Law Commons^™

Governing Smart Cities As Knowledge Commons - Introduction, Chapter 1 & Conclusion, Brett M. Frischmann, Michael J. Madison, Madelyn Sanfilippo

Book Chapters

Smart city technology has its value and its place; it isn’t automatically or universally harmful. Urban challenges and opportunities addressed via smart technology demand systematic study, examining general patterns and local variations as smart city practices unfold around the world. Smart cities are complex blends of community governance institutions, social dilemmas that cities face, and dynamic relationships among information and data, technology, and human lives. Some of those blends are more typical and common. Some are more nuanced in specific contexts. This volume uses the Governing Knowledge Commons (GKC) framework to sort out relevant and important distinctions. The framework grounds …

The Kind Of Solution A Smart City Is: Knowledge Commons And Postindustrial Pittsburgh, Michael J. Madison

Book Chapters

This case study brings new attention to a critical but under-appreciated dimension of so-called “smart” cities: how smart city governance builds and relies on institutionalized sharing of data, information, and other forms of knowledge across all sectors of public administration. Those smart city practices are referred to here as knowledge commons and systematized using the Governing Knowledge Commons (GKC) research framework. That framework extends and modifies Ostrom’s research tradition as to community-based resource governance. As with other GKC-focused research, this work relies on a qualitative case study. It draws a detailed, context-specific portrait of a smart city as knowledge commons …

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 …

Review Of Proposed Zoning Bylaw Amendments & Concept Plan For 129 Parker Street, Maynard, Ma, Edward J. Collins, Jr. Center For Public Management, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Edward J. Collins Center for Public Management Publications

The Edward J. Collins, Jr. Center for Public Management was hired by the Town of Maynard to analyze the proposed amendment to the Neighborhood Business Overlay District (NBOD) of the Maynard Zoning Bylaw and associated concept plan for the property located at 129 Parker Street in Maynard. The bylaw amendment and concept plan have been proposed by Capital Group Properties, LLC, the developer of the site. Specifically, the Center was tasked with preparing the following materials:

• Task 1 – Economic Development and Impact Study;
• Task 2 – Traffic Peer Review and Analysis; and,
• Task 3 – Recommendations on proposed bylaw …

Institutionalizing Democracy In Africa: A Comment On The African Charter On Democracy, Elections And Governance, Patrick J. Glen

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This article provides an exegesis of the recently entered-into-force African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance. Democracy has a decidedly mixed history in Africa and, despite a concerted effort by the African Union (AU), it has made only halting inroads in those states that are nondemocratic or struggling to consolidate democracy. That may change as more states ratify and implement the Charter, a comprehensive regional attempt to promote, protect, and consolidate democracy that entered into force in February 2012. This Charter, the culmination of two decades of African thinking on how democracy should develop on the continent, represents the AU’s …

Eminent Domain And Racial Discrimination: A Bogus Equation, J. Peter Byrne

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This paper is a transcript of testimony by Professor J. Peter Byrne before the U.S. Civil Rights Commission on August 12, 2011.

This hearing addresses claims that the use of eminent domain for economic development unfairly and disproportionately harms racial and ethnic minorities. These claims draw on the history of urban renewal prior to the 1960’s, when many African Americans and others were displaced by publicly funded projects that bulldozed their homes in largely failed attempts to modernize cities. Justice Clarence Thomas’s dissent in Kelo v. City of New London further argued that the use of eminent domain for economic …

Will Work': The Role Of Intellectual Property In Transitional Economies -- From Coal To Content, Megan M. Carpenter

Law Faculty Scholarship

The development and exploitation of intellectual property, and participation in the global information economy, are not dependent upon geography. It can take place from anywhere, from the inside of an empty factory in Detroit, to a small country road, nestled between the rhododendron and the river. From the R&D lab at a university, to a barren plain in New Mexico. To move from coal to content, we must foster a dynamic and profitable environment for entrepreneurship, through a supportive and robust university community, through state legislation and institutional support and through effective utilization of intellectual property laws. Intellectual property and …

China And Brazil: Potential Allies Or Just Brics In The Wall?, Anthony Petros Spanakos

Department of Political Science and Law Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Brazil is an increasingly important actor in global governance and for China specifically. Sino-Brazilian relations have deepened considerably but they remain concentrated in areas of trade and investment. There is also considerable overlap in interests between the two countries in other areas, such as diplomatic and political relations. At the same time, China must manage carefully important differences that exist over the enlargement of the UN and the potential challenge to the Brazilian industry.

