International Business Commons^™

Cadbury Twenty Years On, Cally Jordan

Faculty Papers & Publications

This year marks the twentieth anniversary of the publication of the Cadbury Report, one of the most significant events in modern corporate governance. The Cadbury Report, and its simple two page 'best practices', triggered a global debate on corporate governance. 'Cadbury' codes of corporate governance spread like wildfire. The legacy of the Cadbury Report lives on in the UK with no diminution in the appeal of its voluntary code/comply or explain approach to corporate governance. But there are several clouds looming on the horizon. Comply or explain and voluntary codes of corporate governance appear to have run their course elsewhere …

"The End Of The Beginning?": A Comprehensive Look At The U.N.'S Business And Human Rights Agenda From A Bystander Perspective, Jena Martin Amerson

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

With the endorsement of the Guiding Principles regarding the issue of business and human rights, an important chapter has come to a close. Beginning with the then U.N. Secretary-General’s “global compact” speech in 1999, the international legal framework for business and human rights has undergone tremendous change and progress. Yet, for all these developments, there has been no exhaustive examination in the legal academy of all of these events; certainly there is no one piece that discusses or analyzes all the major instruments that have been proposed and endorsed by the U.N. on the subject of business and its relationship …

From Institutional Misalignments To Socially Sustainable Governance: The Guiding Principles For The Implementation Of The United Nations Protect, Respect And Remedy And The Construction Of Inter-Systemic Global Governance, Larry Cata Backer

Faculty Scholarship

Once upon a time, and for a very short time, there was something that people in authority, and those who manage collective memory, considered a stable system of political and economic organization. It was grounded on a complex division of authority between states, economic entities and social collectives. Contemporary economic globalization has destabilized this traditional system. Corporations are no longer completely controlled by the states that chartered them or within complex enterprises, even by those in which they operate. Social collectives now operate to change the political cultures that affect the public policy of states and the economic behavior of …

The Unjustified Subsidy: Sovereign Wealth Funds The Foreign Sovereign Tax Exemption, Jennifer Bird-Pollan

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

The taxation of Sovereign Wealth Funds in the United States is outmoded and due for reconsideration. Offering a tax exemption to the billion dollar investment funds owned by foreign governments is both unfair and ineffective. Founded in the principles of sovereign immunity, the foreign sovereign tax exemption, codified in I.R.C. § 892, fails to satisfy the Congressional goals that motivated its creation. This Article explains the current taxation of foreign sovereigns and, by extension, Sovereign Wealth Funds. It then illustrates that the current exemption is simultaneously too broad, providing a tax exemption for activities that are clearly nongovernmental activities, and …

Application Of The Concept Of Project Finance In Iraq- A Comparative And Analytical Study, Faris K. Nesheiwat

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

Many scholars and experts have addressed the issue of project finance, but one area that remains without detailed examination is its legal treatment under the legal systems of developing countries. The legal concepts applied under project finance are Western and are not necessarily identical to or compatible with legal concepts in Middle Eastern countries in general or Iraq in particular. In that sense, project finance is a transplanted legal concept when examined in the Middle Eastern legal framework. Although this Paper tackles the legal and strategic issues arising from the use of project finance in Iraq, its analysis and comparative …

Private Equity Investment In The Brics, Andreas Woeller

Fordham Journal of Corporate & Financial Law

This Article investigates the legal and economic environment for private equity investments in Brazil, Russia, India and China (“BRIC”). In contrast with disappointing returns in the 1990s, private equity investment has soared in developing countries over the past decade. To explain what has led to the recent success of private equity in the BRICs, this Article will first give an overview of the challenges faced generally when investing in portfolio companies in developing markets and then analyze the legal and economic framework for each of the four BRICs. This Article finds that Brazil and China offer the best opportunities for …

Welcome To Fabulous Las Vegas: The Nevada Gaming Regulatory Response To Sovereign Wealth Fund Investment, John J. Piro

UNLV Gaming Law Journal

The bulk of recent scholarly work surrounding sovereign wealth funds ("SWFs") is dedicated to assessing the federal regulatory systems’ adequacy—or likely, inadequacy—in dealing with issues unique to SWF investment. However, the federal regulatory system has not been the only regulatory body to deal with SWF investment in the United States. In 2008, one of the United Arab Emirates’ (“UAE”) SWFs, Dubai World, made a large investment into the Nevada gaming industry and was found suitable to purchase up to twenty percent of MGM Mirage’s stock. This article will address how the Nevada gaming regulatory system has found an effective way …

Development For The Past, Present, And Future: Defining And Measuring Sustainable Development, Max Cantor

Senior Honors Projects

In 1987, the United Nations released the Brundtland Report, which defined sustainable development as “development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” While this definition provides a relatively stable theoretical base from which development economists and political scientists can begin to tackle issues surrounding sustainable development, the inherently amorphous nature of this definition has also created a fair amount of ambiguity in both the economic literature surrounding sustainable development and the subsequent attempts by economists to measure it.

