Law Commons^™

Estimating The Impact Of The Death Penalty On Murder, John Donohue, Justin Wolfers

John Donohue

No abstract provided.

Legal Regimes And Political Particularism: An Assessment Of The "Legal Families" Theory From The Perspectives Of Comparative Law And Political Economy, John W. Cioffi, D. Gordon Smith

BYU Law Review

The “legal families” theory of corporate law and ownership structures pioneered by Rafael La Porta, Florencio Lopez-deSilanes, Andrei Shleifer, and Robert Vishny provides one of the most influential accounts of why “law matters” in shaping economic organization and outcomes. However, the empirical bases and theoretical logic of the theory contain serious flaws and limitations. First, as has been pointed out by a number of critics engaged in this revision, the legal origins literature contains numerous problematic characterizations of substantive law that expose the serious problems of quantitative operationalization of legal rules as a mode of comparative legal analysis. Second, the …

Regulatory Theory, Matthew D. Adler

All Faculty Scholarship

This chapter reviews a range of topics connected to the justification of government regulation, including: the definition of “regulation”; welfarism, Kaldor-Hicks efficiency, and the Pareto principles; the fundamental theorems of welfare economics and the “market failure” framework for justifying regulation, which identifies different ways in which the conditions for those theorems may fail to hold true (such as externalities, public goods, monopoly power, and imperfect information); the Coase theorem; and the different forms of regulation.

Smes, Open Innovation And Ip Management: Advancing Global Development, Stanley P. Kowalski

Law Faculty Scholarship

[Excerpt] Micro-Small-Medium Enterprises (abbreviated herein henceforth as “SMEs”) are global drivers of technological innovation and economic development. Perhaps their importance has been somewhat eclipsed by the mega-multinational corporate entities. However, whereas the corporations might be conceptualized as towering sequoia trees, SMEs represent the deep, broad, fertile forest floor that nourishes, sustains and regenerates the global economic ecosystem.

[. . .]

Broadly recognized as engines of economic and global development, SMEs account for a substantial proportion of entrepreneurial activity in both industrialized and developing countries. Indeed, their role as dynamos for technological and economic progress in developing countries is critical and …

Event Studies In Finance: Discussion, Carlo Drago

Carlo Drago

No abstract provided.

Ceo Compensation And Performance In Family Firms By Barontini And Bozzi: Discussion, Carlo Drago

Carlo Drago

No abstract provided.

For Both Love And Money: Viviana Zelizer's "The Purchase Of Intimacy", Martha M. Ertman

Martha M. Ertman

Viviana Zelizer’s recent book, The Purchase of Intimacy (2005) presents an innovative theory of how social and legal actors negotiate rights and obligations when money changes hands in intimate relationships--a perspective that could change how we understand many things, from valuations of homemaking labor to the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund. This essay describes Zelizer’s critique of the reductionist “Hostile Worlds” and “Nothing But” approaches to economic exchange in intimate relationships, then explains her more three-dimensional approach, “Connected Lives.” While Zelizer focuses on family law, the essay goes beyond that context, extending Zelizer’s approach to transfers of genetic material, and concluding …

Sanciones Económicas Y Compensación De Daños En El Régimen De Competencia Mexicano, Víctor Pavón-Villamayor

Víctor Pavón-Villamayor

No abstract provided.

On Refusals To Deal In The European Competition Regime, Víctor Pavón-Villamayor

Víctor Pavón-Villamayor

No abstract provided.

O Fim Do "Privilégio Exorbitante": Comentários A Currency And State Power, De Benjamin J. Cohen [The End Of The "Exorbitant Privilege": Commentary To Currency And State Power, By Benjamin J. Cohen], Jefferson Alvares

Jefferson Alvares

Busca contextualizar o estudo Currency and State Power, de Benjamin J. Cohen, descrever sua estrutura conceitual e suas conclusões, e submeter a crítica a premissa de que o poder monetário é decorrência da flexibilidade macroeconômica que acompanha as moedas internacionais.

