Weak Rule Of Law Research Articles

Transnational Repression: International Cooperation in Silencing Dissent

Abstract Why do some states assist other countries to reach across national borders and repress their diaspora, while others do not? Transnational repression involves host countries (including democracies) working closely with origin states (typically autocracies) to transfer their citizens living abroad into their custody and silence dissent. We expect international cooperation on transnational repression to rely on a host country’s domestic rule of law (opportunity to repress) and economic ties with the origin country (leverage to cooperate). To measure international cooperation on transnational repression, we present new data containing 608 direct physical cases of transnational repression from 2014 to 2020 involving 160 unique country dyads (79 host countries and 31 origin countries). We test our hypotheses using a dataset of 33,615 directed dyad-years that accounts for refugee flows between pairs of countries and find empirical support for our theoretical argument. Autocracies are better able to elicit cooperation on human rights violations from states that have shared economic interests and a weak rule of law. Our findings provide one of the first quantitative accounts of foreign complicity in extraterritorial repression and have policy implications for civil society activists that seek to prevent governments from committing future human rights abuses against foreign nationals living abroad.

ROLE OF GOVERNANCE IN TRANSITION FROM MIDDLE-INCOME TRAP

This study examines the role of governance in transitioning from middle-to high-income status in 20 countries. All the growth models indicate that the rule of law plays a significant role. Significant interactions among government effectiveness were observed in the post-transition period. A significant effect of political stability and corruption control and a significant interaction effect of government effectiveness were also observed in the transition to high income, using extended Cox regression. The probit regression revealed that the interaction of low government effectiveness, low insurance, heavy reliance on agriculture, high fertility rates, high inflation, limited foreign investment and excessive public debt posed obstacles to achieving high-income status. The weak rule of law, corruption control and regulatory quality also affected the failure of the 42 upper-middle-income countries to reach a high-income level.

Pandangan Mahasiswa Mahasiswi IAIN Terhadap Negara Hukum Dan Penegakan Hukum Di Indonesia

Since its independence, Indonesia has declared itself a state governed by law, as stated in the Preamble of the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia. This noble ideal asserts that Indonesia is a state based on the rule of law, not merely power. However, the journey to realizing this ideal is fraught with challenges. Law enforcement in Indonesia faces serious issues such as weak rule of law, lack of accountability among law enforcers, low legal awareness among the public, and an inefficient judicial system. These problems lead to negative public perceptions of law enforcement in Indonesia. The public often sees law enforcement as unjust, with laws frequently "weak on the powerful and harsh on the powerless," where those in power often escape legal consequences while the underprivileged are easily punished. Additionally, the professionalism and integrity of law enforcement officials are often questioned, further tarnishing the image of law enforcement. This negative perception has severe implications for the stability and security of the nation, fostering public distrust that can lead to criminal and anarchic actions. addressing these issues requires continuous and comprehensive efforts involving all elements of the nation. The government needs to enhance transparency and accountability in law enforcement processes and enforce laws fairly and indiscriminately. The public also needs to actively supervise and criticize the performance of law enforcers. Surveys indicate that the majority of Indonesians have high hopes for the enforcement of laws in Indonesia, despite existing doubts and dissatisfaction with the slow and convoluted judicial process and the professionalism of law enforcers. The majority of respondents also acknowledge that corruption remains a serious issue requiring primary attention.

THE RIGHT TO A JUST REMEDY IN PRIVATE LAW—A RIGHT AND A HUMAN INSTINCT:AN ANALYSIS OF HOW GREED AND LAWLESSNESS REMOVES CONFIDENCE

This article explores the fundamental concept of justice and the right to a remedy in private law. Specifically, the question of whether the belief that justice will prevail is a spoiled concept to have, and only shared by populaces in places without corruption, rule of law issues, etc. The paper delves into the historical and global recognition of the rights of obligees, and scrutinizes the diminishing trust and conviction in justice, especially in jurisdictions plagued by corruption and weak rule of law. Bribery and corruption in judicial systems undermine access to remedies, particularly for the poor, and contribute to the erosion of faith in the judiciary. The analysis extends to non-state judiciaries, exploring the role of tribal courts in addressing private law matters in regions with challenges in formal legal systems. Ultimately, the paper contends that the instinct for justice is a timeless and universal human trait, inherent in the evolution of legal systems. While corruption and external influences can erode confidence, the desire for a just remedy remains engrained. Keywords: justice, corruption, judicial corruption, instinctive access to justice, sociology of remedies and their opinions, comparative legal systems

