Law Commons^™

Disrespecting The Minimum Wage: How States Limit The Opportunity For Restaurant Workers To Support Themselves, Samantha Pereira

Themis: Research Journal of Justice Studies and Forensic Science

This paper examines the inequality in the restaurant industry in America. It focuses specifically on the tipped minimum wages in different states compared to the real minimum wage and looks into the gender and racial inequality present in restaurants. The first section analyzes the history of tipping and what it has become in the United States. The paper then moves to describe different struggles that tipped workers in the restaurant industry have to face. The paper also discusses different arguments to raising the tipped minimum wage and compares states with a tipped minimum wage and states without a tipped minimum …

Subcontracting And The Survival Of Plants In The Road Construction Industry: A Panel Quantile Regression Analysis, Dakshina G. De Silva, Georgia Kosmopoulou, Carlos Lamarche

Economics Faculty Publications

This paper investigates how subcontracting parts of contracted work shapes entrants’ success and survival. We find that newly developed quantile regression approaches can be adapted to study survival of firms competing for government contracts in road construction. The method is applied on a data set that includes patterns of firm entry, exit and auction related information. We find an apparent increase in the business life of firms who subcontract out part of their projects. In Texas, these subcontracting effects appear to be more pronounced for firms with few or no options outside the industry, and among firms who contract out …

Taxation, Competitiveness, And Inversions: A Response To Kleinbard, Michael S. Knoll

All Faculty Scholarship

In this report, I argue that the inversion situation is more nuanced, complex, and ambiguous than Edward D. Kleinbard acknowledges, and I challenge Kleinbard’s claim that U.S. multinationals are on a tax par with their foreign competitors.

I Share, Therefore It's Mine, Donald J. Kochan

Donald J. Kochan

The Retirement Strategy Of Supreme Court Justices: An Economic Approach, Kayla M. Joyce

Honors Scholar Theses

Previous research has identified strategic behavior in the nomination, confirmation, and retirement processes of the Supreme Court, each independently. This paper analyzes the interaction between the justices, the president, and the Senate in these processes. I constructed a game theoretic model to consider the nomination and approval process of Supreme Court justices and the change in dynamics that might result from an impending election. I hypothesize that sitting justices take into account the party affiliations of the president and the Senate when they are deciding whether it is the optimal time to retire to achieve their own strategic objectives. The …

Migration And Injustice In The Neoliberal Era: A Comparative Analysis Of Migratory Laws And Sweatshop Labor Conditions In Argentina And The United States, Kelly L. Johnson

Spanish Honors Papers

In the contemporary neoliberal era, the global phenomenon of migration dominates the international political discourse and generates empirical and normative questions regarding the admission, rights, and realities of migrants who leave their home countries to live elsewhere. Argentina and the United States are countries in which migration was, and continues to be, a main factor in shaping the nation’s identity. Despite the similar migratory phenomenon in both of these countries, their migratory policies vastly differ—Argentina considers migration to be a right, but the United States constantly strengthens its efforts to deter migrants from entering the country. Even though migratory policies …

In Solidarity, Musselman Library, Salma Monani, Sarah M. Principato, Dave Powell, Brent C. Talbot, Charles L. Weise, Bruce A. Larson, Scott Hancock, Mckinley E. Melton, David S. Walsh, Jennifer Q. Mccary, Kristina G. Chamberlin

Next Page

This edition of Next Page is a departure from our usual question and answer format with a featured campus reader. Instead, we asked speakers who participated in the College’s recent Student Solidarity Rally (March 1, 2017) to recommend readings that might further our understanding of the topics on which they spoke.

Who Bleeds When The Wolves Bite? A Flesh-And-Blood Perspective On Hedge Fund Activism And Our Strange Corporate Governance System, Leo E. Strine Jr.

All Faculty Scholarship

This paper examines the effects of hedge fund activism and so-called wolf pack activity on the ordinary human beings—the human investors—who fund our capital markets but who, as indirect of owners of corporate equity, have only limited direct power to ensure that the capital they contribute is deployed to serve their welfare and in turn the broader social good.

Most human investors in fact depend much more on their labor than on their equity for their wealth and therefore care deeply about whether our corporate governance system creates incentives for corporations to create and sustain jobs for them. And because …

No More Starving Artists: Why The Art Market Needs A Universal Artist Resale Royalty Right, Allison Schten

Notre Dame Journal of International & Comparative Law

Artists often struggle to make a living because they see profits only from the first sales of their work. Unlike other creative arts, where the creator can earn a living via sales of books or music, an artist’s product is valuable for its singularity. Droit de suite, or the artist resale royalty right, allows artists to recover a percentage of profits from resales of their work. Implementing resale royalty schemes has been a subject of controversy worldwide due to fears that the art market will relocate to areas without such additional transaction costs—but broad-scale, international implementation of droit de …

Behavioral Public Choice And The Law, Gary M. Lucas Jr., Slaviša Tasić

Gary M. Lucas Jr.

