Applying insulation to the interior side of the wall often is the only option for a thermal retrofit, especially when heritage buildings are concerned. In order to avoid harmful condensation beneath the interior insulation, most systems include a vapor retarding layer which also reduces the drying potential of the wall. Therefore, vapor-permeable insulation materials have been developed that are capable of wicking condensing moisture away from the wall/insulation interface back to the surface in contact with the indoor air. A widely used and extensively studied material with such characteristics is Calcium-silicate. Following an increasing demand, several water-wicking insulation materials have appeared on the market. However, there is no consensus yet on how to quantify their efficiency in preventing critical moisture conditions at the interface.Since the water absorption coefficient of a porous material is dominated by the largest capillaries, this coefficient does not seem appropriate for the characterization of the material's liquid transport properties in the hygroscopic region. Therefore, a new measuring method for wicking insulation materials has been devised. One side of a laterally sealed material sample is controlled at a temperature below the dew-point by a Peltier-unit, while the other side is exposed to the air of a climate chamber. At the dynamic equilibrium of the opposing moisture fluxes (liquid and vapor), moisture distribution recordings are performed using Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). This allows the determination of the material's liquid diffusivity function in the hygroscopic region, whose magnitude is a measure for the wicking efficiency of the material.
At first sight, Mexico appears to be a textbook example of a state affected by offshore finance. Offshore financial services allow corporations and the wealthy to plan taxes, avoid regulations or to launder money. The literature holds that large, developing, open economies, with geographical proximity to offshore centers and problems of crime and corruption are particularly affected by offshoring. By this logic, we should expect Mexico to show a significant demand for offshore financial services. Yet, new empirical evidence derived from interviews and banking statistics suggests otherwise. Mexican firms and individuals make only limited use of offshore finance. The article explains why. Building on a Weberian notion of the state, the article shows that the historically exclusive nature of Mexico's state concentrates political and economic power such that the onshore economy offers similar rents for economic elites as offshoring. Moreover, in instances where economic actors use offshore services it is driven by banking, not taxation. These findings have two theoretical implications. First, they confirm that institutions matter, though differently than hitherto thought. Second, we must look beyond taxation to include banking into our analyses.
Non-Western countries such as Saudi Arabia, China, Brazil, and Turkey have all started to take part in global humanitarian action. Their engagement raises a number of fundamental questions: how will the diversification of government donors affect humanitarian activities and principles; and how will it affect the people and governments of crisis-affected countries or humanitarian organizations? This article finds that the rise of non-Western donors involves both risks, such as normative conflicts, and great potential, such as increased access and more resources. It also finds that non-Western humanitarian engagement has become too substantial to ignore and that opportunities can only be seized and risks mitigated if traditional actors actively engage with non-Western donors on a level playing field.
The 'Policy Debate' section of International Development Policy offers a platform where academics, policy makers and reflective practitioners engage in critical dialogue on specific development challenges. The initial lead paper is not peer-reviewed. Instead, it is followed by reactions and critical comments from different stakeholders. The lead paper below, written by Jean-Marc Biquet (Médecin sans Frontières, MSF), is followed by reactions and analysis from Andrea Binder (Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) in Berlin). Despite repeated requests to-and commitments from-the UN (UNOCHA in particular) to provide a response, we did unfortunately not get any written reaction to MSF's article. Readers who are intetested are invited to contribute to this policy debate on our blog
This article asks how success is defined and measured for humanitarian action and military interventions aimed at protecting civilians from violence and harm in situations of armed conflict. It starts by illustrating how humanitarian and military protection actors differ in their ability or willingness to mobilize coercive force to achieve their common goal of protecting civilians. As a second step, it classifies different types of protection activities implemented by these actors. A distinction is made between actions designed to mitigate protection threats and actions that aim at eliminating the underlying causes of violence against civilians. This classification is important for two reasons. First, it serves to narrow down the problem of complementarity and contradiction between military and humanitarian approaches to protection. Second, it helps to highlight methodological, ethical and epistemological barriers to demonstrating success for specific types of protection interventions. The article concludes by exploring how normative considerations may guide protection policy and practice in the absence of conclusive empirical evidence on what works in protecting civilians.
Britain holds a special place in the offshore world. Unlike any other country, it is at once a high tax country, a large economy, and an offshore banking centre. From the inception of the Eurodollar in the 1950s to the onset of the global financial crisis in 2007, offshore finance strengthened British state power. The politics of the invisible helped to keep domestic capital engaged in financing the state despite the expansion of mass democracy and the welfare state. At the same time, it obscured the structural privileging of large economic actors over everyone else. The centrality of the City of London in the Eurodollar system also afforded the British state international influence beyond its actual political and economic weight. However, when in 2007–09 the global financial crisis—rooted to a significant extent in the offshore dollar markets—hit the country with full force, the relationship between offshore finance and state power turned destructive. The crisis laid bare the fragility of offshore money creation and the politics of the invisible. British state power became contested simultaneously from within and by foreign governments. For Britain, offshore money creation has been more consequential than offshore tax planning and money laundering.
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