International migration and illegal costs: Evidence from Africa-to-Europe smuggling routes

The 2011 Arab Spring marked the opening of the Central Mediterranean Route for irregular border crossings between Libya and Italy, which produced heterogeneous reductions of bilateral smuggling distances between country pairs in the Mediterranean region. We exploit this source of spatial and temporal variation in bilateral distance along land and sea routes to estimate the elasticity of irregular migration intentions for African and Near East countries. We estimate an elasticity of migration intentions to smuggling distances exceeding −3, mainly driven by countries with weak rule of law and high internet penetration. Our findings are consistent across irregular migration measures both at the aggregate and individual levels. We show that irregular migration elasticity is higher for youth, relatively skilled individuals and those with an informative advantage (having a social network abroad or a mobile phone).

Nexus Between Remittance and Economic Growth: Case of Top Remittance Recipient Countries

This paper aims to explore the nexus between remittance and economic growth in the top twenty remittance-recipient countries defined in terms of remittances to GDP ratio by using the panel cointegration approach. Panel data from 2009 to 2022 have been used for the Pedroni and Kao Cointegration test and panel ARDL approach to cointegration. Results showed that while there exists a long-run equilibrium relationship among the variables with a very high degree of adjustment in disequilibrium, remittance flows appear to affect economic growth adversely in the long run. Trade openness and gross fixed capital formation positively affected economic growth while inflation reduced growth in the long run. These results imply that the top remittance-recipient countries need to use remittances productively while addressing their structural problems hindering economic growth including high dependence on external sources and imports, low financial access, weak rule of law, and weak quality of institutions.

Power and rent-seeking in the second homes tourism market: evidence from selected villages in Iran

ABSTRACT Numerous studies have examined the challenges associated with developing second-home (SH) tourism in rural areas. However, little attention has been given to exploring the influence of power dynamics and rent-seeking behavior on the Real Estate Market for second homes (SHs). To address this research gap, our study conducted face-to-face interviews with key stakeholders in five selected villages in Iran. Our objective was to investigate the impact of power and rent-seeking on the SH market. Our findings reveal that rent-seeking activities have significantly increased in the Real Estate Market for SHs in these villages due to legal loopholes, weak rule of law, inadequate supervision, and severe economic crises. Rent-seeking has emerged as the dominant and most profitable activity within this market. By shedding light on the processes of rent-seeking in the Real Estate Market for SHs in developing countries, our study enhances our understanding of this issue. It contributes to the formulation of effective policies and regulations.

Bankruptcy court establishment and corporate risk-taking

This study examines the influence of bankruptcy courts on the risk-taking behavior of listed firms in China between 2002 and 2019. The establishment of bankruptcy courts discourages listed firms from taking excessive risk. This effect is more pronounced in firms with financing constraints, high market valuations, and those operating in regions with a weaker rule of law. Overall, our findings indicate that establishing bankruptcy courts benefits creditors’ rights and restrains corporate risk-taking.

Resolving land tenure security is essential to deliver forest restoration

Tropical countries are making ambitious commitments to Forest Landscape Restoration with the aim of locking up carbon, conserving biodiversity and benefiting local livelihoods. However, global and national analyses of restoration potential frequently ignore socio-legal complexities which impact both the effectiveness and equitability of restoration. We show that areas with the highest restoration potential are disproportionately found in countries with weak rule of law and frequently in those with substantial areas of unrecognised land tenure. Focussing on Madagascar, at least 67% of the areas with highest restoration potential must be on untitled land, where tenure is often unclear or contested, and we show how unresolved tenure issues are one of the most important limitations on forest restoration. This is likely to be a bigger problem than currently recognized and without important efforts to resolve local tenure issues, opportunities to equitably scale up forest restoration globally are likely to be significantly over-estimated.

