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Full-Text Articles in Law and Economics

An Economic Analysis Of Domain Name Policy, Karl M. Manheim, Lawrence B. Solum Mar 2004

An Economic Analysis Of Domain Name Policy, Karl M. Manheim, Lawrence B. Solum

University of San Diego Law and Economics Research Paper Series

One of the most important features of the architecture of the Internet is the Domain Name System (DNS), which is administered by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). Logically, the DNS is organized into Top Level Domains (such as .com), Second Level Domains (such as amazon.com), and third, fourth, and higher level domains (such as www.amazon.com). The physically infrastructure of the DNS consists of name servers, including the Root Server System which provides the information that directs name queries for each Top Level Domain to the appropriate server. ICANN is responsible for the allocation of the root …


A Comparative Empirical Investigation Of Agency And Market Theories Of Insider Trading, Laura N. Beny Feb 2004

A Comparative Empirical Investigation Of Agency And Market Theories Of Insider Trading, Laura N. Beny

Law & Economics Working Papers Archive: 2003-2009

The paper summarizes various agency cost and market theories of insider trading propounded over the course of the perennial law and economics debate over insider trading. The paper then suggests three testable hypotheses regarding the relationship between insider trading laws and several measures of financial performance. Using international data and alternative regression specifications, the paper finds that more stringent insider trading laws and enforcement are generally associated with greater ownership dispersion, greater stock price accuracy and greater stock market liquidity. This set of findings provides empirical support to theoretical arguments in favor of more stringent insider trading legislation and enforcement.


Foreword: Property Rights And Economic Development, Eric Kades Feb 2004

Foreword: Property Rights And Economic Development, Eric Kades

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.


"Agreeing To Disagree": Filling Gaps In Deliberately Incomplete Contracts, Omri Ben-Shahar Jan 2004

"Agreeing To Disagree": Filling Gaps In Deliberately Incomplete Contracts, Omri Ben-Shahar

Law & Economics Working Papers Archive: 2003-2009

This Article develops a new standard for gap filling in incomplete contracts. It focuses on an important class of situations in which parties leave their agreement deliberately incomplete, with the intent to further negotiate and resolve the remaining issues. In these situations, neither the traditional no-enforcement result nor the usual gap filling approaches accord with the parties’ partial consent. Instead, the Article develops the concept of pro-defendant gap-fillers, under which each party is granted an option to enforce the transaction supplemented with terms most favorable (within reason) to the other party. A deliberately incomplete contract with pro-defendant gap fillers transforms …


Politics And The Business Corporation, Robert H. Sitkoff Dec 2003

Politics And The Business Corporation, Robert H. Sitkoff

Law & Economics Working Papers Archive: 2003-2009

This essay explores the policy bases for, and the political economy of, the law's long-standing regulation of corporate political speech. The essay has three parts. First, it contends that the conventional justifications for regulating corporate interventions in politics -- that corporate donations unnaturally skew the political discourse (bad politics) and that corporate political donations harm shareholders (agency costs) -- assume irrational investors and substantial capital market inefficiency. Drawing on public choice theory, the essay also explores the aim of retarding rent-seeking as an alternative justification for regulating corporate interventions in politics. Second, the essay reexamines the history of the regulation …


Dying To Get Out Of Debt: Consumer Insolvency Law And Suicide In Japan, Mark West Dec 2003

Dying To Get Out Of Debt: Consumer Insolvency Law And Suicide In Japan, Mark West

Law & Economics Working Papers Archive: 2003-2009

This Article explores the complex relation between consumer insolvency law and suicide in Japan, where bankruptcies and suicides have increased dramatically in recent years. The statistical and interview evidence, some of which relates to the creation of a relatively efficient and socially acceptable insolvency mechanism in 2001, suggests that law is at least indirectly relevant to decisions to take one’s own life. Law can bring about debt control and stigma mitigation, each of which can lead to lower levels of stress and depression, each of which can lead to lower suicide rates. Still, responses to the law, even in relatively …


Employment Market Institutions And Japanese Working Hours, Mark West Dec 2003

Employment Market Institutions And Japanese Working Hours, Mark West

Law & Economics Working Papers Archive: 2003-2009

Why do Japanese workers work such long hours? Beginning with a series of cases in the 1950s, Japanese courts drastically curtailed firms’ abilities to dismiss workers. As a consequence of the inability to dismiss workers legally, large Japanese firms hired a smaller number of workers than were necessary to fulfill capacity without overtime. Employers rely on the working hours of this undersized cadre of workers, carefully screened to rule out the slothful, as a buffer. In bad times, the size of the work force makes dismissal unnecessary. In good times, workers are forced to work long hours. While these court …


