Digital Commons Network^™

Boilerplate’S False Dichotomy, James Gibson

Law Faculty Publications

The argument against enforcing boilerplate contracts (contracts that no one reads) seems clear. Indeed, if this were a court case we would say that the jury is in; the evidence against boilerplate is overwhelming. Yet the judge has yet to render judgment. Courts continue to enforce boilerplate terms, and even those scholars who have exposed boilerplate as an emperor with no clothes are reluctant to gaze upon its nakedness and condemn its use.

This reluctance originates in an assumption that pervades the boilerplate debate—namely, that courts and commentators alike view boilerplate as necessary to the modern transaction. When asked to …

On The Existential Function Of The Social And The Limits Of Rationalist Accounts Of Human Behavior, Doug Mcadam

Seattle University Law Review

Rational choice theory has achieved widespread influence in a number of social science disciplines, most notably economics and political science. Given its prominent position within economics, it is not surprising that rational choice theory (and other rationalist perspectives) dominates theory and research on the corporation and decision-making by corporate actors. By contrast, however, the theory has failed to gain more than a toehold in sociology. Indeed, most sociologists are downright hostile to rational choice theory. When pressed to explain why, those in the discipline are very likely to complain that the perspective is “asociological”; that the theory posits an atomized …

Law And The Theory Of Fields, Frank Partnoy

Seattle University Law Review

The distinction between “material” and “existential” plays a prominent role in A Theory of Fields, and it played a prominent role in discussions at the Berle VII Symposium. In general, the authors advocated the importance of the ongoing use of social skills and the collaborative efforts to seek meaning, particularly in ways beyond the merely “material.” However, the extent to which rules might matter in these efforts was less clear. Overall, Fligstein and McAdam seek to use the concept of a strategic action field to develop a theory of social change and stability. Yet social change and stability are inextricably …

The Theory Of Fields And Its Application To Corporate Governance, Neil Fligstein

Seattle University Law Review

My goal here is twofold. First, I want to introduce the theory of strategic action fields to the law audience. The main idea in field theory in sociology is that most social action occurs in social arenas where actors know one another and take one another into account in their action. Scholars use the field construct to make sense of how and why social orders emerge, reproduce, and transform. Underlying this formulation is the idea that a field is an ongoing game where actors have to understand what others are doing in order to frame their actions. Second, I want …

Benefit Corporations And Strategic Action Fields Or (The Existential Failing Of Delaware), Brett Mcdonnell

Seattle University Law Review

This Article analyzes the creation and growth of benefit corporations from the perspective of strategic action field theory in an attempt to shed some light upon both the subject and the methodology. It considers how the new legal field of benefit corporations responded to weaknesses in the existing fields of business and nonprofit corporations. Where major field participants such as directors, officers, employees, shareholders, or donors wish to pursue both financial and public-spirited goals that sometimes conflict without subordinating either type of goal to the other, both profit and nonprofit corporations may be unsatisfactory. Benefit corporations attempt not only to …

Agency Theory As Prophecy: How Boards, Analysts, And Fund Managers Perform Their Roles, Jiwook Jung, Frank Dobbin

Seattle University Law Review

In 1976, Michael Jensen and William Meckling published a paper reintroducing agency theory that explained how the modern corporation is structured to serve dispersed shareholders. They purported to describe the world as it exists but, in fact, they described a utopia, and their piece was read as a blueprint for that utopia. We take a page from the sociology of knowledge to argue that, in the modern world, economic theories function as prescriptions for behavior as much as they function as descriptions. Economists and management theorists often act as prophets rather than scientists, describing the world not as it is, …

Laying Down The "Brics": Enhancing The Portability Of Awards In International Commercial Arbitration, Benjamin C. Mccarty

Benjamin C McCarty

The drafters of the 1958 New York Convention intended Article V(2)(b) to be interpreted narrowly, and while most pro-arbitration national courts do maintain narrowly defined areas of public policy that are sufficient for refusal of the recognition and enforcement of a foreign arbitral award, this is not always the case. Developing states and jurisdictions that maintain corrupt or inefficient judicial systems have shown a greater willingness to invoke the public policy exception for a broader, amorphous variety of reasons. This phenomenon has created a sense of unpredictability among international investors, arbitrators, and business executives as to the amount of deference …

An Approach To The Regulation Of Spanish Banking Foundations, Miguel Martínez

Miguel Martínez

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the legal framework governing banking foundations as they have been regulated by Spanish Act 26/2013, of December 27th, on savings banks and banking foundations. Title 2 of this regulation addresses a construct that is groundbreaking for the Spanish legal system, still of paramount importance for the entire financial system insofar as these foundations become the leading players behind certain banking institutions given the high interest that foundations hold in the share capital of such institutions.

