Digital Commons Network^™

Montana Nonresident Traveler Expenditure Profiles: 2005, Kara Grau

Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research Publications

This report examines spending profiles of nonresident travelers to Montana. It displays the average daily expenditures by purpose of trip for different spending categories during 2005.

Montana Nonresident Traveler Expenditures And Economic Contribution: 2005, Kara Grau

Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research Publications

This report shows the economic contributions, expenditures, and average daily spending of nonresident visitors to Montana during 2005.

Encouraging The Returner: Maximizing Benefits From Training Investments In High Turnover Industry, Karl R. Geisler

WWU Honors College Senior Projects

No matter what they make, do, or sell, every single organization in the world relies ultimately on one thing: people. Whether working for a company, a campaign, or a cooperative, the quality of the people involved has a direct impact on the success achieved therein. In an attempt to make the most of the workers that they have nearly every organization across the globe undertakes some level of training. Whether demonstrating how to use a hammer or holding a week-long retreat on corporate culture and structure, it is difficult to find an organization that does not have some form of …

Montana Nonresident Traveler Expenditure Trends: 1995-2005, Kara Grau

Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research Publications

This report shows the nonresident traveler expenditure trends for visitors of Montana from 1995-2005. It also displays the total actual expenditures and the total inflation-adjusted expenditures.

Just Insurance Through Global Macro-Hedging: Information, Distributive Equity, Efficiency, And New Markets For Systemic-Income-Risk-Pricing And Systemic-Income-Risk-Trading In A New Economy, Robert C. Hockett

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

This article considers the prospects for exploiting (a) several deep conceptual linkages between justice and insurance, (b) the rapid development of new hedging methods and technologies, and (c) an increasingly integrated global finance economy, in a manner that can render the global economy both more just and more prosperous.

It first derives an account of economic justice from the best known theories currently in the field – an account likely to enjoy broad appeal. The article then elaborates on a number of striking parallels between what it takes for the best account of justice on the one hand, the theory …

Whose Ownership? Which Society?, Robert C. Hockett

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

The idea of an "ownership society" (OS) is not new to American politics or law. It might be called the seventeen year cicada of American domestic policy - emerging once per generation onto the national agenda, generating just a bit of buzz, then receding once again to leave a mass of empty shells and buried eggs behind. Unlike the insects, however, OS proposals seldom have sounded the same notes to everyone's ears. They have been proffered to or on behalf of differing constituencies for differing reasons, and therefore have tended to mean different things to different people. It is tempting …

From "Mission-Creep" To Gestalt Switch: Justice, Finance, The Ifis, And Globalization's Intended Beneficiaries, Robert C. Hockett

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

This essay suggests means by which the international financial institutions (IFIs), the IBRD and the IMF in particular, and indeed "globalization" more generally might be rendered more friendly to humanity. The key, it suggests, lies in a subtle shift in perspective, a "gestalt-switch": It is to move from thinking in terms of political and macroeconomic aggregates - nations and gross national products - to thinking in terms of the individuals who constitute nations and produce national products - those the essay calls the "intended beneficiaries" of globalization.

Thinking in terms of those beneficiaries and their equal claims to our concern …

Copyright's Empire: Why The Law Matters , Alina Ng

ExpressO

Two separate and distinct movements have colonized research in the field of intellectual property. Law and economics has deepened our understanding of the justification for granting monopoly rights over intellectual property. In recent years, economic theories have been used to support the growth of the commons – the free environment, where intellectual property plays little role in generating new creative works and innovation. The second movement is law and technology that has sought to increase understanding of intellectual property through the exploration of how technologies either provide freedoms or impose limitations to how creative works and innovation are created and …

The Rise And Fall Of Private Sector Unionism: What Next For The Nlra?, Jeffrey M. Hirsch, Barry T. Hirsch

