Law Commons^™

Eminent Need: Proposing A Market Participation Exception For Municipal Parker Immunity, Scott B. Weese

Scott B Weese

A township is using its eminent domain powers to become a monopsony in the real estate market for the designated area. That township’s monopsony power is then being exploited to create a price-fixing scheme that would violate antitrust laws, either as a per se violation under § 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act, or as a monopolizing or attempted monopolizing offense under § 2. Under the Sherman Act, effected residents could force the township to appraise each property individually and pay the full market value; if the township refused, they would be subject to the treble damage penalty, erasing any …

Thinking Through The Climate Change Challenge, Robert Hahn

Robert W. Hahn

No abstract provided.

Determining The Appropriate Interest Rate Under Till In A Bankruptcy Proceeding, C. Paul Wazzan

Christopher P Wazzan

The determination of the appropriate rate of interest in a bankruptcy proceeding is guided by the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Till v. SCS Credit Com. which establishes a formula approach and states one should begin with the Prime Rate and then consider: 1) the circumstances of the bankruptcy estate; 2) the nature of the security; 3) the duration of the reorganization plan; and 4) the feasibility of the reorganization plan. The Supreme Court decision does not specify exactly what these four factors consist of. This paper attempts to superimpose economic principles on the Till decision and provide legal …

Down The Rabbit Hole: The Madness Of State Film Incentives As As "Solution" To Runaway Production, Adrian H. Mcdonald

Adrian H. McDonald

This working paper is a "sequel" to my first law review article on runaway productions called "Through the Looking Glass": Runaway Productions and "Hollywood Economics," published in The University of Pennsylvania Journal of Labor and Employment Law in August 2007.

Since 2007, there has been a race to the bottom as virtually every state has enacted significant, if not detrimentally generous, tax incentives to lure film and television production. The efficacy of these incentives is evaluated at length, with particular attention paid to the origin and implementation of tax incentives in California, Massachusetts and Louisiana - states with colorful backgrounds …

Can The Federal Reserve Adopt An Inflation Targeting Regime Under The Current Statutory Arrangements?, Hong Kyoon Cho

Hong Kyoon Cho

This paper discussed legal perspectives in institutional framework of central banking, keyed to monetary policy framework. The statutory objectives of monetary policy provide an environment under which the central bank can design its monetary policy framework, in that the choice of the monetary policy framework could lie within the scope of the spirits embodied in the statutory objectives of monetary policy. Monetary policy framework could illuminate legal aspects of debate, as specifically seen in the Federal Reserve’s case that has adopted not an explicit but an implicit monetary policy framework, namely the Just-Do-It approach. Under the current legal mandate, i.e., …

An Empirical Analysis Of Regulator Mandates On The Pass Through Of Switched Access Fees For In-State Long-Distance Telecommunications In The U.S., Debra J. Aron, David E. Burnstein, Ana Danies, Gerry Keith

Debra J. Aron

In the parlance of regulatory economics, “pass through” refers to the effect of a change in an incremental cost – generally, the effect of a change in a regulated input price – on the retail price of a good or service. In this paper we examine pass through with regard to the switched access fees paid by long distance companies to local exchange carriers in the United States. We estimate the degree to which long distance companies pass through differences in access rates to their customers, and we examine whether mandates imposed by regulators on long distance companies to pass …

Law, Institutions And Corruption Cleanups In Africa, John Mukum Mbaku

JOHN MUKUM MBAKU

ABSTRACT Since independence, virtually all African countries have suffered and continue to suffer from extremely high rates of bureaucratic corruption. Today, corruption remains one of the most important constraints to social, political and economic development. Despite the efforts made, in several countries, to deal with corruption and other forms of political opportunism (e.g., rent seeking), these phenomena remain entrenched in these countries and continue to constrain entrepreneurship and creation of the wealth that is needed to deal with extremely high rates of poverty and material deprivation. Part of the reason why many African countries have not been able to effectively …

Employee "Free" Choice In The Mirror Of Liberty, Fairness And Social Welfare, Harry G. Hutchison

Harry G. Hutchison

The publication of Richard Epstein’s book, THE CASE AGAINST THE EMPLOYEE FREE CHOICE ACT provides an opportunity to reconsider (A) the movement to displace the regime of judge-made law that had previously governed labor relationships, (B) the purpose of the NLRA and (C) the revolutionary implications of the effort to transform the NLRA into a law that places its thumb on the scale in favor of unionization. Describing the central provisions of the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), its economic consequences, its constitutional implications, and its connection to the decline of unionism, Epstein offers a balanced portrayal of the EFCA …

How The Payday Predator Hides Among Us: The Predatory Nature Of The Payday Loan Industry And Its Use Of Consumer Arbitration To Further Discriminatory Lending Practices, Michael A. Satz

Michael A Satz

This Article argues that Payday lending is a predatory lending practice that disproportionately targets minority customers, and that the Payday lending industry utilizes consumer arbitration agreements to further the industry’s discriminatory lending practices. The Article proposes that protections enacted into law to protect military service members from payday lenders should be universally enacted on a national level.