Contract Theory And The Failures Of Public-Private Contracting, Wendy Netter Epstein

Wendy Netter Epstein

The market for public-private contracting is huge and flawed. Public-private contracts for services such as prisons and welfare administration tend to result in cost savings at the sacrifice of quality service. For instance, to cut costs, private prisons skimp on security. Public law scholars have studied these problems for decades and have proposed various public law solutions. But the literature is incomplete because it does not approach the problem through a commercial lens. This Article fills that gap. It considers how economic analysis of contract law, in particular efficiency theory and agency theory, bear upon the unique problems of public-private …

Majoritarian Default Rules In Civil Contract Law: Legal Doctrine And Law & Economics [En Español], Daniel A. Monroy

Daniel A Monroy C

Resumen

El presente trabajo posee dos objetivos complementarios: Por un lado (i) basados en una lectura de la doctrina jurídica civilista en general, se evidencia la existencia de un criterio normativo al que debiera responder las reglas predeterminadas (reglas supletivas) en el derecho de contratos. Por otro lado, (ii) se contrasta e enriquece dicho criterio normativo con los aportes que sobre el mismo punto ha efectuado el Análisis Económico del Derecho (AED). Así, la hipótesis del trabajo se expresa en la idea de que, conforme la doctrina jurídica civilista, las reglas predeterminadas debieran ser el reflejo de lo regular, lo …

There Are Penalty Defaults Rules In The Colombian Contract Law [En Español], Daniel A. Monroy

Daniel A Monroy C

In the late 80s, Ian Ayres and Robert Gertner proposed a supplementary and controversial theory about how to fill gaps in incomplete contracts. Specifically, the authors coined the concept of "penalty default rule", this is a default rule that fills a gap with a term that the majority of parties wouldn't have wanted. Based on this theoretical background, the aim of this paper is to show that indeed, there are penalty defaults rules in the Colombian contract law. To this end, our the paper (i) proposes a methodology to identify hypothetical fact situations in which penalty defaults should be established, …

Hollywood Deals: Soft Contracts For Hard Markets, Jonathan Barnett

Jonathan M Barnett

Hollywood film studios, talent and other deal participants regularly commit to, and undertake production of, high-stakes film projects on the basis of unsigned “deal memos”, informal communications or draft agreements whose legal enforceability is uncertain. These “soft contracts” constitute a hybrid instrument that addresses a challenging transactional environment where neither formal contract nor reputation effects adequately protect parties against the holdup risk and project risk inherent to a film project. Parties negotiate the degree of contractual formality, which correlates with legal enforceability, as a proxy for allocating these risks at a transaction-cost savings relative to a fully formalized and specified …

Boilerplate Shock, Gregory Shill

Gregory Shill

No nation was spared in the recent global downturn, but several countries in the Eurozone arguably took the hardest punch, and they are still down. Doubts about the solvency of Greece, Spain, and a number of their neighbors are increasing the likelihood of a breakup of the common European currency. Observers believe a single departure and sovereign debt default might set off a “bank run” on the euro, with devastating regional and global consequences.

What mechanisms are available to address—or ideally, to prevent—such a disaster?

One unlikely candidate is boilerplate language in the contracts that govern Eurozone sovereign bonds. As …

Entender Los Males Económicos Modernos A La Luz De La Doctrina Social Católica, Brian M. Mccall

Brian M McCall

In a general sense, St. Thomas Aquinas predicted the paralysis and chaos of the financial and economic systems in America and Europe which occurred in 2008, when he predicted that in a society where unjust exchanges dominate, eventually all exchanges will cease. St. Thomas also points out that although human law cannot prohibit all injustice, society cannot escape the consequences of transgressing the divine law which leaves “nothing unpunished.” Thus, at least part of the explanation for that crisis whose effects remain with us today lies in continuous violations of natural justice by our economic system. Neither one product nor …

Gambling On Our Financial Future: How The Federal Government Fiddles While State Common Law Is A Safer Bet To Prevent Another Financial Collapse, Brian M. Mccall

Brian M McCall

Entender Los Males Economómicos Modernos A La Luz De La Doctrina Social Cátolica (Understanding Modern Economic Woes In Light Of Catholic Social Doctrine), Brian M. Mccall

Brian M McCall

En sentido general, Santo Tomás Aquino predijo la parálisis y el caos del sistema financiero económico en Estados Unidos y Europa que ocurrió en 2008, cuando predijo que en una sociedad donde los intercambios injustos dominan, eventualmente todos los intercambios podrán cesar. Santo Tomás también señala que aunque la ley humana no pueda prohibir todas las injusticias, la sociedad no puede escapar de las consecuencias de trasgredir la ley divina que no deja nada en la impunidad. Así, al menos una parte de la explicación para esta crisis cuyos efectos permanecen con nosotros en la actualidad se encuentra en las …