ExpressO

In this Article, we ask whether the National Labor Relations Act, enacted over 70 years ago, can remain relevant in a competitive economy where nonunion employer discretion is the dominant form of workplace governance. The best opportunity for the NLRA’s continued relevance is the modification of its language and interpretation to enhance worker voice and participation in the nonunion private sector, without imposing undue costs on employers. Examples of such reforms include narrowing the NLRA’s company union prohibition; implementing a conditional deregulation system that relies on consent by an independent employee association; changing the labor law default to some form …

Minding The Gaps: Fairness, Welfare, And The Constitutive Structure Of Distributive Assessment, Robert C. Hockett

Cornell Law Faculty Working Papers

Despite over a century’s disputation and attendant opportunity for clarification, the field of inquiry now loosely labeled “welfare economics” (WE) remains surprisingly prone to foundational confusions. The same holds of work done by many practitioners of WE’s influential offshoot, normative “law and economics” (LE).

A conspicuous contemporary case of confusion turns up in recent discussion concerning “fairness versus welfare.” The very naming of this putative dispute signals a crude category error. “Welfare” denotes a proposed object of distribution. “Fairness” describes and appropriate pattern of distribution. Welfare itself is distributed fairly or unfairly. “Fairness versus welfare” is analytically on all fours …

Rent Concessions, Reimposable Discounts, And The Return Of Medieval Contract Penalties, James P. George

ExpressO

This article discusses penalty damages in consumer contracts. It focuses on rent concessions in apartment leases, and includes lesser discussions of deferred payments and interest in the purchase of cars, furniture and appliances. The sales pitch is a deferral or discount which is later reimposed if the buyer breaches, with some contracts keying on small breaches such as late payment. In contracts where the reimposed penalty reimburses the seller well beyond the consideration anticipated in the normal performance of the agreement, the reimposed discount is an illegal penalty. These contracts are pervasive but for the most part go unchalllenged.

Essay -- Preemption, Agency Cost Theory, And Predatory Lending By Banking Agents: Are Federal Regulators Biting Off More Than They Can Chew?, Christopher L. Peterson

ExpressO

A pitched battle is currently being waged for control of the American banking industry. For over a hundred years, the federal and state governments have maintained a complex, but relatively stable truce in their contest for power. At the beginning of our republic, state governments were the primary charterers and regulators of banks. In the wake of the Civil War, the National Bank Act created parity between federal and state banks, cementing the notion of a “dual banking system” that endured through the twentieth century. But in the past five years, the federal government has increasingly used its powers under …

Economics Form A: Discipline Summary 09/20/2006, Curriculum Committee

Curriculum Committee Reports

No abstract provided.

From Macro To Micro To “Mission-Creep”: Defending The Imf’S Emerging Concern With The Infrastructural Prerequisites To Global Financial Stability, Robert C. Hockett

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Charges that the IMF has been engaging in "mission creep," gradually taking on a growing number of activities that exceed its constitutive mandate, have grown both in vehemence and in frequency since the late 1990s. I argue that, what ever the substantive merits of its actions, the IMF's developing attention to the structural determinants of global financial stability is not ultra vires. The Fund's evolving role was both foreseen and constitutionally provided for, both at its founding and at the principal constitutive Articles-amending "moments" since.

Economics Multiple Course Revisions Form 09/20/2006, Curriculum Committee

Curriculum Committee Reports

No abstract provided.

Economics Form B: Objectives And Requirements 09/20/2006, Curriculum Committee

Curriculum Committee Reports

No abstract provided.