Suing the government under weak rule of law: Evidence from administrative litigation reform in China

There is a long-standing debate in the literature about the effectiveness of strengthening judicial independence in developing countries with weak rule of law. This paper exploits a recent Chinese judicial reform in administrative litigation, which changed the jurisdiction rule from intra-regional to trans-regional, to estimate the effects of improved judicial independence on protecting private entities against potential abuses of public authority. We find a significant increase in the probability of successfully suing local governments after the reform, especially when the defendants are more powerful government departments and when the plaintiffs are individual citizens with fewer legal resources than firms. But this effect is more limited for higher-level governments. The reform also results in increased case filings, prolonged trial time, and enhanced judicial quality. In addition, it raises the awareness of both governments and citizens about the rule of law, increases firm entry, and worsens general public attitudes toward local governments, at least in the short term. Our study highlights trans-regional jurisdiction as a new source of judicial independence in a party state and its potential limitations.

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Objective. In the conditions of challenges to the existence of Ukraine as a state and the need to reform almost all spheres of life in Ukraine, the public danger of corruption offenses cause contempt and mutual distrust of people and power structures, which poses a threat to the national security of Ukraine and makes it impossible to develop a dialogue regarding the necessary measures to modernize social relations on the way of European integration of Ukraine. This requires a systematic analysis of the state of implementation of the anti-corruption policy in Ukraine and justification of the ways of fighting against corruption in the war conditions and in the post-war period. Methods. The following methods of scientific research were used: methods of analysis, synthesis and formalization; system-structural analysis; abstract-logical method for making theoretical generalizations and formulating of research conclusions. Results. Despite the fact that over the last decade, Ukraine has risen in the rating of corruption perceptions (Corruption Perceptions Index), calculated by the experts of Transparency International, due to declarative actions to build an anti-corruption system, it remains the second most corrupt country in Europe after the state sponsor of terrorism � the Russian Federation. The high level of corruption in the daily life of Ukrainian society, business, public administration and politicians questions the perspectives of Ukraine's post-war reconstruction, because the increasing competitiveness and maintaining competitive advantages largely depends on the effectiveness of the used organizational mechanism for managing the country's global competitiveness. Scientific novelty. As a result of insufficient attention of civil society to corruption during the Russian-Ukrainian war, the level and the spectrum of corruption risks in Ukraine is increasing, and such processes entail the problems of the appearance of additional corruption risks after the end of war, which can be summarized in the following directions: problems of effective implementation of reconstruction programs, growth of the political weight of public administration institutions and their capture of the most part of information space, non-transparent distribution of humanitarian aid, lack of political will, established models of pre-war and wartime corruption, weak rule of law and tolerant attitude of Ukrainian society to manifestations of corruption. Practical significance. From the point of view of the growth of corruption risks with the beginning of the active phase of the Russian-Ukrainian war, as evidenced by corruption scandals in the Office of the President of Ukraine, the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, the Ministry for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine and a number of regional state administrations, the repressive side of anti-corruption policy should be significantly strengthened. It is expedient for Ukraine to focus its main attention on the creation of a reliable infrastructure for the effective distribution and use of foreign aid for those layers of the population and military forces that need it most of all. Keywords: public administration; local-self government; anti-corruption policy; corruption; Index of perception of corruption; anti-corruption institutions.

Do institutions matter for entrepreneurial development?

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the differing impact of institutions on entrepreneurship development is undeniable. Several post-Soviet countries benefitted from early international integration by joining the EU, adopting the euro, and becoming OECD members. This process enabled entrepreneurship to develop within institutional contexts where democratic and free market principles were strengthened. In general, however, post-Soviet economies continue to be characterized by higher levels of corruption, complex business regulations, weak rule of law, uncertain property rights and often, lack of political will for institutional change.