Economic Development At The Cost Of Human Rights: China Nonferrous Metal Industry In Zambia, Brian Chama

Publications and Scholarship

The international human rights system is primarily based on the relationship between the state and its citizens. The overarching question is where the responsibility for human rights does and should lie in a world where the movement of human beings, goods, and capital are increasingly transnational in scope. The amount of responsibility that powerful actors like international corporations should have for protecting human rights is unclear. How this responsibility should be understood in relation to the responsibility of the state to protect its own people from human rights violations and also pursue strategies to hold international corporations accountable is also …

The Lt. Governor Encourages Lawyers To Take Advantage Of State Resources To Aid Ohio's Economic Development, Lee Fisher

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

For the last several months, my colleagues and I at the Ohio Department of Development have been focused on the formation of a statewide economic development strategy that will establish our priorities and guide our future decisions. Ultimately this strategy will serve as an economic development plan for Ohio that will be led primarily by the Ohio Department of Development, along with the Governor's office and other state agencies and departments. With full implementation, our strategic plan will not only guide Ohio's long-term investments, but will also help guide our daily decisions.

Economic Growth And The Interests Of Future (And Past And Present) Generations: A Comment On Tyler Cowen, Matthew D. Adler

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

What Counts, And Who's Counting? Maine's Business Climate 2006, Bureau Of Labor Education. University Of Maine

Bureau of Labor Education

Many news articles and opinion pieces continue to argue that Maine has a highly unfavorable business climate, which must be changed if Maine’s economic well-being is to improve. Such analyses raise many important questions about what policies are most likely to benefit Maine’s economy, both as a whole, and among the various areas, communities, and population segments within Maine. Increasingly, the health of Maine’s economy, and the level of the state’s well-being more broadly, seem to be equated with the issue of whether Maine has a “friendly” business climate. In turn, the question of a favorable or unfavorable business climate …

The Market For Change: Community Economic Development On A Wider Stage, Peter R. Pitegoff

Faculty Publications

Community economic development (CED) is distinguished by a specific agenda for broader development and accountability - for building local resources, economic capacity and political clout in lower- and moderate-income communities. Organizing and development of low-income communities must take account of microenterprise as the locus of substantial economic activity.

The Law And Economics Of Development And Environment: An Introduction To The Symposium, Daniel H. Cole

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

University Technology Transfer And Economic Development: Proposed Cooperative Economic Development Agreements Under The Bayh Dole Act, Clovia Hamilton

Winthrop Faculty and Staff Publications

Technology transfer enables private industry and academia to make practical use of advanced research, development, and technical expertise. Indeed, universities are a rich source of science and technology that can support local government and business development as well as economic growth. Thus, it is essential for research universities to transfer their wisdom to the public for its use and benefit. Today, universities operate in an economic climate that requires both capital and knowledge; takes advantage of government technology initiatives (namely the Bayh- Dole Act);' and serves as a catalyst for the creation of a large number of new, incubated companies. …

What Caused Enron? A Capsule Social And Economic History Of The 1990s, John C. Coffee Jr.

Faculty Scholarship

The sudden explosion of corporate accounting scandals and related financial irregularities that burst over the financial markets between late 2001 and the first half of 2002 e.g., Enron, WorldCom, Tyco, Adelphia, and others-raises an obvious question: why now? What explains the sudden concentration of financial scandals at this moment in time? Much commentary has rounded up the usual suspects and blamed the scandals on a decline in business morality, “infectious greed,” and similar subjective trends that cannot be reliably measured.

