Law Commons^™

Strategic Enforcement, Alex Stein, Margaret H. Lemos

Alex Stein

Doctrine and scholarship recognize two basic models of enforcing the law: the comprehensive model, under which law-enforcers try to apprehend and punish every violator within the bounds of feasibility; and the randomized model, under which law enforcers economize their efforts by apprehending a small number of violators and heightening their penalties so as to make violations unattractive. This Article supplements this list of options by developing a strategic model of law enforcement. Under this model, law enforcers concentrate their effort on the worst, or most rampant, violators at a given point in time while leaving all others unpunished. This enforcement …

Determining The Appropriate Interest Rate Under Till In A Bankruptcy Proceeding, C. Paul Wazzan

Christopher P Wazzan

The determination of the appropriate rate of interest in a bankruptcy proceeding is guided by the United States Supreme Court’s decision in Till v. SCS Credit Com. which establishes a formula approach and states one should begin with the Prime Rate and then consider: 1) the circumstances of the bankruptcy estate; 2) the nature of the security; 3) the duration of the reorganization plan; and 4) the feasibility of the reorganization plan. The Supreme Court decision does not specify exactly what these four factors consist of. This paper attempts to superimpose economic principles on the Till decision and provide legal …

Down The Rabbit Hole: The Madness Of State Film Incentives As As "Solution" To Runaway Production, Adrian H. Mcdonald

Adrian H. McDonald

This working paper is a "sequel" to my first law review article on runaway productions called "Through the Looking Glass": Runaway Productions and "Hollywood Economics," published in The University of Pennsylvania Journal of Labor and Employment Law in August 2007.

Since 2007, there has been a race to the bottom as virtually every state has enacted significant, if not detrimentally generous, tax incentives to lure film and television production. The efficacy of these incentives is evaluated at length, with particular attention paid to the origin and implementation of tax incentives in California, Massachusetts and Louisiana - states with colorful backgrounds …

When Enough Is Not Enough: Correcting Market Inefficiencies In The Purchase And Sale Of Residential Property Insurance, Kenneth S. Klein

Kenneth S Klein

Each year at least hundreds, and often thousands of Americans lose their homes to natural disasters striking populated areas, and tens of thousands lose their homes to single-instance fires, floods, or other catastrophes. A recurring storyline is that the majority of these homeowners are underinsured, meaning they have less insurance than it will cost to rebuild their homes. This Article analyzes whether that is indicative of correctible inefficiencies in the residential property insurance markets. The Article identifies two inefficiencies – (1) Inadequate information, which is impairing informed pricing decisions by purchasers; and (2) Dispute costs (such as litigation) in the …

Análisis Económico De La Intervención Judicial En Los Contratos ¿Una Cuestión De Justicia?, Daniel Monroy

Daniel A Monroy C

Desde la perspectiva del AED, una de las funciones principales del derecho de contratos, sobre la cual diferentes autores hacen mayor énfasis, es la relacionada con la “disuasión del oportunismo”; en igual sentido, otra de las funciones del derecho de contratos es la relativa a la “interpolación eficiente de términos contractuales”. Dichas funciones suelen explicar buena parte de la regulación en materia de contratos, además de justificar la intervención judicial. Por otro lado, algunos autores nos llevan a considerar que propugnar exclusivamente por la libertad y la autonomía contractual, puede llevarnos a garantizar que los contratos, además de ser mecanismos …

Análisis Económico De Los Riesgos Contractuales: Racionalidad Económica Como Argumento Para La Supresión De La Teoría De La Imprevisión., Daniel Monroy

Daniel A Monroy C

Este artículo constituye un aporte a la recurrente discusión acerca de la forma como se contempla la problemática de los riesgos contractuales desde la perspectiva jurídica tradicional, complementándola de manera crítica a través de herramientas propias del AED y haciendo especial énfasis en lo relativo a la Teoría de la Imprevisión. Se argumenta que la forma como está planteada actualmente dicha Teoría en el sistema jurídico, particularmente la dificultad para dotar objetivamente de contenido los requisitos normativos exigidos, conduce a que aquella alcance tal nivel de complejidad que dificulta ampliamente su aplicación en la realidad. Adicionalmente, al contemplarse la posibilidad …

Can The Federal Reserve Adopt An Inflation Targeting Regime Under The Current Statutory Arrangements?, Hong Kyoon Cho

Hong Kyoon Cho

This paper discussed legal perspectives in institutional framework of central banking, keyed to monetary policy framework. The statutory objectives of monetary policy provide an environment under which the central bank can design its monetary policy framework, in that the choice of the monetary policy framework could lie within the scope of the spirits embodied in the statutory objectives of monetary policy. Monetary policy framework could illuminate legal aspects of debate, as specifically seen in the Federal Reserve’s case that has adopted not an explicit but an implicit monetary policy framework, namely the Just-Do-It approach. Under the current legal mandate, i.e., …