Cross‐cultural implications of linguistic future time reference and institutional uncertainty on social entrepreneurship

AbstractResearch SummaryUsing a sample of 205,792 individuals in 70 countries with 39 languages, this paper presents novel empirical evidence for how a language's future time reference, defined as the requirement that speakers mark time in the future, affects a speaker's likelihood of engaging in social entrepreneurship. FTR subtly shapes a speaker's temporal orientation, such that speaking a futured language (i.e., strong FTR) favors a short‐term orientation which positively affects the likelihood of being a social entrepreneur. Furthermore, institutional uncertainty arising from weakly entrenched institutions moderates this relationship. Individuals who speak futured languages in contexts characterized by regulatory institutional uncertainty (weak rule of law, weak property rights, and strong corruption) are more likely to engage in social entrepreneurship. Theoretical and practical implications and future research directions are discussed.Managerial SummaryThis paper examines the influence of language and regulatory institutions on an individual's decision to engage in social entrepreneurship. We show that entrepreneurial strategies towards social value creation are more likely to be pursued in countries where language is characterized as futured (i.e., using sentences with “will/shall + infinitive”) with the linguistic feature of future time reference (FTR). Moreover, the positive impact FTR has on the strategic decision to become a social entrepreneur intensifies when there is regulatory institutional uncertainty. That is, the probability an individual is a social entrepreneur increases when there is weak rule of law, weak property rights, and strong corruption within a country. In sum, our study highlights the important interplay between language, an overlooked cognitive institution, and regulatory institutions in shaping entrepreneurial behaviors and social outcomes.

Adoption of sustainable low-impact fishing practices is not enough to secure sustainable livelihoods and social wellbeing in small-scale fishing communities

Improving small-scale fishers’ wellbeing is a core policy objective in efforts to achieve just, equitable and sustainable futures. Nonetheless, fishers’ wellbeing is rarely assessed or monitored over time using quantitative indicators. We evaluated the socio-economic performance and evolution of two small-scale fishing communities of northern Peru using the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach. Quantitative indicators were used to characterize fishers financial, human, natural, physical, and social capitals. We also developed a simple, yet novel, composite index to quantify fishers’ Unsatisfied Basic Needs. This approach allowed us to grasp changes in the material and relational dimensions of fishers’ wellbeing over time. Fishers in these communities had: (i) low human and financial capital assets, (ii) strong social capital assets, and (iii) experienced improvements in their physical capital assets whilst reporting declines in their natural capital assets. Although fishers mainly use highly selective, low-impact fishing methods, their target stocks and incomes are declining. People’s wellbeing in these communities was highly vulnerable to external environmental (e.g., El Niño) and economic (e.g., access to markets) drivers as well as poor governance (e.g., weak rule of law, low institutional fit, corruption). Our results suggest that small-scale fishers of these two sites are currently in a social-ecological trap, with many points of entry and few ways out. We discuss potential avenues for escaping the trap and improving their wellbeing based on commonly suggested livelihoods strategies found in the literature.

Effects of the rule of law and central bank independence on economic inequality and surplus value

ABSTRACT In this study, panel data, which were obtained from 36 countries, are utilized to empirically explore the factors that affect economic inequality before redistribution through taxes and social security. Our estimations reveal that legal origin influences the resolution of the paradox in which economic inequality before redistribution is high, although redistribution is low. Simultaneously, the Gini coefficient before redistribution can be lowered by strengthening the rule of law in countries with English legal origin, which is not the case in countries with other legal origins. In countries with French legal origins, strengthening the rule of law will increase the redistribution function. Furthermore, the rule of law, as well as central bank independence, can reduce economic inequality. The rule of law exhibits a negative relationship with the rate of surplus value, and the rate of surplus value exhibits a negative association with central bank independence. Simultaneously, the rule of law and central bank independence synergistically reduce economic inequalities. Thus, a weak rule of law, coupled with the absence of central bank independence, will promote monetary easing policies, which favours politicians. Moreover, inappropriate monetary easing policies would increase the control of companies over workers and promote exploitation.

Clientelism, corruption and the rule of law

It is widely believed that clientelism-the giving of material goods in return for electoral support-is associated with poorer governance outcomes. However, systematic cross-country evidence on the deleterious effects of clientelism on governance outcmes is lacking. In this paper we examine the relationship between political clientelism, corruption and rule of law using cross-country panel data for 134 countries for the period 1900–2018. We distinguish between two manifestations of political clientelism-whether vote buying exists, and whether political parties offer material goods to their constituents in exchange for political support (non-programmatic party linkages). We provide evidence of a negative relationship existing between political clientelism on governance outcomes, with increases in clientelism leading to increased political corruption, and weaker rule of law. We also find that the deleterious effects of political clientelism are mainly through non-programmatic party linkages rather than the practice of vote buying.