Valuation Averaging: A New Procedure For Resolving Valuation Disputes, Keith Sharfman Dec 2003

Valuation Averaging: A New Procedure For Resolving Valuation Disputes, Keith Sharfman

Rutgers Law School (Newark) Faculty Papers

In this Article, Professor Sharfman addresses the problem of "discretionary valuation": that courts resolve valuation disputes arbitrarily and unpredictably, thus harming litigants and society. As a solution, he proposes the enactment of "valuation averaging," a new procedure for resolving valuation disputes modeled on the algorithmic valuation processes often agreed to by sophisticated private firms in advance of any dispute. He argues that by replacing the discretion of judges and juries with a mechanical valuation process, valuation averaging would cause litigants to introduce more plausible and conciliatory valuations into evidence and thereby reduce the cost of valuation litigation and increase the …


Trust Law, Corporate Law, And Capital Market Efficiency, Robert H. Sitkoff Nov 2003

Trust Law, Corporate Law, And Capital Market Efficiency, Robert H. Sitkoff

Law & Economics Working Papers Archive: 2003-2009

In both the publicly-traded corporation and the private donative trust a crucial task is to minimize the agency costs that arise from the separation of risk-bearing and management. But where the law of corporate governance evolved in the shadow of capital-market checks on agency costs, trust governance did not. Thus, even more than that of close corporations, the law and study of private trusts offers an illuminating counterfactual -- a control, as it were -­ for a playful thought experiment about the importance of capital market efficiency to the law and study of public corporations. The animating idea for this …


Measuring Recovery For Non-Contractual Investment, Omri Ben-Shahar, Robert A. Mikos Sep 2003

Measuring Recovery For Non-Contractual Investment, Omri Ben-Shahar, Robert A. Mikos

Law & Economics Working Papers Archive: 2003-2009

Parties who make investments that generate externalities may sometimes recover from the beneficiaries, even in the absence of contract. Previous scholarship has shown that granting recovery, based on either the cost of the investment or the benefit it confers, can provide optimal incentives to invest. However, this article demonstrates that the law often awards recovery that is neither purely cost-based, nor purely benefit-based, and instead equals either the greater-of or lesser-of the two measures. These hybrid approaches to recovery distort incentives to invest. The article demonstrates the prevalence of these practices, and explores informational and related reasons why they emerge. …


An Agency Costs Theory Of Trust Law, Robert H. Sitkoff Sep 2003

An Agency Costs Theory Of Trust Law, Robert H. Sitkoff

Law & Economics Working Papers Archive: 2003-2009

This Article develops an agency costs theory of the law of private trusts, focusing chiefly on donative trusts. The agency costs approach offers fresh insights into recurring problems in trust law including, among others, modification and termination, settlor standing, fiduciary litigation, trust-investment law and the duty of impartiality, trustee removal, the role of so-called trust "protectors," and spendthrift trusts. The normative claim is that the law of trusts should minimize the agency costs inherent in locating managerial authority with the trustee and the residual claim with the beneficiaries, but only to the extent that doing so is consistent with the …


What Counts As Fraud? An Empirical Study Of Motions To Dismiss Under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, Adam C. Pritchard, Hillary Sale Sep 2003

What Counts As Fraud? An Empirical Study Of Motions To Dismiss Under The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act, Adam C. Pritchard, Hillary Sale

Law & Economics Working Papers Archive: 2003-2009

This article presents the findings of a study of the resolution of motions to dismiss securities fraud lawsuits since the passage of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act in 1995. Our sample consists of decisions on motions to dismiss in securities class actions by district and appellate courts in the Second and Ninth Circuits for cases filed after the passage of the Reform Act to the end of 2002. These circuits are the leading circuits for the filing of securities class actions and are generally recognized as representing two ends of the securities class action spectrum. Post-PSLRA, the Second Circuit …


Following The Man On The Clapham Omnibus: Social Science Evidence In Malpractice Litigation, Richard O. Lempert Jul 2003

Following The Man On The Clapham Omnibus: Social Science Evidence In Malpractice Litigation, Richard O. Lempert

Law & Economics Working Papers Archive: 2003-2009

This article responds to proposals to admit statistical evidence from empirical studies of actual health care practices to prove prevailing health practice standards in malpractice litigation by arguing that the case for doing so has numerous weaknesses that advocates of admitting such data commonly ignore. A fundamental concern is that the standard of practice defense co-evolved with prevailing modes of proof and might have been different had proof through experts not allowed for an aspirational as well as an empirical element to reach the jury. The article also argues that generating reliable statistical evidence of standard medical practice can be …


Legal Transitions, Rational Expectations, And Legal Progress, Kyle D. Logue Jun 2003