Behavioral public choice is the study of irrationality among political actors. In this context, irrationality means systematic bias, a deviation from rational expectations, or other departure from economists’ conception of rationality. Behavioral public choice scholars extend the insights of behavioral economics to the political realm and show that irrational behavior is an important source of government failure. This Article makes an original contribution to the legal literature by systematically reviewing the findings of behavioral public choice and explaining their implications for the law and legal institutions. We discuss the various biases and heuristics that lead political actors to support and …

P14. Estimating The Effects Of File-Sharing On Movie Box-Office, Zhuang Liu

Western Research Forum

Background:

File-sharing and on-line piracy have caught great public attention. There is a public debate on whether or not we should close torrenting sites like Piratedbay.com. Copyright holders argue yes and claim substantial loss due to filesharing while Pirates claim that file-sharing is welfare-improving and the effects on sale are negligible. Right now no consensus has been reached on how file-sharing affects industry revenue in economics literature.

Methods:

Using a novel dataset of downloads from Bit-Torrent network, this paper quantifies the effects of file-sharing on movie box-office revenue. I estimate a random coefficient demand model of movies to …

Weak Law V Strong Ties: An Empirical Study Of Business Investment, Law And Political Connections In China, Wei Zhang, Ji Li

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

Based on a large-scale survey of Chinese entrepreneurs, our study explores how institutions (formal and informal) influence investment decisions made by private companies. The study finds that, consistent with the conventional view, a more effective legal system is correlated with short-term general investment, and that the judiciary is important mainly because of its restraint over the state. The role of effective courts, however, diminishes when private entrepreneurs consider making long-term investment. We find a positive association between the entrepreneurs’ political backgrounds and their R&D investment, suggesting that Chinese courts, in spite of decades of reform, are not yet viewed as …

The Altruistic Rich? Inequality And Other-Regarding Preferences For Redistribution, Matthew Dimick, David Rueda, Daniel Stegmueller

Journal Articles

What determines support among individuals for redistributive policies? Do individuals care about others when they assess the consequences of redistribution? This article proposes a model of other-regarding preferences for redistribution, which we term income-dependent altruism. Our model predicts that an individual’s preferred level of redistribution is decreasing in income, increasing in inequality, and, more importantly, that the inequality effect is increasing in income. Thus, even though the rich prefer less redistribution than the poor, the rich are more responsive, in a positive way, to changes in inequality than are the poor. We contrast these results with several other prominent …

Enforcing Corporate Social Responsibility Codes Under Private Law: On The Disciplining Power Of Legal Doctrine, Jan M. Smits

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

A central question in the debate on corporate social responsibility is to what extent CSR codes can be enforced among private parties. This contribution argues that this question is best answered by reference to the applicable doctrinal legal system. Such a doctrinal approach has recently regained importance in American scholarship, while it is still the prevailing method of legal analysis in Europe. Applying a doctrinal analysis of CSR codes allows for the possibility of private law enforcement, that is, enforcement by means of contract or tort, dependent on three different elements: the exact type of claim that is brought, the …

Corporate Codes In The Varieties Of Capitalism: How Their Enforcement Depends On The Differences Among Production Regimes, Gunther Teubner

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

Globalization has reinforced the conflicts among the varieties of capitalism. The colliding units are not just nation states, but transnational production regimes, which cut through national boundaries. The conflicts lead global corporate codes, which are developed by international organizations, to take different directions when they are concretized on the enterprise level. They will be differently enforced according to whether they are located in Liberal Market Economies (LME), adapted to the New Sovereignty of enterprises, or in Coordinated Market Economies (CME) with greater components of social welfare state and economic democracy.

Different patterns of enforcement emerge particularly when the courts have …

The Present Interest Test For Purposes Of Special Use Valuation, Neil E. Harl

Neil E. Harl

Since publication of the initial regulations, the Internal Revenue Service has maintained that real property was eligible for special use valuation only if a qualified heir received a present interest from the decedent. Two branches of the present interest test have emerged.

Health Insurance For Employees, Neil E. Harl

Neil E. Harl

The rising cost of medical and hospital care and the cost of insurance coverage have led to increased interest in ways to make such costs fully deductible without the benefits being includible in income for the taxpayer. Through 1991 (and the first six months of 1992 if the President signs the bill extending the deduction through June 1992), a 25 percent deduction is allowed for health and accident amounts for self-employed individuals provided — (1) the taxpayer is not eligible to participate in any subsidized health plan maintained by an employer for the taxpayer or the taxpayer's spouse and (2) …

Reporting Government Farm Payment Programs, Neil E. Harl

Neil E. Harl

As a general rule, federal (and state) agricultural program payments received as cash or in the form of services are includible in income. The time at which the amounts are received or made available is ordinarily the time the payments are to be included in income. Amounts are considered to be "made available" in the year in which program requirements have been met, regardless of whether an application had been signed to receive final payment. The fact that a farm operator does not sign the application for final payment until the following year does not defer income to the later …

Joint Tenancy Disclaimers: What Can Be Disclaimed?, Neil E. Harl

Neil E. Harl

For years the Internal Revenue Service resisted the disclaimer of joint tenancy interests on the grounds that the disclaimer had to occur within nine months of the creation of the joint tenancy. IRS eventually came to accept the disclaimer of revocable joint tenancies within nine months after death and even more recently indicated that the Service would not resist the disclaimer of joint tenancy interests in other than revocable joint tenancies where there was a predeath right to sever the joint interests The focus on when joint tenancies could be disclaimed obscured the question of what could be disclaimed.