Legal Consciousness And Contractual Obligations, Kojo Yelpaala

ExpressO

The Article on “Legal Consciousness and Contractual Obligations” will explore and offer an explanation of the origins of the moral foundations for contractual obligations beyond conventional analysis. Building on themes and threads across many disciplines and theories, it seeks to identify and locate certain unities and common elements that explain human consciousness in exchange relations across cultures. The term contract is used in its non-technical and most inclusive sense to cover agreements, promises, undertakings and other forms of consensus whether or not supported by consideration. Viewed within this broad conceptual framework, where do human beings get the idea that they …

Tribal Bondage: Statutory Shackles And Regulatory Restraints On Tribal Economic Development, Gavin Clarkson

Law & Economics Working Papers Archive: 2003-2009

Upwards of $50 billion in capital needs go unmet each year in Indian Country in such vital sectors as infrastructure, community facilities, housing, and enterprise development, in part due to the restrictions imposed on tribal access to the capital markets, specifically the ability of tribal governments to issue tax-exempt debt. Section 7871 of the Internal Revenue Code requires tribal tax-free bond proceeds to be used only for “essential governmental functions,” a restriction not applicable to state and municipal bonds, and Section 7871(e) further limits the scope of available tax-exempt bonding to activities “customarily performed by State and local governments with …

The Death Of The Doha Round. What Next For Services Trade?, Rafael Leal-Arcas

ExpressO

With the indefinite suspension of the WTO multilateral trade negotiations in July 2006 by WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy, the world trading system must now find ways and means to unblock what is perceived as a danger to the world order. This article analyzes the legal and policy implications of the currently fatal Doha Round for the two main developed WTO Members, i.e., the U.S. and the EC, and the most relevant developing countries of the WTO. The specific focus of attention will be mainly on services trade. Thoughts on alternative ways to move forward in the multilateral trading system are …

Corporations And The Lateral Obligations Of The Social Contract, Benedict Sheehy

ExpressO

Social contract theorists suggest that society at some level is based on the idea that human people surrender freedom for the privilege of participating in society. That participation implicitly requires more than mere minimal compliance with law. Each human person’s contribution to society above the legal baseline, permits humans to create a society that is at least tolerable. Corporations as non-human act without regard for these supra-legal obligations which results in society suffering injustice. Corporate participation in society has become increasingly unjust and has done so to the extent that we may speak of living in a post-ethical world.

Re-Thinking Securities Regulation: A Comparative Study Of Asx, Nyse, And Sgx , Benedict Sheehy

ExpressO

This article approaches the issue of securities regulation starting with an examination of the nature and role of markets and financial markets. It next outlines the various arguments for and against regulation, and then looks at approaches taken by markets and their regulators. The approaches are government regulation, self-regulation and co-regulation, and the structural changes via demutualization and corporate governance. With this background, it turns to examine how these approaches have played out in the markets themselves. The article surveys the regulatory aspects of the ASX, NYSE and the SGX, and reviews the regulatory and financial performance of the markets. …

China-Australia Free Trade Agreement New Icing On An Old Cake-An Opportunity For Fair Trade?, Benedict Sheehy, Jackson N. Maogoto

ExpressO

The on-going challenge in economic development and globalization, particularly for developing countries, is the issue of development and equality in society. The issue becomes particularly problematic when confronted in matters of international trade. Often misnamed anti-globalization activists and pro-globalization activists fail to take note of the underlying assumptions that lead them to conflict—namely, the actual costs and benefits to society that result from their particular positions. In essence, both activists are searching for ways to improve the lives of people in the domestic context and to minimize the damage to their society and environment. China’s impressive economic record is threatened …

Corporations And Social Costs: The Wal-Mart Case Study, Benedict Sheehy

ExpressO

This article examines the role of the corporate vehicle in the creation of social costs. The article identifies some of the political commitments and philosophies behind the differing notions of corporations. Social costs are those activities which result from business activity and cause uncompensated harm to society. The founding contribution to the law and economics discussion by Ronald Coase is given a thorough treatment. The paper next, turns to the dominant explanation of corporate structure, namely the law and economics model developed expounded by Easterbrook and Fischel. It then applies the theoretical discussion in a case study of the world’s …

Un-Fair Trade As Friendly Fire: The Australia-Usa Free Trade Agreement, Benedict Sheehy

