Law and Economics Commons^™

Toward A Legal Theory Of Finance, Katharina Pistor

Katharina Pistor

This paper develops the building blocks for a legal theory of finance. LTF holds that financial markets are legally constructed and as such occupy an essentially hybrid place between state and market, public and private. At the same time, financial markets exhibit dynamics that frequently put them in direct tension with commitments enshrined in law or contracts. This is the case especially in times of financial crises when the full enforcement of legal commitments would result in the self-destruction of the financial system. This law-finance paradox tends to be resolved by suspending the full force of law where the survival …

La Experiencia Chilena Disuadiendo Ilícitos Corporativos, Diego G. Pardow

Diego G. Pardow

This paper analyzes the investigations on potential misconducts conducted by the Chilean public enforcer (Superintendencia de Valores y Seguros, “SVS”) between 1990 and 2012. The evidence reveals two groups of problems: on the one hand, the SVS has leaved a substantial region of the market unmonitored; on the other hand, the level of specific deterrence is generally low and relies greatly on indirect mechanisms of punishment. Such results suggest that future reforms should facili- tate private enforcement on both the extensive and the intensive margin. Whereas improving the performance of the SVS on the extensive margin should mitigate its monitoring …

Law And Finance In The Context Of Crisis: The Imperative Of Structural Vision, Tamara Lothian

Tamara Lothian

This piece explores the worldwide response to the recent financial and economic crisis through a comparative analysis of financial crisis, regulation and reform in the US and in several emerging market countries.

Two main ideas inform my argument.

The first idea is the inadequacy of ways of dealing with the crisis that fail to enlist finance more effectively in the service of the real economy, rather than allowing it to serve itself, and that misunderstand globalization as an unyielding constraint on institutional experimentation at home. A wide range of historical and contemporary examples helps make the point.

The second idea …

Towards A New Transition Economics, Katharina Pistor

Katharina Pistor

In these brief comments I take issue with the thesis expressed in Konstantin Sonin’s conference review that economic transition is a thing of the past. To the contrary, I argue that it has only just begun and so has the process of rethinking the economic theories and models that have framed the subfield of transition economics. Specifically, I point out that the many surprises economists have encountered when confronted with the actual results of the transition process reveal deeper flaws in the analytical framework that informs their analyses and policy prescriptions. If protecting theories and models is of first order …

What Should We Expect From The Dodd-Frank Bounty Program?, Diego G. Pardow

Diego G. Pardow

Among other changes, the Dodd–Frank bounty program substantially increases the size of the rewards. The supporters argue that the program should encourage more players to step in, whereas the critics claim that it would only increase less reliable whistleblowers. This note describes the economic reasoning behind the dispute, attempting to build a reasonable expectation in light of the available empirical data. Although most of the evidence from previous bounty programs sides with the supporter’s theory, it has to be considered that the quantity and quality of whistleblower reporting are not the only relevant factors. Whistleblowers play a key role diversifying …

On The Theoretical Foundations For Regulating Financial Markets, Katharina Pistor

Katharina Pistor

How we think about financial markets determines how we regulate them. Since the 1970s modern finance theory has shaped how we think about and regulate financial markets. It is based on the notion that markets are or can be made (more) efficient. Financial markets have been deregulated when they were thought to achieve efficient outcomes on their own; and regulation was designed to lend crutches to them when it appeared that they needed support. While modern finance theory has suffered some setbacks in the aftermath of the global crisis, defenders hold that improving market efficiency should still be the overriding …

Judicial Re-Use:«Codification» Or Return Of Hegelism? The Comparative Arguments In The “South” Of The World, Prof. Michele Carducci

Michele Carducci Prof.

No abstract provided.

Real Vs. Imagined Financial Markets The Regulatory Challenge, Katharina Pistor

Katharina Pistor

We have grown accustomed to regulating financial markets based on imagined, not real markets. Real markets are shaped by and co-­‐evolve with institutional arrangements within two fundamental constraints: Imperfect knowledge and the threat of illiquidity. Imperfect knowledge implies that the future is unknown and unknowable and that, therefore, investment strategies developed today will need to be revised, if not reversed, when the future arrives. Illiquidity means that it is impossible to convert all claims into cash at any given moment. It follows that when far-­‐reaching downward adjustments to past investment strategies become necessary the illiquidity threat manifests itself and can …

Idee Di Giustizia E Tradizioni Giuridiche, Prof. Michele Carducci

Michele Carducci Prof.

No abstract provided.

Circolazione Coloniale Del Costituzionalismo, Prof. Michele Carducci

Michele Carducci Prof.

No abstract provided.

The Alternative Forms Of Dispute Settlement And The Essential Difference Between These And Arbitration, Michael Diathesopoulos

Michael Diathesopoulos

The paper examines the characteristics of some common alternative forms of dispute settlement and their key differences from arbitration regarding their nature and scope. Its purpose is to explore each mechanism's suitability for specific types of disputes.

La Noción De Consumidor En El Código De Protección Y Defensa Del Consumidor, David García

David García

This work contains a legal analysis of the notion of consumer in the Peruvian law

Semantica Storica Dei Formanti Giuridici, Prof. Michele Carducci

Michele Carducci Prof.

No abstract provided.

Beyond Macro-Prudential Regulation: Three Ways Of Thinking About Financial Crisis, Regulation And Reform, Tamara Lothian

Tamara Lothian

This paper considers the debate about the "macro-prudential regulation" of finance in the context of a broader view of the relation of finance to the real economy. Five ideas are central to the argument. The first idea is that the two dominant families of ideas about finance and its regulation share a failure of institutional imagination. Neoclassical economists blame localized market and regulatory failures for the troubles of finance. Keynesians invoke the way in which the money economy may amplify cycles of despondency and euphoria. Neither current of thought recognizes that the institutions of finance in particular, and of the …

American Finance And American Democracy: Towards An Institutionalist "Law And Economics", Tamara Lothian

Tamara Lothian

This article reconsiders the financial and economic crisis of 2007-2009 and the present debate about the regulation of finance in the light of a vision of how finance can better serve the American economy and American Democracy. The central claim is that regulation as conventionally understood cannot adequately redress the problems, and seize the opportunities, revealed by the crisis. We should approach financial regulation as the first step in a series of institutional innovations designed to put finance more effectively at the service of the real economy (financial deepening) while broadening economic opportunity in the country (financial democratization). I develop …

Arctic Justice: Addressing Persistent Organic Pollutants, Prof. Elizabeth Burleson

Prof. Elizabeth Burleson

This article recommends enhanced governance of persistent organic pollutants through incentives to develop environmentally sound, climate friendly technologies as well as caution in developing the Arctic. It highlights the toxicity challenges presented by POPs to Arctic people and ecosystems.

Polar Law And Good Governance, Prof. Elizabeth Burleson

Prof. Elizabeth Burleson

This chapter will assess the Antarctic Treaty System, ask what polar lessons can be learned regarding common pool resources, and analyze law of the sea and related measures. It will consider such substantive areas as Arctic and Antarctic natural resource management and procedural opportunities as inclusive governance structures. Enhancing good governance can occur through trust building forums that bring together stakeholders, share information, and make environmentally sound decisions regarding sustainable development.