Executive Compensation: The Law And Incentives, Stas Getmanenko

Stas Getmanenko

Excessive executive compensation frequently breeds resentment, undermines consumer faith in the financial system, and overly stigmatizes otherwise common business failures. Frequently, the opponents of lavish pay packages compare executive compensation to the compensation of rank-and-file workers. Such criticism reflects perfectly appropriate societal concerns over pay equity and distribution of wealth within a society. An entirely separate source of friction is the shareholders’ right to benefit from the corporation’s wealth. Shareholders’ dividend is directly reduced by the company’s expenses, one of which executive compensation. For most of today’s public companies the executive compensation expense is often negligible when considered in light …

The Mortgage Market Crisis: A Game Theory Analysis, Raquel Mato

Raquel Mato

The mortgage market experienced a global bubble during the early 2000s. The bubble burst in 2006, creating a global financial crisis with widespread repercussions. In this paper, I will discuss how the mortgage market normally works and what changes occurred leading up to the 2000s that allowed for the rapid expansion of the mortgage market. I will talk about contributing factors such as: deregulation of the market, government encouragement of homeownership, the mortgage backed securities market, existing legislation, and a general lack of responsibility by all parties involved. I will use various aspects of game theory to explain how this …

Statistical Evidence On The Gender Gap In Law Firm Partner Compensation, Marina Angel, Eun Young Whang, Rajiv Banker, Joseph F. Lopez

Marina Angel

Our study compiled the largest research sample on the gender gap in compensation at the 200 largest law firms by combining two large databases to examine why women partners are compensated less: because they are less productive than men partners or because they are women. The AmLaw 100 and 200 studies include gross revenue, profits, number of equity and non-equity partners, and the total number of lawyers at each firm. The Vault/MCCA Law Firm Diversity Programs study (Vault/MCCA) includes the gender ratios at each AmLaw 200 firm. Our study covers the years 2002 to 2007.

The ratio of women equity …

Is The Public Utility Holding Company Act A Model For Breaking Up The Banks That Are Too-Big-To-Fail?, Roberta S. Karmel

Roberta S. Karmel

ABSTRACT FOR “IS THE PUBLIC UTILITY HOLDING COMPANY ACT A MODEL FOR BREAKING UP THE BANKS THAT ARE TO-BIG-TO-FAIL?”

BY ROBERTA S. KARMEL

During the financial crisis of 2007-08 and the debates on regulatory reform that followed, there was general agreement that the “too-big-to-fail” principle creates unacceptable moral hazard. Policy makers divided, however, on the solutions to this problem. Some argued that the banking behemoths in the United States should be broken up. Others argued that dismantling the big banks would be bad policy because these banks would not be able to compete with universal banks in the global capital …

An Economic Analysis Of Patent Law's Inequitable Conduct Doctrine, Thomas F. Cotter

Thomas F. Cotter

In recent years, patent law’s inequitable conduct doctrine has attracted considerable attention from judges, legislators, patent lawyers and commentators, culminating most recently in the Federal Circuit’s decision to reconsider en banc several aspects of the doctrine in Therasense, Inc. v. Becton, Dickinson & Co. Building on the work of other scholars, this Article proposes an instrumental view of the doctrine as, ideally, a tool for inducing patent applicants to disclose the optimal quantity of information relating to the patentability of their inventions; it then presents a formal model of the applicant’s choices in deciding how much information to reveal. The …

Big But Brittle: Economic Perspectives On The Future Of The Law Firm In The New Economy, Bernard A. Burk, David Mcgowan

Bernard A Burk

This Article addresses the deceptively simple questions why, up to the onset of the recent recession, law firms continued to grow at the rapid rate and in the unusual configuration that they have exhibited for over 40 years; and whether lawyers, clients, law students and law schools should expect familiar trends to reassert themselves as the economy improves. We show that the copious academic theorizing addressing these questions (focusing on such notions as diversification, asset specificity, “tournament” theory, and reputational and agency-cost concerns at the level of the firm as a whole) has proved ineffective at explaining or predicting actual …