No Interest Deduction For Private Annuities, Neil Harl

Neil E. Harl

Although a 1929 case, Commissioner v. Moore Corp., had suggested that an interest deduction could be claimed by the obligor under a private annuity arrangement, cases considering the issue since that time have held that no part of the payments made under private annuities involving the acquisition of property is deductible as interest. A 1992 decision by the U.S. Claims Court, Rye v. United States, is in accord with the view that an interest deduction may not be claimed by the obligor and the imputed interest rules likewise do not apply to private annuities.

Renting Farm Machinery At Retirement Or Otherwise, Neil E. Harl

Neil E. Harl

The 1989 Tax Court case of Carl Stevenson has raised questions as to whether self-employment tax is due on rental income where farm machinery is rented to others (usually children) after retirement or is retained at the time of incorporation and rented to the newly-formed corporate entity.

Setting Up Living Trusts, Neil E. Harl

Neil E. Harl

The recent enthusiasm for setting up revocable living trusts is supported by two pluses — (1) a way to assure flexibility in management for property in those later years when individuals may not be in a good position to manage their assets and (2) an opportunity for some simplification in estate settlement. However, several factors of a technical or practical nature should be taken into account before the decision is made to establish a revocable living trust.

Paying Wages In Kind: Proposed Repeal Of The Provision, Neil Harl

Neil E. Harl

Tucked away in a remote corner of the Revenue Act of 1992 lies the long-expected Congressional challenge to the practice of payment of wages in kind to agricultural labor. Barring a major lobbying effort, the provision is likely to be aboard the next major tax bill to pass the Congress.

Paying Wages In Kind, Neil Harl

Neil E. Harl

In general, wages paid in kind rather than in cash to agricultural labor are not subject to FICA or FUTA taxes. In addition, agricultural labor is exempt from income tax withholding except as the payment constitutes "wages." Wages paid "in any medium other than cash for agricultural labor" are exempt from the term "wages." Recent rulings (and apparent Internal Revenue Service scrutiny of the practice) have focused attention on the issue although neither the practice of paying wages in kind nor the authority for unique tax treatment of such in kind payments is new.

Income Tax Aspects Of Property Transfers, Roger A. Mceowen, Neil E. Harl

Neil E. Harl

Property can be transferred by sale or gift during life, or by inheritance at death. The income tax consequences of each type of transfer are different.

Repossessing Land, Neil E. Harl

Neil E. Harl

Before enactment of I.R.C. § 1038 in 1964, repossession of real property following default under an installment sale transaction generally resulted in substantial gain or loss, usually to the extent of the difference between the fair market value of the property at the time of repossession and the income tax basis of the installment obligation. Repossession was essentially treated as a disposition of the obligation.

Revenue Act Of 1992 (Proposed) Summary Of Selected Provisions, Neil Harl

Neil E. Harl

The legislation would extend on a permanent basis the targeted jobs credit and would restore individuals aged 23 and 24 to the category of economically disadvantaged youth. The provision would be effective for individuals who begin work for an employer after June 30, 1992.

Making Valid Dislaimers, Neil E. Harl

Neil E. Harl

The disclaimer is easily one of the most useful devices in the estate planner's kit. Using disclaimers artfully, the planner can sculpt a dispositive pattern after death has occurred and all variables are known including asset values, asset ownership patterns, needs of the family (at least as of the time of the decedent's death) and state of the tax system. All of these factors may be shrouded in uncertainty at the time the estate is planned before death and the instruments are drafted. Disclaimers permit a late opportunity to carry out the testator's wishes and to do so in a …

Handling Employee Expenses, Neil E. Harl

Neil E. Harl

Although farm and ranch employees may incur a range of different kinds of expenses for which reimbursement may be sought, the most common problem situation involves reimbursement for automobile expense. This article discusses the reporting of amounts paid as automobile reimbursement and amounts paid under an "accountable plan."

Interest Rates On Installment Sales, Neil E. Harl

Neil E. Harl

Since 1964, a minimum interest rate has been imposed on installment sales. More precisely, a part of each principal payment under an installment sale is treated as interest rather than sales price (and the total sales price is correspondingly reduced) if interest of less than the prescribed rate is specified.