Law Commons^™

The Critical Resource Theory Of Fiduciary Duty, D. Gordon Smith

Faculty Scholarship

This Article proposes a new theory to unify the law of fiduciary duty. The prevailing view holds that fiduciary law is atomistic, arising for varied reasons in established categories of cases (such as trustee-beneficiary and director-shareholder) and ad hoc in relationships where one person trusts another and becomes vulnerable to harm as a result. By contrast, the critical resource theory of fiduciary duty holds that every relationship properly designated as fiduciary conforms to the following pattern: one party (the fiduciary) acts on behalf of another party (the beneficiary) while exercising discretion with respect to a critical resource belonging to the …

Changing The Culture Of Science: Teaching Research Ethics To Graduate Students And Post-Doctoral Fellows, Brian Schrag

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Papers

Paper presented for the Center of the Study of Ethics in Society Western Michigan University, October 11, 2001.

Research Ethics, Wmu Center For The Study Of Ethics In Society

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Papers

Papers published by the center, April 2002.

Teaching Research Ethics: An Institutional Change Model, Michael Pritchard

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Papers

Paper presented to the center, April 2002.

Toward An Ethical School, Stephan Millett

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Papers

Paper presented for the Center of the Study of Ethics in Society Western Michigan University, January 22, 2002.

The Meaning Of Property Rights: Law Versus Economics? , Daniel H. Cole, Peter Z. Grossman

Scholarship and Professional Work - Business

Property rights are fundamentals to economic analysis. There is, however, no consensus in the economic literature about what property rights are. Economists define them variously and inconsistently, sometimes in ways that deviate from the conventional understandings of legal scholars and judges. This article explores ways in which definitions of property rights in the economic literature diverge from conventional legal understandings, and how those divergences can create interdisciplinary confusion and bias economic analyses. Indeed, some economists' idiosyncratic definitions of property rights, if used to guide policy, could lead to suboptimal economic outcomes.

Adequacy Of The 1995 Antitrust Guidelines For The Licensing Of Intellectual Property In Complex High Tech Markets, Clovia Hamilton

Winthrop Faculty and Staff Publications

In 1995, the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission adopted new guidelines for those wishing to license intellectual property rights without violating antitrust laws. Designed to provide clarity, these guidelines instead breed confusion because they misunderstand the nature of intellectual property markets and provide insufficient guidance in the most difficult areas. Section I of this article will discuss the basic provisions of the guidelines, especially their treatment of "innovation markets." It argues that government enforcers should focus primarily on activity that creates entry barriers. Understanding the use and misuse of licensing is the key to analyzing barriers in …

Academic Freedom In Times Of Turmoil, Petr Kolar

Center for the Study of Ethics in Society Papers

Papers presented for the Center of the Study of Ethics in Society Western Michigan University November 5, 2001.

Dangerous Liaisons: Corporate Law, Trust Law, And Interdoctrinal Legal Transplants, Edward B. Rock, Michael L. Wachter

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Proposal For A Centralized And Integrated Registry For Security Interests In Intellectual Property, William J. Murphy

Law Faculty Scholarship

As the world economy enters the twenty-first century, job and wealth creation is increasingly based on innovation and creativity that, in turn, can give rise to important intellectual property rights. For many companies and individuals these intellectual property rights may represent their most valuable assets, or in some cases, their only valuable assets. As a result, intellectual property rights increasingly play a critical the role in financing.

Unlocking the job and wealth creating potential of intellectual property assets requires putting these assets into use, and that often requires a capital investment. Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs and innovators lack the capital necessary …

Enron And The Dark Side Of Shareholder Value, William W. Bratton

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Rule That Isn't A Rule - The Business Judgment Rule, Douglas M. Branson

Articles

On a doctrinal basis, few areas of corporate law are more confused then the duty of care applicable to corporate officials and its handmaiden, the business judgment rule. The tendency of many scholars and practitioners has been to collapse the duty of care into the business judgment rule, as Professor Stuart Cohn pointed out more than a decade ago. The business judgment rule is a separate legal construct that is related to, but separate from, the duty of care and one which protects only proactive and not somnambulant directors and officers. The business judgment rule stays at center stage for …

The Social Responsibility Of Large Multinational Corporations, Douglas M. Branson

Articles

In the 1970s, legal scholars wrote extensively on the subject, as it was then known, "corporate social responsibility." Proposals surfaced for pubic interest directors, mandatory social accounting and disclosure, increased use of Security Exchange Commission (SEC) shareholder proxy proposals, federal minimum debate was eclipsed completely by the law and economics movement of the 1980s. Now, in the new century, the inquiry into social responsibility of large corporations has begun anew. This article is an attempt to take that inquiry, or debate, and place it in the international context.

I have four stories to tell. First is that much of the …

How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Pill: Adaptive Responses To Takeover Law, Marcel Kahan, Edward B. Rock

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Never Trust A Corporation, William W. Bratton

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The New Basel Capital Accord: Making It Effective With Stronger Market Discipline, Harald Benink, Clas Wihlborg

Business Faculty Articles and Research

In January 2001 the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision proposed a new capital adequacy framework to respond to deficiencies in the 1988 Capital Accord on credit risk. The main elements or ‘pillars’ of the proposal are capital requirements based on the internal risk-ratings of individual banks, expanded and active supervision, and information disclosure requirements to enhance market discipline. We discuss the incentive effects of the proposed regulation. In particular, we argue that it provides incentives for banks to develop new ways to evade the intended consequences of the proposed regulation. Supervision alone cannot prevent banks from ‘gaming and manipulation’ of …