Del Derecho Y La Economía Al Derecho Económico. Working Paper N. 1, Mario A. Pinzón Mapc

Mario A Pinzón Camargo

La relación entre derecho y economía se ha condensado en un nuevo espacio de reflexión que puede ser denominado como un nuevo paradigma en las ciencias sociales. A diferencia de la concepción clásica que plantea el antagonismo entre estas dos, éste artículo examina su complementariedad. The link between law and economics has been condensed in a new space of reflection that can be called a new paradigm within the social sciences, which intends to build the bridges of understanding between these two sciences. In contrast to the classical conception that states the antagonism in between them, due to their constitutive …

Puntos De Encuentro Y Apoyo De La Nueva Economía Institucional En El Análisis De Las Políticas Públicas. Working Paper N. 2, Mario A. Pinzón Mapc

Mario A Pinzón Camargo

Este artículo tiene como propósito analizar el grado de utilidad de una de las vertientes del Análisis Económico del Derecho, la Nueva Economía Institucional, en el Análisis de Políticas Públicas.

An Empirical Analysis Of Regulator Mandates On The Pass Through Of Switched Access Fees For In-State Long-Distance Telecommunications In The U.S., Debra J. Aron, David E. Burnstein, Ana Danies, Gerry Keith

Debra J. Aron

In the parlance of regulatory economics, “pass through” refers to the effect of a change in an incremental cost – generally, the effect of a change in a regulated input price – on the retail price of a good or service. In this paper we examine pass through with regard to the switched access fees paid by long distance companies to local exchange carriers in the United States. We estimate the degree to which long distance companies pass through differences in access rates to their customers, and we examine whether mandates imposed by regulators on long distance companies to pass …

Law, Institutions And Corruption Cleanups In Africa, John Mukum Mbaku

JOHN MUKUM MBAKU

ABSTRACT Since independence, virtually all African countries have suffered and continue to suffer from extremely high rates of bureaucratic corruption. Today, corruption remains one of the most important constraints to social, political and economic development. Despite the efforts made, in several countries, to deal with corruption and other forms of political opportunism (e.g., rent seeking), these phenomena remain entrenched in these countries and continue to constrain entrepreneurship and creation of the wealth that is needed to deal with extremely high rates of poverty and material deprivation. Part of the reason why many African countries have not been able to effectively …

Derecho Y Eficiencia Económica, Fernando Castillo Cadena

Fernando Castillo Cadena

No abstract provided.

Title Insurance: One Aspect To Consider In Land Reform In Ghana, Kweku Darfoor

Kweku Darfoor

This paper analyzes the land administration policies in Ghana to determine what the impact on the real estate sector has been. Additionally, this paper will briefly analyze title insurance in the United States market and assesses if this same insurance scheme could be implemented in the nation of Ghana to develop a robust real estate sector. Moreover, this paper illustrates how the current regulatory policies in Ghana provide insufficient protection for investors in the real property market, thereby increasing the transaction costs, reducing efficiency, and driving potential investors away from the market because of insecurity in the real estate sector.

Executive Compensation: The Law And Incentives, Stas Getmanenko

Stas Getmanenko

Excessive executive compensation frequently breeds resentment, undermines consumer faith in the financial system, and overly stigmatizes otherwise common business failures. Frequently, the opponents of lavish pay packages compare executive compensation to the compensation of rank-and-file workers. Such criticism reflects perfectly appropriate societal concerns over pay equity and distribution of wealth within a society. An entirely separate source of friction is the shareholders’ right to benefit from the corporation’s wealth. Shareholders’ dividend is directly reduced by the company’s expenses, one of which executive compensation. For most of today’s public companies the executive compensation expense is often negligible when considered in light …

The Mortgage Market Crisis: A Game Theory Analysis, Raquel Mato

Raquel Mato

The mortgage market experienced a global bubble during the early 2000s. The bubble burst in 2006, creating a global financial crisis with widespread repercussions. In this paper, I will discuss how the mortgage market normally works and what changes occurred leading up to the 2000s that allowed for the rapid expansion of the mortgage market. I will talk about contributing factors such as: deregulation of the market, government encouragement of homeownership, the mortgage backed securities market, existing legislation, and a general lack of responsibility by all parties involved. I will use various aspects of game theory to explain how this …

Statistical Evidence On The Gender Gap In Law Firm Partner Compensation, Marina Angel, Eun Young Whang, Rajiv Banker, Joseph F. Lopez

Marina Angel

Our study compiled the largest research sample on the gender gap in compensation at the 200 largest law firms by combining two large databases to examine why women partners are compensated less: because they are less productive than men partners or because they are women. The AmLaw 100 and 200 studies include gross revenue, profits, number of equity and non-equity partners, and the total number of lawyers at each firm. The Vault/MCCA Law Firm Diversity Programs study (Vault/MCCA) includes the gender ratios at each AmLaw 200 firm. Our study covers the years 2002 to 2007.

