Business Commons^™

Corruption: A Review Of Issues, Sandra Damijan

Economic and Business Review

This paper provides a historical overview of the concept of corruption, the existing models for studying it, and the main costs that corruption imposes on the economy and society at large. Corruption was first understood as a disturbance of the balance of state power, and later as the immorality of political patronage and favouritism of certain groups. It evolved from the public sphere to the intertwining of the public and private spheres, from a political issue to the intertwining of political and economic issues. The fight against corruption evolved from the maintenance of necessary checks and balances, from moral struggles …

Political Risk Management, Omari Scott Simmons

William & Mary Law Review

The COVID-19 pandemic and social unrest have focused considerable corporate attention on political risk. The disruptions to company operations are voluminous and diverse: entertainment and hospitality industry closures, airline industry cancellations, eviction moratoriums in residential real estate, international trade interruptions, manufacturing supply shortages, employee vaccination mandates, and ride-hailing service restrictions. Enterprise risk management (ERM) is the mechanism through which boards and their respective firms can manage complex political risks. In the current business climate, more companies should emphasize and integrate political risk oversight in their ERM programs. Although neglecting political risk may not trigger legal liability from regulators or courts, …

Commentary: What Makes Membership Matter, Michael G. Maihofer Dds

The Journal of the Michigan Dental Association

The American Dental Association (ADA) is facing a drastic decline in membership, with market share dropping to 59%. To combat this trend, the ADA focuses on early-career dentists and a strategic forecasting initiative to align with their values. However, there is concern that the language and approach are shifting towards treating members as customers rather than dental professionals. This shift raises questions about the commitment of new dentists to professional associations. The challenge lies in listening to member concerns and delivering values like professional support, ethics, and advocacy to make membership meaningful.

Canceling Difficult Cancellation: An Analysis Of Recent Regulatory Efforts To Make Canceling Subscriptions Easier, Carter Mccants

William & Mary Business Law Review

The subscription-based economy is on the rise, and so are complaints of difficult cancellations. Companies utilize coercive and exploitative techniques, known as “dark patterns,” to trap consumers in subscription-based services. One notorious “dark pattern” is the “click-to-subscribe, call-to-cancel” scheme, whereby individuals can sign up online. But, when it comes time to cancel, many consumers often find themselves waiting on hold for hours.

In the interest of consumer welfare, subscription-based services should be as easy to cancel as they are to sign up for. Accordingly, this Note discusses the merits of recent crackdowns on cancellation barriers, including the Federal Trade Commission’s …

Death Of A Corporation: How A Seemingly Innocuous Probate Provision Can Fundamentally Undermine The Corporate Form, Kenya Jh Smith

William & Mary Business Law Review

Imagine that you are assisting the surviving shareholders and officers of a corporation in settling affairs with the estate of a deceased shareholder. In a corporate governance dispute that ensues, the estate representative uses a seemingly innocuous probate provision allowing him to “continue any business” of the deceased to petition the probate court for direct control of the corporation. You find that there is little statutory or jurisprudential guidance on coordinating that probate provision with longstanding corporate governance requirements that directors, not shareholders, directly manage corporate affairs. This Article explores the unintended consequences of allowing a misplaced but literal reading …

Markets, Businesses, And Consumption In Refugees Settlements: A Review And Future Research Trajectory, Stefanie Beninger

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

The global refugee crisis is increasing, and many refugees will end up living in refugee settlements, also known as refugee camps. These settlements have dynamic economic activities, and such activities deserve attention. This paper draws upon academic and practitioner work to describe pertinent aspects of consumption, businesses, and markets in these settlements, including in relation to multiple stakeholders. These stakeholders can include, for example, governments, aid agencies, private sector, and local community groups. Based on these insights, the paper identifies key theoretical areas in need of attention related to these economic activities in refugee settlements, including market change, resilience, and …

From Well-Side Meetings To Pelican Strategy: A Context-Based Approach To Combat Corruption, Lili Yan

Pace International Law Review

This article takes up the question of what strategy is to be used among different communities to eradicate corruption across borders. The debate between two legal scholars, Steven Salbu and Philip Nichols, over the viability of extraterritorial application of anti-bribery laws remains thought-provoking when we look at the effectiveness of the OECD Anti-bribery Convention or FCPA in curbing corruption. Empirical research shows that firms from countries with extraterritorial legal restrictions do not necessarily refrain themselves from paying bribes in foreign transactions. This article ties the Salbu-Nichols’ debate, ISCT, mediating institutions theory, and Pelican Gambits strategy together to structure a context …

Revisiting Cybersecurity Awareness In The Midst Of Disruptions, Avideh Sadaghiani-Tabrizi

International Journal for Business Education

The awareness of cybersecurity and knowledge about risks from a variety of threats, which present harm or steal private information in internetworking could help in mitigation of vulnerabilities to risks of threats in safeguarding information from malware and bots. Revisiting cybersecurity awareness of every member and evaluation of organization’s posture might help to protect sensitive or private information from a network of computers, working together and forming into botnets. The purpose of the qualitative case study narrative was to explore prospects for integrating cybersecurity education into elementary school children’s curriculum through interviews of elementary schoolteachers, IT experts, and parents to …

The Battle With Big Tech: Analyzing Antitrust Enforcement And Proposed Reforms, Youngjae Lee, Morgan Hagenbuch

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

No abstract provided.

