Law Commons^™

Victimización Y Justicia Por Mano Propia En Uruguay, Maximo Rossi, Fernando Borraz, Cecilia Chouhy

Maximo Rossi

This article analyzes the attitude of the Uruguayans towards the subjection to the law in the prosecution and punishment of offenders. Specifically, it addresses the approval of people taking justice into their own hands and justification for police action outside the law when capturing delinquents. The LAPOP database (Latin American Public Opinion Project, Vanderbilt University) conducted in 2008 is used for this purpose. Analyzing probit estimates, it is observed that the justification of people taking justice into their own hand is related to the respondent’s experience and situation. Having been victimized in recent months, feeling unsafe in their neighborhood and …

A New Role For The International Monetary Fund In A New World Economic Order, Cynthia C. Lichtenstein

Cynthia C. Lichtenstein

The IMF must change to deal with its new functions in a changed world of interconnected global financial markets. The piece first describes the Fund's mandated process of internal reform as of the time the paper was given (2007). It then summarizes the recommendations of Mervyn Kind, Governor of the Bank of England (in a talk he gave in India) as to how the Fund should change its oversight of the functioning of the international monetary system.

The Fed’S New Model Of Supervision For “Large Complex Banking Organizations”: Coordinated Risk-Based Supervision Of Financial Multinationals For International Financial Stability, Cynthia C. Lichtenstein

Cynthia C. Lichtenstein

Large internationally active financial institutions, in particular multinational banks, have the capacity to create profound disturbances in the globalized financial markets in the event of failure. For that reason, these entities are supervised and examined in a manner that is completely different than the ordinary business corporation. This piece describes the new methodology that has been developed by the United States' central bank, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System or "the Fed" for short, since 1995, for examining what the Fed calls "large complex banking organizations" or LBCOs and indicates how the system in fact carries out …

Flexibility And Fairness In Liberal Market Economies: The Comparative Impact Of The Legal Environment And High Performance Work Systems, Alexander Colvin

Alexander Colvin

This paper compares management flexibility in employment decision-making in the United States and Canada through a cross-national survey of organizations in representative jurisdictions in each country, Pennsylvania and Ontario respectively, that investigates the impact of differences in their legal environments. The results indicate that, compared to their Ontario counterparts, organizations in Pennsylvania have a higher degree of flexibility in employment outcomes, such as higher dismissal and discipline rates, yet do not experience any greater flexibility or simplicity in management hiring and firing decisions. One explanation for this result may lie in the finding that organizations in Pennsylvania experience greater legal …

Los Acuerdos De Libre Comercio Norte-Sur Desde La Perspectiva Del Análisis Económico Del Derecho De Los Contratos, Iván A. Rojas V, José Manuel Alvarez

Iván Rojas V

Gaming In Massachusetts: Can Casinos Bring 'Good Jobs' To The Commonwealth?, Marlene Kim, Susan Moir, Anneta Argyres

Marlene Kim

This study examines the quality of jobs in the United States gaming industry and analyzes enabling legislation in five states that have legalized gaming. The authors find that the gaming industry -- particularly the unionized sector of the casino hotel industry -- provides good jobs with good wages and benefits for workers with less than a high school degree. The authors conlcude that workforce development efforts in Masschusetts must include strategies to address improving the quality of entry-level jobs.

Tributação E Desenvolvimento Na China: Transição E Ajustes Para Um Sistema Compatível Com Os Signatários Da Omc, Ivo T. Gico Jr., Marcos Aurélio P. Valadão, Wilson Almeida

Ivo Teixeira Gico Jr.

Nos últimos 60 anos, o mundo testemunhou uma verdadeira revolução à medida que a China, que corresponde a aproximadamente um quinto da população mundial, deu uma guinada de uma economia comunista na direção de uma economia de mercado, embora com forte controle e intervenção estatal, e, com isso, alcançou um desenvolvimento inédito em sua longa história. A forma como a China tem lidado com a tributação de sua economia tem um papel relevante nessa história.