Legal Transitions, Rational Expectations, And Legal Progress, Kyle D. Logue

Law & Economics Working Papers Archive: 2003-2009

This paper was written for a symposium on legal transitions. The central question in the transitions literature is whether or to what extent the government should provide compensation for (or seek in some way to ameliorate) the losses of wealth occasioned by unexpected changes in the law or social policy. This Article argues that the prevailing normative framework for evaluating legal transitions - the consequentialist or economic framework - relies critically on two assumptions: the assumption that private parties (whose incentives are sought to be affected by the choice of transition norm) will behave with rational expectations and the assumption …


Against Preemption: How Federalism Can Improve The National Legislative Process, Roderick Hills May 2003

Against Preemption: How Federalism Can Improve The National Legislative Process, Roderick Hills

Law & Economics Working Papers Archive: 2003-2009

How easily should courts infer that federal statutes preempt state law? An ongoing debate exists on the question in Congress and among scholars and judges. One side calls for judges to protect federalism by adopting a rule of statutory construction that would bar preemption absent a clear statement of preemptive intent. Opponents argue against such a "clear statement" rule by arguing that state control over preemptable topics is often presumptively inefficient, because common-law juries lack expertise and because states are prone to imposing external costs on their neighbors. This article sidesteps these debates over preemption and instead argues that, quite …


Insuring Against Terrorism And Crime, Saul Levmore, Kyle D. Logue May 2003

Insuring Against Terrorism And Crime, Saul Levmore, Kyle D. Logue

Law & Economics Working Papers Archive: 2003-2009

The attacks of September 11th produced staggering losses of life and property. They also brought forth substantial private insurance payouts, as well as federal relief for the City of New York and for the families of individuals who perished on that day. The losses suffered in and after the attacks, and the structure of the relief effort, have raised questions about the availability of insurance against terrorism, the role of government in providing for, subsidizing, or ensuring the presence of such insurance, and the interaction between relief and the incentives for future precaution taking. In response to such losses, and …


The Economic Ambiguity (And Possible Irrelevance) Of Tax Transition Rules, Eric D. Chason Apr 2003

The Economic Ambiguity (And Possible Irrelevance) Of Tax Transition Rules, Eric D. Chason

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


Behavioral Economics And The Sec, Stephen Choi, Adam C. Pritchard Jan 2003

Behavioral Economics And The Sec, Stephen Choi, Adam C. Pritchard

Law & Economics Working Papers Archive: 2003-2009

Investors face myriad investment alternatives and seemingly limitless information concerning those alternatives.Not surprisingly, many commentators contend that investors frequently fall short of the ideal investor posited by the rational actor model. Investors are plagued with a variety of behavioral biases (such as, among others, the hindsight bias, the availability bias, loss aversion, and overconfidence). Even securities market institutions and intermediaries may suffer from biases, led astray by groupthink and overconfidence. The question remains whether regulators should focus on such biases in formulating policy. An omnipotent regulatory decisionmaker would certainly improve on flawed investor decisionmaking. The alternative we face, however, is …


Pain-And-Suffering Damages In Tort Law: Revisiting The Theoretical Framework And The Empirical Evidence, Ronen Avraham Jan 2003

Pain-And-Suffering Damages In Tort Law: Revisiting The Theoretical Framework And The Empirical Evidence, Ronen Avraham

Law & Economics Working Papers Archive: 2003-2009

Should there be pain-and-suffering damages in tort law? Most legal economists who wrote on the subject that there should not be pain-and-suffering damages in tort law. A minority of scholars thought the decision of whether tort law should provide pain-and-suffering damages is an empirical, or an experimental, question that cannot be armchair-theorized. Yet, all scholars who have done empirical or experimental work to explore the desirability of pain-and-suffering damages reached the conclusion that it is undesirable. In this paper I argue that the majority view cannot serve as a policy-making aid. I side with the minority of scholars who argue …


The Living Commerce Clause: Federalism In Progressive Political Theory And The Commerce Clause After Lopez And Morrison, Eric R. Claeys Dec 2002

The Living Commerce Clause: Federalism In Progressive Political Theory And The Commerce Clause After Lopez And Morrison, Eric R. Claeys

William & Mary Bill of Rights Journal

"Living Constitution " ideas are most often associated with individual-rights guarantees like equal protection and due process, but they were originally developed in the early twentieth century to revolutionize the law of the structural Constitution - including the Commerce Clause. In this Article, Professor Claeys interprets Progressive political theory, which played a crucial role in legitimating the expansion of the national government. As applied to federalism, Progressive living-Constitution theory required that the Commerce Clause be interpreted as a constitutional transmitter letting the national government regulate whatever the American people deem to be a national problem. He suggests that this notion …


The Stumbling Block: Freedom, Rationality, And Legal Scholarship, Jeanne L. Schroeder Oct 2002

The Stumbling Block: Freedom, Rationality, And Legal Scholarship, Jeanne L. Schroeder

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.