Transborder Licensing: New Frontier For Job Creation, Andrea L. Johnson

Andrea L Johnson

Abstract: TRANSBORDER LICENSING: NEW FRONTIER FOR JOB CREATION http://ssrn.com/abstract=1675285 (September, 11 2010). Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1675286 By Professor Andrea L. Johnson, alj@cwsl.edu California Western School of Law 225 Cedar St. San Diego, CA 92101 (619) 525-1474 This article makes the case that the best opportunities for creating new jobs in the United States will come from transborder licensing. Transborder licensing involves the creation and disposition of intellectual property (IP), such as copyrights, patents, trademarks, and trade secrets, across geographical boundaries. Licensing is a contractual agreement in which the owner of IP, called the licensor, agrees to permit or restrict the …

Do Accounting Rules Matter? The Dangerous Allure Of Mark To Market, Todd Henderson, Richard Epstein

Todd Henderson

This paper examines the relative strength of two imperfect accounting rules: historical cost and mark to market. The manifest inaccuracy of historical cost is well known, and, paradoxically one source of its hidden strength. Because private parties know of its evident weaknesses they look elsewhere for information. In contrast, mark to market for hard-to-value assets has many hidden weaknesses. In this paper we show how it creates asset bubbles and exacerbate their negative collateral consequences once they burst. It does the former by allowing banks to adopt generous valuations in up-markets that increase their lending capacity. It does the latter …

Re-Thinking First Principles Of Transfer Pricing Rules, John Ja Burke

John JA Burke

This Article rejects the conventional wisdom that “transfer pricing rules” are designed either to level the playing field between Multi-National Enterprises [MNEs] and medium sized enterprises or to prevent pre-meditated tax evasion by MNEs. Rather, this Article posits that “transfer pricing rules” [TPRs] are substitutes for diminished tariff revenue, or imposed artificial mark-ups, shifting costs to ultimate purchasers, and contradicting the fundamental rule of microeconomic theory of firm maximizing profits by equating marginal cost and marginal revenue. The debate about transfer pricing now centres on tweaking the “arm’s length principle”, safe harbour rules, and advance pricing agreements. Lost in this …

Ending The Power To Say No: The Case For Extending Compulsory Licensing To Cover Digital Music Reproduction And Distribution Rights, Patrick A. Mckay

Patrick A McKay

This paper argues that the recording industry has abused its power to deny uses of copyrighted music and has failed to satisfy the constitutional purpose of copyright of providing for the public benefit. As a result, this power should be removed and replaced with a compulsory license system similar to the Section 115 Reform Act of 2006 (SIRA), which would create a blanket collective license covering digital reproduction and distribution rights for musical works. Additionally, in order to remove the cloud of uncertainty which surrounds music used in user-generated videos, Congress should consider extending the compulsory license regime to cover …

The Future Of Financial Dispute Resolution In Hong Kong: Promoting A Comprehensive “Multi-Tier Dispute Resolution System” With Reference To The “Lehman Brothers Mediation Scheme”, Shahla F. Ali, John Koon Wang Kwok

Shahla F. Ali

Recent global financial dislocation has provided an impetus for examining effective avenues for the resolution of financial disputes. Hong Kong, like many financial centers throughout the world, has been directly affected by the collapse of Lehman Brothers. Its response to the collapse has included a creative mix of regulatory strengthening and government sponsored mediation and arbitration. Each of these alternative mechanisms of resolution provides a useful case study of the prospects of the use of ADR in response to financial crises. The efficacy of such interventions will be reviewed and options for the future development of a multi-tier dispute resolution …

Was Selden Right? The Expansion Of Closed Seas And Its Consequences, Scott Shackelford

Scott Shackelford

This Article focuses on the relationship between the legal regimes governing offshore resources in the continental shelves and the deep seabed, particularly in reference to the extent to which continental shelf claims are encroaching on the deep seabed. The question of how well these respective legal regimes regulate resource exploitation will also be considered, along with an analysis of the underlying reasons driving change in these governance structures. I argue that the primary issue is one of whether vague rules, particularly UNCLOS Article 76, are working in terms of incentivizing sustainable, peaceful development of offshore resources.