Locke Et L'État D'Exception: L'Individu Face À La Majorité, Javier Agudo

Javier Agudo

Le libéralisme défendu par John Locke reconnaît la nécessité d'un pouvoir discrétionnaire de l’exécutif dans le cadre des situations d’exception: c'est la prérogative. Dans son Deuxième Traité sur le Gouvernement Civil, Locke reconnaît que même si les lois peuvent établir certaines limites à l'exercice de cette prérogative, la nature changeante et imprévisible du futur rendent impossible l'élimination totale de ce pouvoir discrétionnaire.

You Say You Want A (Nonviolent) Revolution, Well Then What? Translating Western Thought, Strategic Ideological Cooptation, And Institution Building For Freedom For Governments Emerging Out Of Peaceful Chaos, Donald J. Kochan

Donald J. Kochan

With nonviolent revolution in particular, displaced governments leave a power and governance vacuum waiting to be filled. Such vacuums are particularly susceptible to what this Article will call “strategic ideological cooptation.” Following the regime disruption, peaceful chaos transitions into a period in which it is necessary to structure and order the emergent governance scheme. That period in which the new government scheme emerges is particularly fraught with danger when growing from peaceful chaos because nonviolent revolutions tend to be decentralized, unorganized, unsophisticated, and particularly vulnerable to cooptation. Any external power wishing to influence events in societies emerging out of peaceful …

Housing Affordability For Households Of Color In Massachusetts, Michael Stone

Michael E. Stone

While housing is deeply significant for all of us, in our society it tends to pose particular challenges to many, if not most, people of color. For one thing, households of color continue to have considerably lower incomes, on average, than White-headed households. This means that households of color can, on average, afford less and therefore have fewer housing choices available, just for economic reasons alone. Yet we are not in a world where differential housing choices are determined only by ability to pay. Residential segregation by race persists and is not merely a consequence of unacceptable practices of the …

Unaffordable “Affordable” Housing: Challenging The U.S. Department Of Housing And Urban Development Area Median Income, Michael E. Stone

Michael E. Stone

There is no such thing as “affordable” housing. Affordability is not a characteristic of housing: It is a relationship between housing and people. For some people, all housing is affordable, no matter how expensive. For others, no housing is affordable, no matter how cheap.

Immigration And The Population Of Canada: The 2000-2010 Decade In Historical Context, Roderic Beaujot, Muhammed Raza

Muhammed M Raza Mr

The paper elaborates the role of immigration and immigration policy in Canada. Certain phases of immigration are identified in historical and policy contexts. The consequences of immigration in terms of population growth, age structure and geographical distribution are highlighted. The paper concludes with the social, economic and cultural impact of immigration.

The History And Rationale For A Separate Bank Resolution Process, Thomas Fitzpatrick, Moira Kearney-Marks, James Thomson

James B Thomson

Everyone recognizes the need to have a credible resolution regime in place for fi nancial companies whose failure could harm the entire financial system, but people disagree about which regime is best. The emergence of the parallel banking system has led policymakers to reconsider the dividing line between fi rms that should be resolved in bankruptcy and firms that should be subject to a special resolution regime. A look at the history of insolvency resolution in this country suggests that a blended approach is worth considering. Activities that have potential systemic impact might be best handled administratively, while all other …

Oportunidades De Desarrollo Productivo De La Población De Afectación Prioritaria En La Operación Estratégica Fontibón – Aeropuerto Eldorado – Engativá, Iván A. Rojas V

Iván Rojas V

The book analyzes the case of Operation Strategic Fontibón - Eldorado Airport - Engativa (OEFAE) and the implications on the urban economy of the city and potential opportunities for productive development for the population affected by the project in 2010 in Bogotá DC. El libro analiza el caso de la Operación Estrategica Fontibón - Aeropuerto ElDorado - Engativa (OEFAE) y las implicaciones sobre la economía urbana de la ciudad y las posibles oportunidades de desarrollo productivo para la población afectada por el proyecto en el 2010 en la ciudad de Bogotá DC.