Swipe Right Into A Disciplinary Hearing: How The Use Of Dating Apps Could Earn An Attorney More Than A Bad First Date, Zachary S. Aman

Catholic University Journal of Law and Technology

The Model Rules of Professional Conduct seek to police the conduct of attorneys. Each jurisdiction adopts its own rules of professional conduct to apply to the attorneys licensed within it. Notably, the model rules prohibit any sexual relationship between the attorney and client unless that relationship precedes the attorney-client relationship. Traditionally, defining a "sexual relationship" was simple, particularly if the attorney and client engaged in sexual intercourse. The introduction of dating apps, however, has blurred the line.

This article outlines the inherent risks of attorneys using dating apps at a time when most newly-licensed attorneys make up the majority of …

Zeroing In On Net-Zero: From Soft Law To Hard Law In Corporate Climate Change Pledges, Daniel C. Esty, Nathan De Arriba-Sellier

University of Colorado Law Review

One hundred and ninety-seven nations endorsed a target of net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by midcentury in the 2021 Glasgow Climate Pact. As countries around the world have begun to develop their plans for deep decarbonization, it has become evident that the private sector will need to deliver much of what is required for the transition to an environmentally sustainable economy. The commitment to net-zero emissions by the year 2050 has therefore cascaded to the corporate world, leading hundreds of major companies to make their own net-zero GHG pledges. What constitutes a meaningful net-zero corporate pledge, however, remains unclear—and what …

The Solution To Shadow Trading Is Not Found In Current Insider Trading Law: A Proposed Amendment To Rule 10b5-2, Jamel Gross-Cassel

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

Shadow trading is a lucrative way to exploit a loophole in insider trading law. Insiders abuse this loophole to make six-figure profits and escape liability when done at the right companies. Those who shadow trade use material, nonpublic information to trade not in the securities of their own company, which would be illegal, but in the securities of a closely related company where the information is just as impactful. Efforts to close this loophole rely on the individual insider trading policies of the involved companies. These policies vary in language, making liability for shadow trading dependent on specific language or …

Blacking Out Congressional Insider Trading: Overlaying A Corporate Mechanism Upon Members Of Congress And Their Staff To Curtail Illegal Profiting, Nicholas Gervasi

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

Congressional insider trading involves members of Congress or their staff trading on material, nonpublic information attained while executing their official responsibilities. This type of private profit-making, while in a government role, casts doubt on the efficacy and impartiality of lawmakers to regulate companies they hold shares of. Egregious acts of illegal profiting from insider trading based on information entrusted to the government escape prosecution and liability due to fundamental gaps in the common law and the Congress specific statutes lack enforcement. Recent calls on Congress by the public and multiple bipartisan proposed bills in both chambers have begun to address …

Are Debt-Holders Effective Monitoring Agents In Strategic Alliance Formations?, Malika Chaudhuri, Jay J. Janney

International Review of Business and Economics

When undertaking strategic alliances, managers face a fundamental choice to pursue alliances that allow them to exploit the value of current firm assets or alliances that allow them to explore new trajectories for the firm. To answer this question, we tested our proposed theoretical framework using 652 US-based publicly traded pharmaceutical firms between 1990 and 2012. Findings suggest that exploitation alliances have higher impact on firm performance in the short and long run than exploration alliances. Consistent with the debt overhang problem presented by Myers (1977), our findings confirm that high-leverage firms have a higher inclination toward exploitation alliance formations …

Aviation Fuel Tankering And Sustainability: The Brazilian Scenario, Peter O'Reilly, Fabricio Sulzbacher, Diogo Jardim Coutinho, Maria Petrescu

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

This research project aims to investigate fuel tankering practices in the aviation industry, exploring their relation to carbon emissions and evaluating the Brazilian fuel tankering scenario in comparison to global and national policies and regulations. The study recommends sustainable national measures and compares global practices for minimizing the higher emissions due to fuel tankering. The results of the study show that the Brazilian aviation industry can sustainably neutralize the carbon emissions from the fuel tankering practice. The study recommends that airlines allocate part of the savings generated to purchasing carbon credits to offset the carbon emitted. Future research should focus …

Learning From Mistakes: A Guide To Expanding The Oversight Board, Kevin Frazier

Catholic University Journal of Law and Technology

More than 4.4 billion people use social media. A few platforms attract a significant number of those users—for example, 2.9 billion people use Facebook, 2.3 billion use YouTube, and 1.2 billion use WeChat. How these major platforms govern themselves with respect to content moderation has an impact on billions of users and may lead to policy changes across other platforms that affect billions more. That is why it is so important to analyze Meta’s Oversight Board—an independent body created for the purpose of “promot[ing] free expression by making principled, independent decisions regarding content on Facebook and Instagram by issuing recommendations …

New Frontiers In Technology: Can Traditional Intellectual Property Rights Laws Be Adapted And Applied To Nfts?, Mariyah S. Wakhariya

Catholic University Journal of Law and Technology

A decade ago, ‘NFTs’ were rarely heard of or known to anyone, unless they worked in or kept up with the tech world. However, they are not new - they have been around for almost two decades. Their popularity has grown over the past few years. ‘NFT’ stands for ‘non-fungible token’. An NFT is a digital file with a unique identity that is verified on a blockchain and is therefore not interchangeable - i.e., a kind of crypto asset, like an authentication certificate for digital artifacts. In theory, NFTs can represent almost any real or intangible property. These days, it …