Presentation Slides - “Built To Suit” As An Instrument For The Business Constrution Or Renovation In The Contemporary Era: Definition, Characteristics And The Real Estate Receivables Certificates (Rerc)”, Claudia Ribeiro Pereira Nunes

Claudia Ribeiro Pereira Nunes

The construction or renovation is a high economic value investment to the entrepreneur. In many cases, this values disbursement, without prompt financial returns required to carry out the establishment construction or restructuring, hinders its own growth. Justified this work, therefore, implies the need to understand the Built to Suit and its relation to the Real Estate Receivables Certificates (RERC).The aim of this essay is to understand Built to Suit in Contemporary Era. The specific objectives are, after a brief historical analysis of the contract: (i) to outline the definition, (ii) submit their characteristics and special clauses, and (iii) understand the …

Acerca Del Diseño Óptimo De Las Reglas Predeterminadas En El Derecho Contratos, Daniel A. Monroy

Daniel A Monroy C

El presente artículo discute lo relacionado con el diseño de las reglas predeterminadas (comúnmente llamadas reglas supletivas) desde el punto de vista normativo a partir de la perspectiva jurídica tradicional en contraste con el enfoque propio del Análisis Económico del Derecho (AED). Para efectos, el documento presenta una serie de argumentos dirigidos a justificar la razón del escaso interés de la doctrina jurídica tradicional en lo que corresponde al diseño óptimo de la norma predeterminada, lo cual se complementa con algunas ideas en las que no obstante podría basarse una visión normativa sobre el particular. Lo anterior se contrasta con …

Las Garantías Imperativas En El Ámbito De Aplicación Del Derecho Del Consumo: Una Visión Crítica A Partir Del Nuevo Estatuto Del Consumidor En Colombia, Daniel Monroy

Daniel A Monroy C

El presente artículo de reflexión parte de las normas referentes a la “garantía legal” establecidas en el actual Estatuto del Consumidor en Colombia a efectos de delimitar el contenido imperativo de dicho tipo de garantía. Lo anterior con el fin demostrar a partir de la descripción de un juego que los escenarios generados por dicho Estatuto en lo que a la aplicación de las normas imperativas sobre garantía de productos se refiere, son relativamente ineficientes –en términos de Pareto–. Por otro lado, el artículo presenta algunas reflexiones críticas acerca del problema la asimetría de información en las dinámicas de consumo …

Contract Theory And The Failures Of Public-Private Contracting, Wendy Netter Epstein

All Faculty Scholarship

The market for public-private contracting is huge and flawed. Public-private contracts for services such as prisons and welfare administration tend to result in cost savings at the sacrifice of quality service. For instance, to cut costs, private prisons skimp on security. Public law scholars have studied these problems for decades and have proposed various public law solutions. But the literature is incomplete because it does not approach the problem through a commercial lens. This Article fills that gap. It considers how economic analysis of contract law, in particular efficiency theory and agency theory, bear upon the unique problems of public-private …

Coase V. Pigou: A Still Difficult Debate, Enrico Baffi

enrico baffi

This paper examines the positions of Coase and Pigou about the problem of the externalities. From the reading of their most two important works it appears that Coase has a more relevant preference for a evaluation of efficiency at the total, while Pigou, with some exception, is convinced that is possible to reach marginal efficiency through taxes or responsibility. It’s interesting that Coase, who has elaborated the famous theorem, is convinced that is not possible to reach the efficiency at the margin every time and that sometimes is necessary a valuation at the total, that tells us which solution is …

Rise Of The Intercontinentalexchange And Implications Of Its Merger With Nyse Euronext, Latoya C. Brown

Latoya C. Brown, Esq.

This paper examines the impending merger between the IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) and NYSE Euronext against the backdrop of the current structure of the global financial services industry. The paper concludes that the merger embodies what the financial services industry is becoming and captures the model that will allow exchanges to remain competitive in today’s marketplace: mega-exchanges with broader asset classes and electronic platforms. As technology and globalization threaten their vitality, exchanges will need to continue reinventing and adapting. Increasingly over the last decade they have done so by merging and by moving, at least a part of, their operations on screen. …

Enfoques Teóricos De Las Reglas Por Defecto En El Derecho De Contratos: Complementariedades, Coincidencias Y Contradicciones, Daniel Monroy

Daniel A Monroy C

El artículo muestra una lectura crítica en lo que respecta a la noción, las funciones y el diseño de las reglas por defecto en el derecho de contratos a partir de tres enfoques teóricos a saber: la perspectiva jurídica tradicional; la visión del Análisis Económico del Derecho (AED) en su versión clásica y; el enfoque del denominado behavioral law and economics (BL&E). El documento destaca con particular atención que en lo correspondiente a la noción y las funciones de las reglas por defecto en el derecho de contratos, existe un alto nivel de coherencia entre la perspectiva jurídica tradicional por …

El Homo Economicus Y La Libertad De Contratación, Renzo E. Saavedra Velazco

Renzo E. Saavedra Velazco

Se compartió la mesa con el profesor Juan José Martínez, en la presentación se debatió acerco del rol que cumple el presupuesto de racionalidad en el modelo standard del análisis económico del Derecho y las acotaciones del Behavioral Law and Economics.