[The paper aims to set the background for the essay Currency and State Power, by Benjamin J. Cohen, to describe its conceptual framework and conclusions, and to subject to a critical appraisal the premise that monetary power is a result of macroeconomic flexibility, which stems from the international standing of a currency.]

On The Many Flavors Of Capitalism Or Reflections On Schumpeter's Ghost, John Henry Schlegel

Journal Articles

Most legal scholars treat capitalism as a genus with one species. The appearance of several books that argue to the contrary suggests that it is sensible to revisit this assumption. Discussion begins by considering the constructed nature of markets, the importance of market systems, and the role of financings as the factor distinguishing capitalism from other forms of a market economy. Thereafter, four articulations of the varieties of capitalism are reviewed: the classic Marxist one, one by a political economist, another by a pair of comparative political scientists, and third by a trio of economists. This review leads to a …

The Evolution Of Copyright Law In The Arts, Kevin Liftig

Honors Scholar Theses

As digital storage of intellectual goods such as literature and music has become widespread, the duplication and unlicensed distribution of these goods has become a frequent source of legal contention. When technology for production and replication of intellectual goods advanced, there were disputes concerning the rights to produce and duplicate these works. As new technologies have made copies of intellectual goods more accessible, legal institutions have largely moved to protect the rights of ownership of ideas through copyright laws. This paper will examine key changes in the technology that affect intellectual property, and the responses that legal institutions have made …

Private Fund Adviser Registration Act Hr-3818, Anita Krug

All Faculty Scholarship

This paper comments on the Obama administration's 2009 proposal for the regulation of hedge fund investment advisers.

The Knowledge Problem Of New Paternalism, Mario J. Rizzo, Douglas Glen Whitman

BYU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Cooperation Before Contract: The Law And Policy Of Expenses Incurred During Negotiations In Comparative Perspective, Luigi Russi

Luigi Russi

Pending negotiations for a contract, one party may begin to incur expenses in fulfilment of the proposed economic operation in anticipation of the finalisation of a formal contract, which is a common practice in many settings, from building and lease contracts to contracts for services in general. This book, therefore, focuses on controversies that may arise when an expected contract collapses after one party withdraws from negotiations, with an ensuing attempt to determine what liability, if any, the withdrawing party should face regarding expenses incurred by the other. The laws of England and Italy, along with several non-legislative codifications – …

Szerződésértelmezés Hermeneutika És Jogpolitika Között. A Contra Proferentem Szabály [Contract Interpretation Between Hermeneutics And Policy: The Contra Proferentem Rule], Péter Cserne

Péter Cserne

This paper discusses why contract interpretation is substantially different from the interpretation of literary works and illustrates the argument with the analysis of the contra proferentem rule. It is a substantially revised version of my ‘Policy considerations in contract interpretation: the contra proferentem rule from a comparative law and economics perspective’ (2009)

Fixing Incentives, Lucian Arye Bebchuk

Lucian Arye Bebchuk

No abstract provided.

A Few Drops Of Oil Will Not Be Enough, Stephen James

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn provide a rich description of the various kinds of violence, deprivation, depredation and exploitation that women experience on a vast scale in the developing world. They write of sex trafficking, acid attacks, “bride burning,” enslavement, spousal beatings, unequal healthcare (something the USA still struggles with), insufficient food, gendered abortions and infant and maternal mortality. They are right to identify the education of women and girls as part of the solution to the widespread “gendercide.” However, their approach focuses too much on the capacity, indeed the virtue or heroism, of individual women. It does not take …

From Outrage To Action, Henry Krisch

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Kristof and WuDunn provide a vivid panoramic view of problems faced by women (primarily in the “developing” world), what has been done and what more could be done to help them achieve dignity and autonomy in their lives, and how vindication of their rights could contribute to the broader social development of their societies. In this they provide us with important insights into how human rights might be effectively proclaimed and successfully implemented. In reviewing their considerable contributions, I shall also suggest some limitations on both their analysis and their policy recommendations.