Historically, those interested in the science of development have typically …

China And The New Asia: Policy Recommendations, Tasha N. Haug

Senior Honors Theses

The People’s Republic of China is an indispensable political and economic force in Asia. With the majority of the United States’ foreign economic interests invested in the Asia-Pacific region, the leading role that China is taking is a major concern. The Asia-Pacific region is strategically important to the US. How US policy makers craft foreign policy toward Asia has a direct impact on US involvement in the region. Unless the US becomes more invested in Asia, develops a comprehensive understanding of China’s role in the region, and proactively pursue strategic relationships, US influence in Asian affairs will become a thing …

The Gaming Industry Developing Concept In Taiwan-From The U.S. Experience, Jean Ling Lee

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

With the recent success experience of gaming-related investments made in Macau and Singapore, it also can be a good inspiration of developing the gaming industry in Taiwan. As the passing of the new legislation from the Taiwanese government, Taiwan could be the next potential country to join the Asian casino gaming market. The purpose of this study is to determine the appropriate direction of developing the casino gaming industry in Taiwan, according to the successful experience from U.S. The findings indicated that the six factors of developing gaming business in Taiwan are geography environment, accessibility, human resource, tourism resource, tourist …

An Analysis Of South Carolina's Incentives To The Boeing Company, Amanda S. Kuker

South Carolina Journal of International Law and Business

No abstract provided.

The Status Of Recognition And Enforcement Of Judgments In The European Union, Michael D. Larobina, Richard L. Pate

WCBT Working Papers

International trade and the free movement of people are inevitably followed by legal disputes. Such litigants require an efficient and predictable dispute resolution mechanism capable of handling cases between diverse nationals. An essential part of such mechanism is a clearly defined process of judgment enforcement across national boundaries. In the past several decades, the European Union (“EU”) has necessarily addressed judgment enforcement across the boundaries of its member nations (“Member States”). Citizens of the EU need to prosecute and defend their legal rights in their home and in other EU member states. Presently, the EU is, again, considering such issues …

Canada And Investment Treaty Arbitration: Three Prominent Issues - Icsid Ratification, Constituent Subdivisions, And Health And Environmental Regulation, Barry Leon, Andrew Mcdougall, John Siwiec

South Carolina Journal of International Law and Business

No abstract provided.

A Tale Of Two Standards: An Exploration Of Us Gaap And Ifrs, Allyson Lagasse

Honors Projects in Accounting

The research in this paper has two objectives. Beginning with an examination of the historical development of how financial reporting standards are set in the United States and around the world, the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board will be studied. Setting financial reporting standards in the United States is currently a responsibility of the Financial Accounting Standards Board, while many countries abroad utilize International Financial Reporting Standards, maintained by the International Accounting Standards Board. After detailing the historical development of each of the two boards and the sets of standards they maintain, the paper continues …

Does The ‘Ease Of Doing Business’ In A Country Influence Its Foreign Direct Investment Inflows?, Katherine Piwonski

Honors Projects in Finance

Foreign direct investment has been studied for years. It is generally accepted as a positive influence on the domestic market and governments have begun actively seeking it out. This study is meant to possibly connect government actions, for which the World Bank’s ‘Doing Business Index’ was used as a proxy, to an increase in foreign direct investment inflows. The goal of this study is to help governments make more informed decisions about if and how to attract foreign direct investment. The research was done by running a regression model to find a connection between changes in foreign direct investment inflows …

The Way We Think: Ethics, Health And The Environment In International Business, David Nathan Smith

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Breaches of ethics and social responsibility in domestic and international business are typically thought to be anchored in such phenomena as greed, dishonesty and conflict of interest. While these forces are frequently at work in international business transactions, there is often another major force at work when failures of ethics and social responsibility occur. This article addresses the question of what is it about the way that transnational company managers and government officials think or don’t think that leads to breaches of ethics and social responsibility – breaches that often result in major health, environmental and social tragedies. The article …

Can We Shop Sustainably?, Stacy D. Vandeveer

The University Dialogue

No abstract provided.