ExpressO

Trade, economists and trade theorists advise, is a mutually beneficial exercise. Among this group, a particular set of advocates, claim that “Free Trade” is in the interest of all parties. As will be demonstrated, Free Trade is not truly “free” but an exercise of foreign policy and the implementation of policies favouring wealthy corporate interest groups. Free Trade is controlled by wealthy nations who have stacked the rules in favour of themselves, and in particular their corporate interests, and against the poor producers in poor nations. This control is used contrary to fairness, economic and ecological logic. Fair trade, by …

Toward A New Economic Constitution: Judicial Disciplines On Trade Politics, Sungjoon Cho

ExpressO

This article first observes that protectionism is an icon of trade politics and thus likely to gather fresh momentum as a domestic election approaches. The paper then problematizes protectionism beyond mere seasonal election politics by revealing its fatal pathologies both to the United States and to the rest of the world. Protectionism basically caters to the special interest at the expense of the larger public interest, which may be coined as a Madisonian constitutional failure. It also deviates from global trading norms, which the United States hypocritically continues to preach adherence to for the rest of the world. This double …

Predatory Structured Finance, Christopher L. Peterson

ExpressO

Predatory lending is a real, pervasive, and destructive problem as demonstrated by record settlements, jury awards, media exposes, and a large body of empirical scholarship. Currently the national debate over predatory mortgage lending is shifting to the controversial question of who should bear liability for predatory lending practices. In today’s subprime mortgage market, originators and brokers quickly assign home loans through a complex and opaque series of transactions involving as many as a dozen different strategically organized companies. Loans are typically transferred into large pools, and then income from those loans is “structured” to appeal to different types of investors. …

When Should Judges Appoint Experts?: A Law And Economics Perspective, Jonathan T. Tomlin, David Cooper

ExpressO

The Supreme Court’s decision in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals placed federal judges in the role of “gatekeepers” empowered to evaluate the reliability of often complex expert testimony. Many judges, commentators, and legal scholars have argued that court-appointed experts can assist judges in appropriately carrying out their gatekeeping role. However, previous literature has not evaluated the role of court-appointed experts in a rigorous framework that considers the complex interaction of the incentives of expert witnesses, the impact of expert witnesses on the decision-making of the fact finder, and the knowledge of the judge. In this article, we provide such a …

Unwarranted Fears Mask The Benefits Of Network Diversity: An Argument Against Mandating Network Neutrality, Elvis Stumbergs

ExpressO

The rapid development of the Internet has necessitated an update to Federal telecommunications laws. Recent Congressional efforts to enact such an update, however, have spawned a fiery debate over a somewhat nebulous concept: network neutrality. The debate concerns the way that Internet access providers handle the data traffic being sent over their networks. These providers would like the option to offer some of their customers, web site hosting companies and similar entities, additional services that would essentially result in these customers’ content loading faster, more reliably, or more securely than others not receiving such priority treatment. Yet, this proposed “diversity” …

The Group Dynamics Theory Of Executive Compensation, Michael B. Dorff

ExpressO

The corporate governance debate has focused recently on executive compensation. While defenders of the status quo assert that CEO compensation – and corporate governance generally -- is efficient, critics contend that boards have been captured by powerful CEOs who demand excessive pay unconditioned on their performance. Both sides argue that the evidence garnered from CEO compensation justifies their positions on legal reform of corporate governance as a whole. Defenders of the status quo argue that the system works well as is, as demonstrated by the enormous success of U.S. corporations. Critics concerned about managerial power propose reforms that will increase …

The Restitutionary Approach To Just Compensation, Tim Kowal

ExpressO

In the wake of the Court’s near-total refusal to impose a check on the legislature through the public use clause, this paper discusses whether any confidence in our property rights be restored through the just compensation clause in the form of restitutionary compensation, rather than the traditional, and myopic, “fair market value” standard. This paper discusses the historical presumption against restitution, elucidated through Bauman v. Ross over a century ago, is founded upon (1) the idea that the public should not be made to pay any more than necessary to effect a public project, and (2) the idea that the …