Predicting Defection, Elmer J. Schaefer May 2002

Predicting Defection, Elmer J. Schaefer

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


The Team Production Theory Of Corporate Law: A Critical Assessment, Alan J. Meese Mar 2002

The Team Production Theory Of Corporate Law: A Critical Assessment, Alan J. Meese

William & Mary Law Review

No abstract provided.


Argentina And The Telecommunications Industry: The Difficult But Necessary Path Toward Liberalization, Vanessa P. Rubinstein Jan 2000

Argentina And The Telecommunications Industry: The Difficult But Necessary Path Toward Liberalization, Vanessa P. Rubinstein

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business

This article provides a synopsis of Argentina's telecommunications industry and examines the compelling reasons why Argentina must effectively liberalize the industry while eliminating its hidden protectionist policies. Part II presents a historical overview of the Argentina's telecommunications industry and analyzes Argentina's domestic laws requiring liberalization. Part III explores the main economic policy reasons for why liberalization of the Argentine telecommunications industry is essential. Part IV offers recommendations to better achieve effective development, liberalization and competition in the telecommunications industry. This article concludes that Argentina must completely liberalize its telecommunications industry for basic services, thereby abiding by its domestic legal commitments …


Feminist Foundations For The Law Of Business: One Law And Economics Scholar's Survey And (Re)View, Barbara Ann White Oct 1999

Feminist Foundations For The Law Of Business: One Law And Economics Scholar's Survey And (Re)View, Barbara Ann White

All Faculty Scholarship

The purpose of this Essay is to suggest frameworks and modes of inquiry for applying feminist legal analysis to business law and the related theory of law and economics. It does so in two ways. One is to assess works already written by feminist scholars in the business law arena, highlighting how those contributions have begun to pave the way towards enriching the scope of business law analysis. The other is to offer two new roles for feminist jurisprudence. One role is to define just (that is, fair) distributions of rights and the other role is to define social judgments …


The Southeastern Water Compact, Panacea Or Pandora's Box? A Law And Economics Analysis Of The Viability Of Interstate Water Compacts, David Copas Jun 1997

The Southeastern Water Compact, Panacea Or Pandora's Box? A Law And Economics Analysis Of The Viability Of Interstate Water Compacts, David Copas

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.


Critical Cultural Law And Economics, The Culture Of Deindividualization, The Paradox Of Blackness, Linz Audain Jul 1995

Critical Cultural Law And Economics, The Culture Of Deindividualization, The Paradox Of Blackness, Linz Audain

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.


Internal Governance Standards, Suramya Balachandran Jan 1995

Internal Governance Standards, Suramya Balachandran

LLM Theses and Essays

Corporate control has a variety of connotations; it can mean the group of individuals who are regarded as “the control” of a corporation, the office of a corporation, or a fiduciary relationship between the office holder and the corporation. Corporate control transactions are changes in a corporation’s structure motivated by the desire for growth of the corporation, such as setting up new divisions, acquiring or being acquired by another corporation, selling or buying stock, and entering or leaving markets. Control transactions have been a successful business practice since the 1980s. The first part of this thesis analyzes the benefits of …


Apec As A New Model Of Regional Economic Cooperation: Compatibility With Gatt, Bing Ding Jan 1995

Apec As A New Model Of Regional Economic Cooperation: Compatibility With Gatt, Bing Ding

LLM Theses and Essays

Today’s driving forces in world trade are private trade, investment flows, technological progress, and job creation. These forces create momentum towards the further integration of economy within their respective regions. The challenge for governments today is to reinforce these trends in favor of long-term economic benefits, while resisting the temptation to make short-term adjustments for growth. Regionalism is being considered as a solution to contemporary international economic problems; with the division of the world into the three major trading blocs of the EC, NAFTA, and APEC, regionalism seems to be the fastest road to multilateral free trade. This paper proposes …


The Economics Of Canadian National Railway V. Norsk Pacific Steamship (The Jervis Crown), David S. Cohen Jan 1995

The Economics Of Canadian National Railway V. Norsk Pacific Steamship (The Jervis Crown), David S. Cohen

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Economic analysis of legal doctrine assumes, indeed its relevance largely depends upon the assumption, that judicial decisions will have an instrumental impact on the future behaviour of firms and individuals who are not themselves parties to the litigation which resulted in the specific doctrinal development being analysed. In other words, economic analysis assumes that the decisions of courts - and particularly, for what should be obvious reasons, the decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada - have a direct influence upon the manner in which non-litigants will choose to order their affairs following that decision. Thus, the focus of a …