Non- Profit Charitable Tax Exempt Hospitals- Wolves In Sheep's Clothing:To Increase Fairness And Enhance Compition All Hospitals Should Be For Profit And Taxable, George A. Nation Iii

George A Nation III

Most hospitals in the United States are not-for-profit tax exempt institutions. Legally these hospitals are deemed to be charities and are exempt from federal, state and local taxes, raise money through tax exempt bond offerings and receive charitable contributions that are tax deductible to the donors. Today it is estimated that 47 million Americans lack access to healthcare.5A Moreover, even when the new Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act5B is fully operational, which is estimated to be around 2019, there will still be millions of Americans without health insurance and thus without reliable access to healthcare.5C Notwithstanding the millions of …

Cost-Benefit Analysis Of The Business Judgment Rule: A Critique In Light Of The Financial Meltdown, Todd Aman

Todd M Aman

In 2008, the United States – indeed the whole world – suffered a devastating financial meltdown. We know now that a significant cause of the meltdown was that, in the face of numerous red flags, the managers of several venerable financial firms decided to take tremendous risks in the subprime mortgage market, and the directors of these firms did little or nothing to stop them. However, despite their actions, these managers and directors face little or no risk of personal liability because they are shielded by the business judgment rule and other liability reducing mechanisms, such as director exculpation statutes. …

The Rise And Fall Of Managerial Adaptive Responses To Incentive Pay, Sharon Hannes

Sharon Hannes

A commonly-voiced argument ties the current financial crisis to prevailing executive compensation practices. Huge stock-option packages and annual bonuses, the claim goes, caused managers to concentrate on the short-run and overlook the downside of risk-taking. But why did crisis emerge only recently, even though such incentive pay schemes are hardly a new phenomenon? This paper argues that for a long period of time, from the beginning of the 1990s until the beginning of the twenty-first century, managers employed a variety of adaptive tactics in response to option-based compensation and other risk-inducing pay schemes. These practices enabled executives to enrich themselves …

Lessons In Price Stability From The U.S. Real Estate Market Collapse, Andrea J. Boyack

Andrea J Boyack

The U.S. residential housing market collapse illustrates the consequences of ignoring risk while funding mortgage borrowing. Collateral over-valuation was a foundational piece of the crisis. Over the past few decades, secondary markets, securitization, policy and psychology increased the flow of funds into real estate. At the same time, financial market segmentation divorced risk from reward. Increased mortgage capital availability, unmitigated by proper risk allocation, led to real estate price inflation. Social trends and government policies exacerbated both the mortgage capital over-supply and the risk-valuation disconnect.

The Dodd-Frank Act inadequately addresses the underlying asset valuation problem. Federal regulation may support market …

Punishing The Penitent: Disproportionate Fines In Recent Fcpa Enforcements And Suggested Improvements, Bruce Hinchey

Bruce Hinchey

The Department of Justice has long promised tangible benefits to companies that voluntarily disclose Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) violations. Justice Department officials have promised that the enforcement of the FCPA is both fair and consistent. Despite these promises, critics question the benefits of voluntary disclosure based on the outcome of a few, isolated cases. In this thesis, forty FCPA cases from 2002 through 2009 are compiled, comparing the ratio between bribes and fines for companies that do and do not voluntarily disclose. The results side with the critics and reveal that there does not appear to be a benefit …

Bargaining With Double Jeopardy, Saul Levmore, Ariel Porat

Saul Levmore

Virtually every legal system specifies a variety of burdens of proof for different kinds of claims, and then secures each specification with another, nominally unrelated rule pertaining to relitigation. In criminal law, where a prosecutor might be required to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, the prosecutor is prevented from repeatedly drawing from the urn, as it were, by the familiar and nearly universal rule of double jeopardy. Nevertheless, this Article suggests that if law were to weaken the protection, or more likely to permit the defendant to waive the double jeopardy protection, both private and social benefits might follow. …

Utopian Taxation: Covering The Cost Of Living, Maurice A. Echols

Maurice A Echols

This article, “Utopian Taxation: Covering The Cost of Living,” discusses concepts of economics and tax policy with an intent to have its readers consider or reconsider what is truly valuable to them individually and to society as a whole. I discuss the overall workings of Money-Based Economies, Resource-Based Economies, and Mixed Economies with their relation to tax policy and the implications that arise or may arise within them. I believe that the concepts discussed within this article are very interesting and address new and revolving issues of people, government, and the relationships between them.

Tort-Related Risk Costs And The Hand Formula For Negligence, Richard S. Markovits

Richard S. Markovits

No abstract provided.

A Distortion-Analysis Protocol For Economic-Efficiency Analysis: A Third-Best-Economically-Efficient Response To The General Theory Of Second Best, Richard S. Markovits

Richard S. Markovits

No abstract provided.