The Ifc's New Africa, Latin America, And Caribbean Fund: Its Worrisome Start, And How To Fix It, Christiana Ochoa, Patrick J. Keenan

Articles by Maurer Faculty

In April 2010 the International Finance Corporation announced the creation of the African, Latin American, and Caribbean fund, a new co-investment vehicle funded largely with commitments from sovereign wealth and pension funds. The fund's objective was to draw on the IFC and the World Bank's strengths in emerging markets to identify and support enterprises that might not otherwise have come to the attention of large investors and thereby help strengthen the private sector and alleviate poverty in some of the world's poorest countries. Unfortunately the fund has, so far, proven a disappointment. It has invested only in large corporations that …

Handbook For Promoting Foreign Direct Investment In Medium-Size, Low-Budget Cities In Emerging Markets, Vale Columbia Center On Sustainable International Investment, Millennium Cities Initiative

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment Books

In November 2009, the Vale Columbia Center on Sustainable International Investment and the Millennium Cities Initiative (MCI) released the Handbook for Promoting Foreign Direct Investment in Medium-size, Low-Budget Cities in Emerging Markets. With foreign direct investment (FDI) flows declining worldwide by an estimated 40-50% this year (following a decline of over 10% in 2008), investment promotion has become more important than ever: in a highly competitive world FDI market, promotion can make all the difference.

Investment promotion is particularly important for cities other than capital cities, as investors in manufacturing and services often locate primarily in a country’s capital …

Wielding The Double-Eded Sword: Creating The Perception Of A Chinese Enterprise To Obtain And Enforce Patent Protection In China, David A. Fazzolare

Brigham Young University International Law & Management Review

No abstract provided.

Life, Liberty, And The Pursuit Of Luxury: Ebay's Liability For Contributory Trademark Infringement In The United States, Germany, And France, Sofia H. Ahmed

Brigham Young University International Law & Management Review

No abstract provided.

A Model To Explain Microfranchising In Bottom Of The Pyramid Markets, Robert J. Jensen, Chris Sutter

Brigham Young University International Law & Management Review

No abstract provided.

The Evolution And Utilization Of The Gatt/Wto Dispute Settlement Mechanism, Pao Li Chang

Research Collection School Of Economics

This paper attempts to study the usage of the GATT/WTO dispute settlement mechanism and to explain its patterns across different regimes and decades, using a unified theoretical model. This study first explores the role of the degree of legal controversy over a panel ruling in determining countries’ incentives to block/appeal a panel report under the GATT/WTO regime. The model is able to explain the surge in blocking incidence during the 1980s over the preceding GATT years and the immense frequency at which the new appellate procedure under the WTO is invoked. Furthermore, a two-sided asymmetric information framework is used to …

The Role Of Private Sector Investment In International Microfinance And The Implications Of Domestic Regulatory Environments, William Langer

Brigham Young University International Law & Management Review

No abstract provided.

Hedge Funds: The Case Against Increased Global Regulation In Light Of The Subprime Mortgate Crisis, Laszlo Ladi

Brigham Young University International Law & Management Review

No abstract provided.

States, Markets, And Gatekeepers: Public-Private Regulatory Regimes In An Era Of Economic Globalization, Christopher M. Bruner

Scholarly Works

This paper illuminates the spectrum of international economic regimes through discussion of an under-theorized regulatory structure in which traditional distinctions between state and market, public and private power, hard and soft law, and international and domestic policy realms, essentially collapse - the public-private gatekeeper.

Specifically, I examine striking similarities between global bond markets and e-commerce markets through comparison of entities regulating admission to them - the dominant credit rating agencies (Standard & Poor's and Moody's), and the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). Following anexamination of the development of these markets and the global regulatory power exercised by …

Foreign Institutional Investment In India: What A Portfolio Manager Needs To Know About The Past, Present, And Potential Future Of India, Amelia Ames

Brigham Young University International Law & Management Review

No abstract provided.

Informational Advantages In An International World—Kurtzman & Yago's Global Edge: Using The Opacity Index To Manage The Risks Of Cross-Border Business, Ilmr Editors

Brigham Young University International Law & Management Review

No abstract provided.

Jessica Burley On The Poor Always Pay Back: The Grameen Ii Story By Asif Dowla And Dipal Barua. Bloomfield, Ct: Kumarian Press, Inc. 2006. 320pp., Jessica Burley

Human Rights & Human Welfare

A review of:

The Poor Always Pay Back: The Grameen II Story by Asif Dowla and Dipal Barua. Bloomfield, CT: Kumarian Press, Inc. 2006. 320pp.

From Odious Debt To Odious Finance: Avoiding The Externalities Of A Functional Odious Debt Doctrine, Christiana Ochoa

Articles by Maurer Faculty

This Article looks at the generally agreed upon characteristics of the odious debt doctrine and considers the unintended consequences and externalities that would ensue if this doctrine were ever made regularly operative. The enlivened scholarly debate surrounding the odious debt doctrine assumes that debt is the sole finance vehicle for despotic governments. This is simply not the case.

Debt is not the sole finance vehicle; despots are able to raise funds through a wide variety of other methods. These include the pillaging of the nation's natural resources, property, and other valuable asset as well as the exploitation of the nation's …