The Economic Role Of The English Poor Law, 1780-1834, George R. Boyer

George R. Boyer

[Excerpt] Over the 85-year period from 1748/50 to 1832/34, real per capita expenditures on poor relief increased at an average rate of approximately 1 percent per year. There were also important changes in the administration of relief with respect to able-bodied laborers during the period. Policies providing relief outside of workhouses to unemployed and under-employed able-bodied laborers became widespread during the 1770s and 1780s in the grain-producing South and East of England. The so-called Speenhamland system of outdoor relief flourished until 1834, when it was abolished by the Poor Law Amendment Act. The aim of the thesis is to provide …

Building Democracy In Japan, Mary Alice Haddad

Mary Alice Haddad

How is democracy made real? How does an undemocratic country create new institutions and transform its polity such that democratic values and practices become integral parts of its political culture? These are some of the most pressing questions of our times, and they are the central inquiry of Building Democracy in Japan. Using the Japanese experience as starting point, this book develops a new approach to the study of democratization that examines state-society interactions as a country adjusts its existing political culture to accommodate new democratic values, institutions and practices. With reference to the country's history, the book focuses on …

The Evil Technology Hypothesis: A Deep Ecological Reading Of International Law, Luigi Russi, Ugo Mattei

Luigi Russi

This short paper advances the hypothesis that international law, far from being a purely neutral “indeterminate” technology that can lend itself to both good and bad uses, might actually be structurally biased to produce exploitative outcomes. This hypothesis is presented through several steps. The first part presents Martti Koskenniemi’s indeterminacy thesis, followed by Anthony Anghie’s depiction of international law as a technology. The possibility of an inherent bias of technology, such that it will lend itself to exploitative uses, even with the best of intentions, is then introduced in Section III, using the writing of radical ecological thinkers Ran Prieur …

Toda Joia, Toda Beleza! Finding What Is Left In The Margins Or Regime Collisions: A Pluralist Take On Managerialism, Luigi Russi, Alfonso Encinas Escobar

Luigi Russi

This paper has two authors, two titles and is written in the form of a dialogue, rather than conveying a unitary voice, as one would instead expect of a coauthored paper. The reason for this is that the articulation of the authors' disagreement, despite the identification of each of them with “the left”, is precisely the object of inquiry. After briefly introducing the problem on which the authors’ discussion takes place, namely regime collisions, and the clash of approaches that are available to (decide whether to) deal with them, a dialogue follows, in which the authors’ voices are clearly separated …

A Basic Guide To Taxing Economic Rent In Australia, John Passant

John Passant

Taxing economic rent is one key element in tax reform in Australia and sets possible directions for the future. This paper introduces readers to the ideas of Adam Smith and David Ricardo and others on rent to aid understanding of the debates about economic rent today. The discussion also includes the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax, the Australia’s Future Tax System Report and the Minerals Resource Rent Tax. The thinking of Smith and Ricardo was that rent was unearned gain. It is unearned because it arises as a consequence of the nature of the holding, an exclusive property right against the …

Business Law Libguide, Mary Wilson

Mary Wilson

This guide provides access to resources useful for business law students.

Compromising The Safety Net: How Limiting Tax Deductions For High-Income Donors Could Undermine Charitable Organizations, Patrick Tolan

Patrick E. Tolan Jr.

President Obama’s recent budget proposals have contemplated reducing the top rate for charitable deductions (and all itemized deductions) to twenty-eight percent. Because America’s largest donors are those in the highest marginal tax brackets, efforts to limit deductibility of charitable donations could have a chilling effect on charitable giving.