The ratio of women equity …

Cleaning Up The Refuse From A Financial Crisis: The Case For A Resolution Management Corporation, James Thomson

James B Thomson

Systemic banking and financial crises invariably result in the transfer of a large volume of distressed financial assets into the hands of the government, which must later dispose of them. The fiscal and economic costs of the crisis and the speed of recovery depend on how effectively the government’s salvage operations can re-privatize these assets. To maximize the operations’ effectiveness, I propose that the government create a temporary resolution management corporation. Drawing on Kane’s (1990) asset-salvage principles, as well as the U.S. experience with special-purpose entities for managing and disposing of assets stripped from distressed financial firms’ balance sheets, I …

Is The Public Utility Holding Company Act A Model For Breaking Up The Banks That Are Too-Big-To-Fail?, Roberta S. Karmel

Roberta S. Karmel

ABSTRACT FOR “IS THE PUBLIC UTILITY HOLDING COMPANY ACT A MODEL FOR BREAKING UP THE BANKS THAT ARE TO-BIG-TO-FAIL?”

BY ROBERTA S. KARMEL

During the financial crisis of 2007-08 and the debates on regulatory reform that followed, there was general agreement that the “too-big-to-fail” principle creates unacceptable moral hazard. Policy makers divided, however, on the solutions to this problem. Some argued that the banking behemoths in the United States should be broken up. Others argued that dismantling the big banks would be bad policy because these banks would not be able to compete with universal banks in the global capital …

An Economic Analysis Of Patent Law's Inequitable Conduct Doctrine, Thomas F. Cotter

Thomas F. Cotter

In recent years, patent law’s inequitable conduct doctrine has attracted considerable attention from judges, legislators, patent lawyers and commentators, culminating most recently in the Federal Circuit’s decision to reconsider en banc several aspects of the doctrine in Therasense, Inc. v. Becton, Dickinson & Co. Building on the work of other scholars, this Article proposes an instrumental view of the doctrine as, ideally, a tool for inducing patent applicants to disclose the optimal quantity of information relating to the patentability of their inventions; it then presents a formal model of the applicant’s choices in deciding how much information to reveal. The …

Essay: The Curious Case Of Greening In Carbon Markets, James Salzman, William Boyd

James Salzman

Over the last several years, so-called “carbon markets” have emerged around the world. These markets trade different types of greenhouse gas credits. In this essay, we take a close look at an unexpected and unprecedented development – premium “green” currencies have emerged alongside and even displaced standard compliance currencies. Past experiences with other environmental compliance markets, such as the sulfur dioxide and wetlands mitigation markets, suggest the exact opposite should be occurring. Indeed, buyers in such markets should only be interested in buying compliance, not in the underlying environmental integrity of the compliance unit. In carbon markets, however, higher quality …

An Economic Analysis Of Patent Law's Inequitable Conduct Doctrine, Thomas F. Cotter

Thomas F. Cotter

In recent years, patent law’s inequitable conduct doctrine has attracted considerable attention from judges, legislators, patent lawyers and commentators, culminating most recently in the Federal Circuit’s decision to reconsider en banc several aspects of the doctrine in Therasense, Inc. v. Becton, Dickinson & Co. Building on the work of other scholars, this Article proposes an instrumental view of the doctrine as, ideally, a tool for inducing patent applicants to disclose the optimal quantity of information relating to the patentability of their inventions; it then presents a formal model of the applicant’s choices in deciding how much information to reveal. The …

Big But Brittle: Economic Perspectives On The Future Of The Law Firm In The New Economy, Bernard A. Burk, David Mcgowan

Bernard A Burk

This Article addresses the deceptively simple questions why, up to the onset of the recent recession, law firms continued to grow at the rapid rate and in the unusual configuration that they have exhibited for over 40 years; and whether lawyers, clients, law students and law schools should expect familiar trends to reassert themselves as the economy improves. We show that the copious academic theorizing addressing these questions (focusing on such notions as diversification, asset specificity, “tournament” theory, and reputational and agency-cost concerns at the level of the firm as a whole) has proved ineffective at explaining or predicting actual …

Re-Thinking First Principles Of Transfer Pricing Rules, John Ja Burke

John JA Burke

This Article rejects the conventional wisdom that “transfer pricing rules” are designed either to level the playing field between Multi-National Enterprises [MNEs] and medium sized enterprises or to prevent pre-meditated tax evasion by MNEs. Rather, this Article posits that “transfer pricing rules” [TPRs] are substitutes for diminished tariff revenue, or imposed artificial mark-ups, shifting costs to ultimate purchasers, and contradicting the fundamental rule of microeconomic theory of firm maximizing profits by equating marginal cost and marginal revenue. The debate about transfer pricing now centres on tweaking the “arm’s length principle”, safe harbour rules, and advance pricing agreements. Lost in this …

