Law Commons^™

Crowding Out Theory: Protecting Shareholders By Balancing Executives’ Incentives In France, The United States, & China, Palden Flynn

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

This paper explores the differences between executive compensation regimes in France, the United States, and China. It asks whether there is a link between state regulation of real options as a form of executive compensation and state regulation of shareholder protections. This paper argues that if a country regulates the use of real options as compensation, then that country is also more likely to have strong shareholder protection laws. This argument seems to be true based on a descriptive review of executive compensation law and shareholder protections in France, the United States, and China.

If it is true that countries …

Development And Distrust: A Critique Of The Orthodox Path To Economic Prosperity, W. Tyler Perry

Northwestern University Law Review

The dominant strain of law and development theory holds that strong property rights are a necessary condition for economic growth. Nonetheless, China has experienced thirty years of frenetic growth absent strong property rights. This Note explores this phenomenon through an analysis of a unique corporate form that has come to underlie most of the publicly traded Chinese Internet sector—the Variable Interest Entity (VIE). The VIE is, at its core, a series of contracts designed to mimic “true” ownership. As such, the VIE problematizes law and development theory in two primary ways. First, the contract-based ownership system does not provide the …

Resolving Commercial Disputes In China: Foreign Firms And The Role Of Contract Law, Roy F. Grow

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

It is not my intention to explicate China's Foreign Economic Contract Law (FECL), the Joint Venture Law (JVL), or the Foreign Enterprise Income Tax Law (FEITL). The analysis of these codes has been done in great detail by others.' Instead, I will examine the actual behavior of the most important actors governed by this set of laws-the Chinese and foreign enterprises that work with one another and which must find ways to resolve their competing claims. In this study, I will examine the tension between Chinese and foreign firms by focusing on several specific and limited questions having to do …

China's Foreign Economic Contract Law: Its Significance And Analysis, Zhang Yuqing, James S. Mclean

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

Postrevolutionary China did not trade with the West prior to the announcement of its "open door policy" in 1977, when one-fifth of the world's population joined the mainstream global trading system. Since then, China's trade has increased dramatically, particularly with the United States. China's need for trade regulation and control resulted in the Foreign Economic Contract Law' ("FECL") in 1985. Through an understanding of the FECL's provisions and East-West trade characteristics, the practitioner may become an effective advisor to clients who trade with China or who are considering doing so.