Fair Weather Or Foul? Maine's Business Climate Revisted, Bureau Of Labor Education. University Of Maine

Bureau of Labor Education

There is no shortage of analyses of the problems of Maine’s economy, or of proposed solutions. Once again, a number of recent reports have argued that Maine has a highly unfavorable business climate, characterized by excessive taxes and excessive regulation. These reports go on to argue that Maine must improve its business climate through such suggested changes as an overhaul of the tax system, elimination of property taxes on business equipment purchases, reducing the state’s regulatory burden, and reducing Maine’s supposedly high “tax burden.” Although the support for these proposals is framed as being “irrefutable,” in reality many of the …

Maine's Development Dilemma, 2001 Update, Bureau Of Labor Education. University Of Maine

Bureau of Labor Education

In the face of economic challenges that continue to face Maine and other states in a time of globalization and rapid technological change, economic development is widely seen as essential to the well-being of Maine's economy and to an increased quality of life for its citizens. However, the nature of Maine's economy, natural resource base, and geography creates a difficult dilemma for our state. This is the paradox we face: while some form of economic development is clearly imperative, the long-term misallocation of scarce economic resources in pursuit of this goal, though well-intended, may cause further harm to the economy …

China And The Gatt Agreement On Government Procurement, John Linarelli

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Carrying A Big Carrot: Linking Multilateral Disarmament And Development Assistance, David A. Koplow, Philip G. Schrag

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This article proposes, as a new element of the "liberal internationalism" that should characterize the post-Cold War world, a simultaneous solution to these three problems. The nations of the world should negotiate a series of multilateral agreements to stop the spread of advanced weaponry, and include in each of them, as an overt incentive for developing states to accept the disarmament and verification obligations, provisions that explicitly require the affluent, developed states to make specified monetary and in-kind transfers to the third world parties. The new regime should also provide stronger-than-customary treaty procedures for clarifying ambiguities, adjudicating claims, and resolving …

Resources Development On Navajo: The Dineh Power Project, Donald R. Wharton

Natural Resource Development in Indian Country (Summer Conference, June 8-10)

42 pages (includes illustrations and maps).

The North-South Dialogue, Thomas Ehrlich

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Exchange Control, Liberalization, And Economic Development, Jagdish N. Bhagwati, Anne O. Krueger

Faculty Scholarship

This paper highlights results of the National Bureau of Economic Research's (NBER) research project on exchange control, liberalization and economic development from 1970-1973. Initial adoption of exchange controls was generally an ad hoc response to external events. The optimal resource allocation dictum – that the marginal cost of earning foreign exchange should be equated with the marginal cost of saving foreign exchange – was generally abandoned in favor of saving foreign exchange at all costs. An export-oriented development strategy generally entails relatively greater use of indirect, rather than direct, interventions. There is considerable evidence from the individual country studies that …

Book Review. The Effectiveness Of International Decisions And Foreign Development Lending -- Legal Aspects, A. A. Fatouros

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

The Computer And The Mud Hut: Notes On Multinational Enterprise In Developing Countries, A. A. Fatouros

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Legal Remedies For Overurbanization: The Ghanaian Experience, Robert L. Birmingham, Carolyn S. Birmingham

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Book Review. The Springtime Of Freedom By William Mccord, William Burnett Harvey

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.

Integration And Economic Development, Robert L. Birmingham

Articles by Maurer Faculty

In this paper I shall attempt to evaluate the potential impact of economic association among underdeveloped countries. Attention is centered on gain achievable by participating states as a group: world welfare alteration appears devoid of normative implication to the national decision maker, while questions of internal distribution of union benefit are too complex for summary treatment. Conclusions of amalgamation efficacy rest jointly on abstract analysis and deduction from empirical economic parameters; discussion of trade and development theory is extended beyond that logically necessary for argument coherence to provide a brief introduction to relevant recent thought.

International Law And The Third World, A. A. Fatouros

Articles by Maurer Faculty

After a detailed examination of the unique position of the emerging nations, the "third 'world," Professor Fatouros urges that the Western nations should ndertake a change in approach and a reassessment of the objectives of international law since the present situation of international society is so dissimilar to that in which the law evolved. He concludes that special, new rules should be formulated, based on a broad and positive consideration of the urgent need of the emerging nations to develop their natural resources as effectively and as rapidly as possible-a need 'which international law must take into account if it …

An International Code To Protect Private Investment -- Proposals And Perspectives, A. A. Fatouros

Articles by Maurer Faculty

No abstract provided.