An Economic Analysis Of Patent Law's Inequitable Conduct Doctrine, Thomas F. Cotter

Thomas F. Cotter

In recent years, patent law’s inequitable conduct doctrine has attracted considerable attention from judges, legislators, patent lawyers and commentators, culminating most recently in the Federal Circuit’s decision to reconsider en banc several aspects of the doctrine in Therasense, Inc. v. Becton, Dickinson & Co. Building on the work of other scholars, this Article proposes an instrumental view of the doctrine as, ideally, a tool for inducing patent applicants to disclose the optimal quantity of information relating to the patentability of their inventions; it then presents a formal model of the applicant’s choices in deciding how much information to reveal. The …

Optimal Fines For False Patent Marking, Thomas F. Cotter

Thomas F. Cotter

Since January 1, 2010, plaintiffs have filed over three hundred lawsuits under 35 U.S.C. § 292, the false patent marking statute. Fueled in large part by recent Federal Circuit case law embracing an expansive interpretation of the statute, this uptick has alarmed some observers, who fear that patent owners whose products bear the numbers of expired or inapplicable patents could be liable for, literally, billions of dollars in fines. While Congress and the courts consider various responses, one issue that has failed to attract much notice thus far is the question of how to calculate appropriate fines for marking violations. …

Reviving An Epithet: A New Way Forward For The Essential Facilities Doctrine, Sandeep Vaheesan

Sandeep Vaheesan

For sound economic reasons, the antitrust laws, in general, do not require firms to share their assets with rivals. When a particular asset has natural monopoly characteristics and is used as an input in other markets, however, the essential facilities doctrine requires that the asset be shared with firms in related markets. In recent decades, the Supreme Court and leading scholars have criticized the doctrine, claiming it is economically inefficient and taxes the institutional capacity of the judiciary.

Historically, the courts most often applied the doctrine to tangible natural monopolies like electric transmission grids and bottleneck railroad lines. In recent …

Was Selden Right? The Expansion Of Closed Seas And Its Consequences, Scott Shackelford

Scott Shackelford

This Article focuses on the relationship between the legal regimes governing offshore resources in the continental shelves and the deep seabed, particularly in reference to the extent to which continental shelf claims are encroaching on the deep seabed. The question of how well these respective legal regimes regulate resource exploitation will also be considered, along with an analysis of the underlying reasons driving change in these governance structures. I argue that the primary issue is one of whether vague rules, particularly UNCLOS Article 76, are working in terms of incentivizing sustainable, peaceful development of offshore resources.

Non- Profit Charitable Tax Exempt Hospitals- Wolves In Sheep's Clothing:To Increase Fairness And Enhance Compition All Hospitals Should Be For Profit And Taxable, George A. Nation Iii

George A Nation III

Most hospitals in the United States are not-for-profit tax exempt institutions. Legally these hospitals are deemed to be charities and are exempt from federal, state and local taxes, raise money through tax exempt bond offerings and receive charitable contributions that are tax deductible to the donors. Today it is estimated that 47 million Americans lack access to healthcare.5A Moreover, even when the new Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act5B is fully operational, which is estimated to be around 2019, there will still be millions of Americans without health insurance and thus without reliable access to healthcare.5C Notwithstanding the millions of …

Is It Greek Or Déjà Vu All Over Again?: Neoliberalism, And Winners And Losers Of International Debt Crises, Tayyab Mahmud

Tayyab Mahmud

The global financial meltdown and the Great Recession of 2007-09 have brought into sharp relief the uneven distribution of gain and pain in economic crises. The 2009-10 debt crisis of Greece has resulted in a windfall for financial institutions at the expense of tax-payers, a rollback of welfare systems, and impoverishment of the working classes. This result is in tune with a pattern evidenced by the ubiquitous international debt crises of the last three decades, including the Latin American crisis of the 1980s, and the Asian crisis of 1990s. The recurrent international debt crises of the last three decades and …

The Inefficiency Of The Accession Doctrine: A Case For The Property Rule, Yun-Chien Chang

Yun-chien Chang

The accession doctrine in property law exists in both common law countries and civil law countries. The prior literature does not question, and even makes a case for, the efficiency of the accession doctrine. I argue that the accession doctrine fails to meet the normative standard that the law should allocate property rights to the party who values them the most. Efficiency should be ascertained by comparing the ex ante economic values of the original owner and the improver, not by comparing the fair market value of the processed properties before and after the improvements, as the accession doctrine dictates. …