"The Female Entrepreneur"?, Cath Collins

Human Rights & Human Welfare

I read the “Women’s Crusade” article that forms the centrepiece of this month’s roundtable with initial interest, gradually turning to a vague sense of disquiet spiced with occasional disbelief. After a few more readings, I tried highlighting the passages that bothered me and stringing them together. Countries “riven by fundamentalism”— that’s presumably the Islamic variety, rather than the Christian variant which holds such sway in the US. The suggestion that “everyone from the World Bank to the US [...] Chiefs of Staff to [...] CARE” now thinks that women are the answer to global extremism hides too many questionable assumptions …

Fear And Projection As Root Causes Of War, And The Archetypal Energies "Trust" And "Peace" As Antidotes, Carroy U. Ferguson

Carroy U "Cuf" Ferguson, Ph.D.

I want to use this opportunity to discuss a phenomenon that continues to plague the human experience. It is called the game of war. War is perhaps the deadliest game that humanity has created. The conflict itself represents what appears to be opposing views about the way things should be. Each side believes that it is right and that its actions are justified. Each side therefore seeks to impose its views on the other or to defend its views against the other. Each side fears the other as an enemy and each side projects its fears onto its perceived “enemy.”

The International Law Of Economic Migration: Toward The Fourth Freedom, Joel P. Trachtman

Upjohn Press

This volume examines the welfare economics, political economy, and legal experience in international economic migration, and on the basis of its analysis, suggests the structure of a multilateral framework agreement on international economic migration.

Inducing Corporate Compliance: A Law And Economics Analysis Of Corporate Liability Regimes By Sharon Oded: Discussion, Carlo Drago

Carlo Drago

No abstract provided.

September 11th, John Maynard Keynes, Kenneth J. Arrow, And Me: The Nexus, David Randall Jenkins

David Randall Jenkins, Ph.D.

The Italian Chamber Of Lords Sits On Listed Company Boards. An Empirical Analysis Of Italian Listed Company Boards From 1998 To 2006 - Presentation (Powerpoint Format), Paolo Santella, Carlo Drago, Andrea Polo

Paolo Santella

No abstract provided.

The Italian Chamber Of Lords Sits On Listed Company Boards. An Empirical Analysis Of Italian Listed Company Boards From 1998 To 2006 - Presentation (Powerpoint Format), Paolo Santella, Carlo Drago, Andrea Polo

Carlo Drago

No abstract provided.

Cases And Materials On Privatization, Alexander Volokh

Alexander Volokh

These are the materials for my course on privatization, and the draft for an eventual casebook.

State Finance In Times Of Crisis, Brian Galle, Jonathan Klick

All Faculty Scholarship

As recent events illustrate, state finances are pro-cyclical: during recessions, state revenues crash, worsening the effects of economic downturns. This problem is well-known, yet persistent. We argue here that, in light of predictable federalism and political economy dynamics, states will be unable to change this situation on their own. Additionally, we note that many possible federal remedies may result in worse problems, such as creating moral hazard that would induce states to take on excessively risky policy, both fiscal and otherwise. Thus, we argue that policy makers should consider so-called “automatic” stabilizers, such as are found in the federal tax …

Flexible Work Arrangements: Improving Job Quality And Workforce Stability For Low-Wage Workers And Their Employers, Jessica Glenn, Liz Watson

Published Reports

In 2009, workers and their families across the country felt the impact of serious economic downturn, with unemployment reaching a 26-year high. While recent news suggests things may be improving, we cannot forget that for many low-wage and hourly workers -- who now represent over a quarter of the U.S. workforce -- the recession only exacerbated their ongoing struggle to hold down quality jobs while caring for their families.

Low-wage workers face many of the same challenges that the rest of us face in reconciling our work, family and personal lives, but for many of these workers, it's simply a …

From Armchair Reading To Action: Acknowledging Our Role In The Horror Of The Democratic Republic Of The Congo - And Doing Something About It., Shareen Hertel

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Reading Adam Hochschild's extraordinary account of ordinary people caught up in the horrific ravages of a civil war raging in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), I was struck by how incongruous my own encounter with this suffering is. I read his article over lunch, safe in the comfort of my own home. As a woman, I live largely without fear of the kind of brutal sexual violence that Hochschild opens his article with, as he related the story of a Congolese NGO worker who is herself a victim of multiple rapes.