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Full-Text Articles in Law
Learning To Do Good While Doing Well 11-2023, Roger Williams University School Of Law
Learning To Do Good While Doing Well 11-2023, Roger Williams University School Of Law
Life of the Law School (1993- )
No abstract provided.
The Pro Bono Collaborative Project Spotlight: Rwu Law Alums Providing Pro Bono Through The Pbc (September 20, 2018), Roger Williams University School Of Law
The Pro Bono Collaborative Project Spotlight: Rwu Law Alums Providing Pro Bono Through The Pbc (September 20, 2018), Roger Williams University School Of Law
Pro Bono Collaborative Staff Publications
No abstract provided.
Contracts As Organizations, D. Gordon Smith, Brayden G. King
Contracts As Organizations, D. Gordon Smith, Brayden G. King
Faculty Scholarship
Empirical studies of contracts have become more common over the past decade, but the range of questions addressed by these studies is narrow, inspired primarily by economic theories that focus on the role of contracts in mitigating ex post opportunism. We contend that these economic theories do not adequately explain many commonly observed features of contracts, and we offer four organizational theories to supplement-and in some instances, perhaps, challenge-the dominant economic accounts. The purpose of this Article is threefold: first, to describe how theoretical perspectives on contracting have motivated empirical work on contracts; second, to highlight the dominant role of …
Entity And Identity, Usha Rodrigues
Entity And Identity, Usha Rodrigues
Scholarly Works
The function, indeed the very existence, of nonprofit corporations is undertheorized. Recent literature suggests that only preferential tax treatment adequately accounts for the persistence of the nonprofit form. This explanation is incomplete. Drawing on psychology’s social identity theory, this Article posits that the nonprofit form can create a special “warm-glow” identity that cannot be replicated by the for-profit form. For example, a local nonprofit food cooperative sells more than the free-range eggs or organic strawberries that Whole Foods and other for-profits market so effectively. The co-op offers community participation and an investment in local farms, a distinctive ethos that is …
Two Ways To Think About The Punishment Of Corporations, Albert Alschuler
Two Ways To Think About The Punishment Of Corporations, Albert Alschuler
Faculty Working Papers
This article compares the criminal punishment of corporations in the twenty-first century with two ancient legal practices—deodand (the punishment of animals and objects that have produced harm) and frankpledge (the punishment of all members of a group when one member of the group has avoided apprehension for a crime). It argues that corporate criminal punishment is a mistake but that viewing it as frankpledge is less ridiculous than viewing it as deodand. The article considers the implications of the choice between these concepts for standards of corporate guilt and for the sentencing of corporate offenders. After a brief historical description …
Do Delaware Ceos Get Fired?, Murali Jagannathan, Adam C. Pritchard
Do Delaware Ceos Get Fired?, Murali Jagannathan, Adam C. Pritchard
Law & Economics Working Papers Archive: 2003-2009
Critics have charged that state competition in corporate law, which Delaware dominates, leads to a “race to the bottom” making management unaccountable. One metric of management accountability is forced CEO turnover, which we use to test the race to the bottom hypothesis. We compare California firms that choose to incorporate in California – the state with arguably the most restrictive corporate law rules – with those that incorporate in Delaware. We show that aspects of Delaware law attract firms that plan to grow through merger or acquisition and are vulnerable to shareholder lawsuits. We also document differences in corporate governance …
New Business Entities In Evolutionary Perspective, Henry Hansmann, Reiner Kraakman, Richard Squire
New Business Entities In Evolutionary Perspective, Henry Hansmann, Reiner Kraakman, Richard Squire
Faculty Scholarship
The new types of business forms that have developed over the past thirty years all combine the freedom of contracting that is traditional to the partnership with the pattern of creditors' rights that is traditional to the business corporation. Legal scholars differ on the issue of whether these new business forms are more partnership-like or corporation-like. Those taking the partnership-like view argue that the degree of freedom of contract is the essential difference between the traditional corporation and partnership forms, while those adhering to the corporation-like view argue that the pattern of creditors' rights is the essential difference. The authors …
Strict Liability For Gatekeepers: A Reply To Professor Coffee, Frank Partnoy
Strict Liability For Gatekeepers: A Reply To Professor Coffee, Frank Partnoy
University of San Diego Law and Economics Research Paper Series
This article responds to a proposal by Professor John C. Coffee, Jr. for a modified form of strict liability for gatekeepers. Professor Coffee’s proposal would convert gatekeepers into insurers, but cap their insurance obligations based on a multiple of the highest annual revenues the gatekeepers recently had received from their wrongdoing clients. My proposal, advanced in 2001, would allow gatekeepers to contract for a percentage of issuer damages, after settlement or judgment, subject to a legislatively-imposed floor. This article compares the proposals and concludes that a contractual system based on a percentage of the issuer’s liability would be preferable to …
Improving Charitable Accountability, James J. Fishman
Improving Charitable Accountability, James J. Fishman
Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications
This Article focuses upon a persistent problem of the nonprofit sector--its lack of accountability to the public. Director, officer, and organizational responsibilities will be analyzed. Past and current approaches to secure accountability of charitable assets will be discussed, and a proposal for improving charitable accountability will be suggested through the creation of public-private charity commissions at the state level under the aegis of the attorney general.