism is pervasive across all ranks, even among officials without budget authority. Promotions of officials strongly improve hometown infrastructure including roads, marketplaces, and irrigation. In contrast to democracies’ pork-barrel politics, elected legislators are not influential. Favoritism is likely motivated by officials’ social preferences for hometowns rather than by political considerations, because favors are narrowly targeted to small communes, and are stronger where local culture emphasizes the family bond

One Mandarin benefits the whole clan: hometown favoritism in an authoritarian regime

We study patronage politics in authoritarian Vietnam, using an exhaustive panel of ranking officials from 2000 to 2010 to estimate their promotions’ impact on infrastructure in their hometowns of patrilineal ancestry. Native officials’ promotions lead to a broad range of hometown infrastructure improvement. Hometown favoritism is pervasive across all ranks, even among officials without budget authority, except among elected legislators. Favors are narrowly targeted toward small communes that have no political power, and are strengthened with bad local governance and strong local family values. The evidence suggests a likely motive of social preferences for hometown

One Mandarin Benefits the Whole Clan: Hometown Favoritism in an Authoritarian Regime

We study patronage politics in authoritarian Vietnam, using an exhaustive panel of ranking officials from 2000 to 2010 to estimate their promotions' impact on infrastructure in their hometowns of patrilineal ancestry. Native officials' promotions lead to a broad range of hometown infrastructure improvement. Hometown favoritism is pervasive across all ranks, even among officials without budget authority, except among elected legislators. Favors are narrowly targeted toward small communes that have no political power, and are strengthened with bad local governance and strong local family values. The evidence suggests a likely motive of social preferences for hometown

Discrete modeling of penetration tests in constant velocity and impact conditions

International audienceThe paper presents investigations on the penetration tests in granular material. A discrete numerical study is proposed for the modeling of penetration tests in constant velocity conditions and also in impact conditions. The model reproduces qualitatively the mechanical response of samples of granular material, compared to classical experimental results. Penetration tests are conducted at constant velocity and from impact, with similar penetration rates ranging from 25 mm.s-1 to 5000 mm.s-1. In constant velocity condition, the value of tip force remains steady as long as the penetration velocity induces a quasi–static regime in the granular material. However, the tip force increases rapidly in the dense flow regime corresponding to higher penetration rate. Impact tip force increases with the impact velocity. Finally, the tip forces obtained from impact penetration tests are smaller compared to the one obtained in constant velocity conditions in both quasi–static and dense flow regimes

VIBRATION ANALYSIS OF CROSS-PLY LAMINATED COMPOSITE DOUBLY CURVED SHALLOW SHELL PANELS WITH STIFFENERS

In this paper, the analytical solution for the cross-ply laminated composite double curved shell panels with stiffeners is presented. Based on the smeared stiffeners technique and the first shear deformation theory (FSDT), the motion equations are derived by applying the Hamilton’s principle. The Navier’s solution for the simply supported boundary condition for all edges is presented. The numerical results are verified with the known results in the literature. The effects of the number of stiffeners, dimensions of stiffeners, and lamination scheme of cross-ply laminated composite doubly curved shell panels on the natural fundamental frequencies are investigated