Si Algo Puede Salir Mal... Saldrá Mal (Y En El Peor Momento Posible): Una Rápida Revisión Ius-Económica A La Imposibilidad Contractual, Renzo E. Saavedra Velazco

Renzo E. Saavedra Velazco

En la presente nota se desea subrayar algunas características económicas y jurídicas de figuras que sirven como justificación para el incumplimiento contractual, tales como la imposibilidad y la excesiva onerosidad.

Principio De Solidaridad, Acciones Populares Y Derechos Colectivos En Colombia: Aproximaciones Críticas A La Sentencia C-630 Del 2011 De La Corte Constitucional, Daniel Monroy

Daniel A Monroy C

ABSTRACT

This article presents a serious rapprochement to the arguments that the Constitutional Court put forward in the judgment C- 630 of 2011. The main objective of this article is to prove the weakness of the arguments, especially on those that are supported in the constitution´s principle of solidarity and those that derive in “duties’s consideration. This article beginning with some critiques to the class actions rights and it protection´s mechanism, bases in economic analysis. Afterward, base in the general description that the court have establish in the principle of solidarity, this article explain the different way how the court …

Fomentando Más Visitas A La Catedral: El Aporte De Calabresi En El Debate Sobre Titularidades Y Nuevos Caminos, Renzo E. Saavedra Velazco

Renzo E. Saavedra Velazco

En la presente nota procuro exponer algunos de los principales méritos de la propuesta efectuada por Guido Calabresi y Douglas Melamed en 1972. Tal esfuerzo se inserta en un reconocimiento al impacto que tal teoría tuvo para la comprensión de los sistemas jurídicos, relevancia que merece ser subrayada y revisitada sobre todo cuando, como sucede en estas fechas, se cumplen cuarenta años desde su divulgación.

Programa Análisis Económico Del Derecho - Estudiantes De Derecho, Daniel Monroy

Daniel A Monroy C

La economía y particularmente la microeconomía ha abandonado la concepción de estudio de tratarse del simple movimiento del dinero, en las últimas décadas ha tomado una fuerza y ha aportado herramientas de análisis prácticamente para cualquier área del conocimiento, el derecho no ha sido la excepción en este movimiento y por tanto, cada vez son más los artículos y textos en general que parten del razonamiento microeconómico para analizar el porqué y el cómo de las instituciones legales, de ahí la importancia del presente curso, en el cual se pretende principalmente lograr los siguientes,

OBJETIVOS DEL CURSO

Perfeccionar la habilidad …

La Comercialización De Cigarrillos En Colombia Y El “Problema Del Autocontrol”: La Restricción De Venta Al Menudeo, Daniel Monroy

Daniel A Monroy C

La “Teoría de la Adicción Racional” y el denominado “Modelo de Inconsistencia Temporal de la Adicción” son los enfoques teóricos dominantes en la economía que tratan de explicar la dinámica del consumo de cigarrillo entendido este como un producto que genera adicción. Aunque la estructura de estos dos enfoques son ciertamente similares, las implicaciones de utilizar uno u otro modelo son bien diferentes, particularmente en lo relativo al criterio normativo relativo a la intervención del Estado respecto de la conducta individual en el mercado. El artículo se concentra en el segundo enfoque indicado, particularmente en el denominado “problema de autocontrol” …

Aproximación Económica A La Regulación En El Derecho De Contratos: El Porqué De Las Reglas Por Defecto, Daniel Monroy

Daniel A Monroy C

El artículo desvirtúa inicialmente la imposibilidad de conciliar la perspectiva jurídica tradicional y la del análisis económico del derecho (AED) respecto de las justificaciones de las normas imperativas en el derecho de contratos, se defiende que la existencia de dichas normas puede sustentarse consistentemente desde la perspectiva económica antes que desde la visión jurídica tradicional. Adicionalmente, se sostiene que las razones que soportan la existencia de normas imperativas en el derecho de contratos no permiten justificar la existencia de reglas por defecto en esta misma área. Al respecto se argumenta que si bien la doctrina jurídica describe suficientemente las funciones …