In this article the author looks at motivations for charitable donations and specifically at the impact of tax deductibility as a motivating factor. It takes a historical look at the philanthropic surveys and econometric models and examines empirical data concerning impacts of significant changes to the tax code in the 1980s that …

The Legal Salience Of Taxation, Andrew Hayashi

Andrew Hayashi

The enforcement of tax laws affects the distribution of tax burdens. Many tax enforcement regimes incorporate taxpayer-initiated administrative procedures for adjusting tax liabilities. For these procedures, individual decisions to seek administrative relief are the first causal link in the chain of actions leading to tax adjustments, decisions that can be driven by factors that are arbitrary from the perspective of the tax law and vary across individuals, effectively resulting in heterogeneous enforcement. This effect can undermine the fairness and efficiency of the tax system, but has been largely ignored. Using a novel dataset, I study the property tax appeals process …

Solomon’S Knot: How Law Can End The Poverty Of Nations, Robert D. Cooter, Hans Bernd Schaefer

Robert Cooter

Book Review: Capital And Its Discontents: Conversations With Radical Thinkers In A Time Of Tumult By Sasha Lilly (Pm Press, 2011), Nick J. Sciullo

Nick J. Sciullo

No abstract provided.

The Rise Of Planning In Industrial America, 1865-1914

Richard Adelstein

How American firms grew very large after the Civil War, and how Americans responded to them.

Attorney-Client Confidentiality, Gillian K. Hadfield, Shmuel Leshem

Gillian K Hadfield

The protection of information generated and shared in attorney-client relationships is a fundamental attribute of Anglo-American legal systems. Protection of attorney-client confidentiality is the core traditional rationale for several distinctive and arguably non-competitive features of legal markets (Hadfield 2008). This chapter reviews the literature relevant to economic analysis of attorney-client confidentiality, a topic that has not come garnered sustained attention from law and economics scholars. We review the literature on legal advice and strategic revelation and then consider how the disparate threads in the literature might be connected and what unanswered questions remain if we are to reach a better …

Law Without The State: Legal Attributes And The Coordination Of Decentralized Collective Punishment, Gillian K. Hadfield, Barry R. Weingast

Gillian K Hadfield

Most economic and positive political theory presumes the existence of an effective legal regime (protecting property rights or implementing legislative or judicial choices, for example). Yet social science has devoted little systematic attention to the question of what constitutes distinctively legal order. Most social scientists take for granted that law is defined by the presence of a centralized authority capable of exacting coercive penalties for violations of legal rules. Moreover, the existing approach to analyzing law in economics and positive political theory works with a very thin concept of law, one that does not account for the distinctive attributes of …

Rational Reasonableness: Toward A Positive Theory Of Public Reason, Gillian K. Hadfield, Stephen Macedo

Gillian K Hadfield

Why is it important for people to agree on and articulate shared reasons for just laws, rather than whatever reasons they personally find compelling? What, if any, practical role does public reason play in liberal democratic politics? We argue that the practical role of public reason can be better appreciated by examining the structural similarities in normative and positive political theory. Specifically, we consider the analytical parallels between Rawls’ account of political liberalism and a rational choice model of legal order recently proposed by Hadfield & Weingast (2011). The positive model proposes that a shared system of reasoning—a common logic—plays …

What Is Law? A Coordination Model Of The Characteristics Of Legal Order, Gillian K. Hadfield, Barry R. Weingast

Gillian K Hadfield

Legal philosophers have long debated the question, what is law? But few in social science have attempted to explain the phenomenon of legal order. In this article, we build a rational choice model of legal order in an environment that relies exclusively on decentralized enforcement, such as we find in human societies prior to the emergence of the nation state and inmanymodern settings.Wedemonstrate thatwecan support an equilibrium in which wrongful behavior is effectively deterred by exclusively decentralized enforcement, specifically collective punishment. Equilibrium is achieved by an institution that supplies a common logic for classifying behavior as wrongful or not. We …

China’S Tax Policy Response To The Global Financial Crisis, Wei Cui

Wei Cui

VAT reform constituted the most important tax policy action China took during the global financial crisis in 2008-9. If China had had a more typical tax structure, this specific policy instrument (as well as certain others) would not have been available. Conversely, because of the idiosyncrasies of China’s current tax structure, some of the policy measures commonly deployed in other countries also cannot be used. In comparing China and Europe in the tax policies adopted since 2008, therefore, major differences in prior tax structures must be taken into account. There are also two other potential determinants of China’s tax policy. …