Social, Formal, and Political Determinants of Trade Under Weak Rule of Law: Experimental Evidence from Senegalese Firms

How do firms ensure secure exchange when the rule of law is weak and contracting institutions privilege the politically connected? In developing countries, firms may use social, formal, or political heuristics when selecting business partners, but how these factors jointly impact exchange remains understudied. In this article, I develop these theoretical mechanisms and test their impact with a conjoint experiment administered to 2389 formal and informal firms in Senegal. I find evidence in support of all three theories: To varying degrees, social, state, and political factors simultaneously impact firms’ sense of deal security and likelihood of exchange. The results demonstrate the substantial influence of formal predictors of exchange even in an overwhelmingly informal business environment, and also establish the countervailing effects of political connections on trade. These findings suggest that firms in developing countries must contend with an intricate political calculus to ensure their growth.

The cost of noise: Stochastic punishment falls short of sustaining cooperation in social dilemma experiments.

Identifying mechanisms able to sustain costly cooperation among self-interested agents is a central problem across social and biological sciences. One possible solution is peer punishment: when agents have an opportunity to sanction defectors, classical behavioral experiments suggest that cooperation can take root. Overlooked from standard experimental designs, however, is the fact that real-world human punishment-the administration of justice-is intrinsically noisy. Here we show that stochastic punishment falls short of sustaining cooperation in the repeated public good game. As punishment noise increases, we find that contributions decrease and punishment efforts intensify, resulting in a 45% drop in gains compared to a noiseless control. Moreover, we observe that uncertainty causes a rise in antisocial punishment, a mutually harmful behavior previously associated with societies with a weak rule of law. Our approach brings to light challenges to cooperation that cannot be explained by economic rationality and strengthens the case for further investigations of the effect of noise-and not just bias-on human behavior.

EU-Ukraine “deep” trade agenda: the effectiveness and impact perspectives

The EU-Ukraine deep and comprehensive free trade area (DCFTA) is marked by an impressive scope of regulatory approximation and market integration. Nonetheless, the performance of the DCFTA often tends to be assessed through the sole prism of changes in the volume of trade between the parties. This paper seeks to complement such an approach by an in-depth investigation of EU-DCFTA’s performance from the effectiveness and impact perspectives. It finds that the EU-Ukraine “deep” trade agenda is marked by medium effectiveness, with the strongest concerns, attributed to corruption, weak rule of law and strong oligarchic influence. At the same time, the DCFTA had been a strong engine for trade-related reforms (e.g. countering technical barriers to trade; public procurement; competition and state aid) in Ukraine over the period from 2014 to 2019. Yet, the reforms’ tempo slowed down after the most recent presidential elections, with numerous changes pending in the domains of transport and infrastructure, financial sector reform and customs reforms. Nonetheless, the EU-Ukraine DCFTA is found to exert a considerable impact on the interplay of the regulatory spaces and influences in the regions and the role of the EU as a trade power.

Settlements in corporate bribery cases: an illusion of choice?

Despite prosecutors’ difficulties in proving corporate bribery, nearly all enforcement actions end with a settlement at the pretrial stage. Compared to court proceedings, settlement-based enforcement provide prosecutors with flexibility to reward offenders’ self-reporting and cooperation, and reach quicker conclusions to complex cases. In this article, we explain, such enforcement needs regulation to minimize potentially harmful side-effects. When the difference between a court and settlement sanction exceeds a certain size, the alleged offender accepts a settlement regardless of actual responsibility of misconduct. For the prosecutor, the option of offering a lenient settlement means weaker incentives to ascertain the material facts of the case. Society receives less information about the blameworthy act, little opportunity to evaluate the sanction, and less reason to expect sanctions to deter bribery. We show why such consequences result in under-deterrence of bribery and weaker rule of law. The use of settlement may have a self-escalating effect because the enforcement mode can reduce the predictability of the law, while a defendant’s inclination to accept a settlement offer depends on the predictability of the law. Our results suggest that United Kingdom’s current escalation of enforcement of corporate bribery laws will lead to a mixture of settlements and court decisions, while in the United States firms will continue to negotiate settlements as if there were no opportunity to have their cases tested in court.