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on Law and Economics |
| By: | Jens-Uwe Franck; Martin peitz |
| Abstract: | The focus of cartel damages law is on the recovery of the cartel overcharge. Parties other than purchasers are often neglected, not only as a matter of judicial practice, but also due to legal restrictions. We argue that a narrow concept of standing—which excludes parties that supply either the cartel or the firms that purchase from the cartel with complementary product components—falls short of achieving effective antitrust enforcement and corrective justice in the best possible way. We provide a framework with two complementary products and show that under neither competition nor cartelization do the allocation and the distribution of surpluses depend on whether producers of complements purchase from the cartel or supply the cartel or the cartel’s customers. Thus, we argue that prima facie producers of complements should be treated alike, regardless of their position in the supply chain. Moreover, based on various factors that determine the enforcement effect of antitrust damages claims and their role as an instrument to achieve corrective justice, we show that a broad concept of standing is, indeed, the preferable legal solution. While its implementation would require a change in position by the U.S. federal courts, we submit that it would amount to a consistent completion of the legal framework within the E.U. |
| Keywords: | Cartel damages, antitrust standing, pass-on, suppliers, complementary goods |
| JEL: | K21 |
| Date: | 2018–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bon:boncrc:crctr224_007_2018&r=law |
| By: | Tröger, Tobias |
| Abstract: | This paper is the national report for Germany prepared for the to the 20th General Congress of the International Academy of Comparative Law 2018 and gives an overview of the regulation of crowdfunding in Germany and the typical design of crowdfunding campaigns under this legal framework. After a brief survey of market data, it delineates the classification of crowdfunding transactions in German contract law and their treatment under the applicable conflict of laws regime. It then turns to the relevant rules in prudential banking regulation and capital market law. It highlights disclosure requirements that flow from both contractual obligations of the initiators of campaigns vis-à-vis contributors and securities regulation (prospectus regime). After sketching the most important duties of the parties involved in crowdfunding, the report also looks at the key features of the respective transactions' tax treatment. |
| Keywords: | crowdfunding,crowdsponsoring,crowdlending,crowdinvesting,contract law,conflict of laws,banking regulation,securities regulation |
| JEL: | G23 G28 G38 K22 K23 |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:safewp:199&r=law |
| By: | Almlöf, Hanna (Linköping University and the Ratio Institute); Bjuggren, Per-Olof (Jönköping International Business School and Ratio Institute) |
| Abstract: | For the corporate business model to be successful, it is important to align the interests of those who control and finance the firm. Corporate law has here an important task to fulfill. It offers a legal framework that can facilitate for parties to conclude mutually preferable agreements at low transaction costs. The purpose of the paper is to show how to design corporate law to fulfill this task. A two-dimension model that simultaneously considers both regulation intensity and the level of default of the corporate law is presented. Earlier literature treats these dimensions separately. By adding a transaction cost perspective to our model, we assess different regulatory techniques and examine how legislation can help corporations by offering a standard contract that lowers transaction costs of contracting. This can be achieved through a legislation that covers most contingencies and take the heterogeneity of firms into consideration. Furthermore, default rules or standards of opt-out character should be combined with other regulatory techniques with lower transaction costs such as opt-in alternatives and menus. |
| Keywords: | Corporate law; regulation; contracts; transaction costs |
| JEL: | D23 G32 G38 K22 |
| Date: | 2017–12–18 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ratioi:0299&r=law |
| By: | Elisa Fusco; Martina Laurenzi (Insight service, Logista Italia); Bernardo Maggi ("Sapienza" University of Rome) |
| Abstract: | In recent years, the Italian judicial system has been at the center of both the political debate and policy actions aiming at modifying the territorial structure and the organization of the courts as well as the procedural processes. The measures adopted concerned the reorganization of the magistrates’ career and the reform of judicial districts. However, despite the several reforms adopted, the Italian judicial system does not reach yet the European standards, principally for the so called magistrate-duration procedures binomial, according to which the number of magistrates is above the European average level and the time of legal trials is too long compared with most European countries. Hence, key words such as performance, effectiveness and in particular efficiency are worthy of attention. In this framework, our paper analyzes the efficiency of Italian judicial districts, using a Data Envelopment Analysis approach. |
| Keywords: | Courts Efficiency, Law Enforcement, Productivity, Non-Parametric Methods, PCA |
| JEL: | D24 K41 K42 |
| Date: | 2018–03 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:sas:wpaper:20182&r=law |
| By: | Mulder, Bernhard Johann |
| Abstract: | The European Court of Justice examines the conformity of German co-determination under European law.Professor of law Bernard Johann Mulder, University of Oslo, argues that, in the case at issue, national law is not incompatible with EU law. Consequently, there is no discrimination on the grounds of nationality, and there is no obstacle to the free movement of workers. |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:zbw:hbsmbr:29&r=law |
| By: | Dyah Setyaningrum (Universitas Indonesia, Indonesia) |
| Abstract: | Objective – Transparency is promoted as one of the most important measures against corruption. E-government provides greater access to information that can subsequently increase transparency, accountability, and be used as an effective anti-corruption tool. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between e-government and corruption. Methodology/Technique – To gain more insight, we also investigate the effect of e-procurement as one of the egovernment initiatives for tackling corruption. We use observations from local government (districts and cities) in Indonesia during the period 2012–2015. Findings – The results show that e-government implementation is associated with lower corruption. E-government reduces corruption by removing discretion, thereby curbing the opportunities for arbitrary action that often result in corruption. Novelty – Moreover, the results also show that adopting e-procurement increases transparency and accountability through increased competition among bidders and enables real-time access to information, which ultimately reduces corruption in public procurement. |
| Keywords: | accountability, corruption, e-government, e-procurement, transparency |
| JEL: | M10 M48 |
| Date: | 2017–12–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:gtr:gatrjs:afr149&r=law |
| By: | Beekman, Gonne (Wageningen University); Nillesen, Eleonora (UNU-MERIT); Voors, Maarten (Wageningen University) |
| Abstract: | We investigate how different sanctioning regimes and the quality of local leaders affects public goods provision in Liberian villages. We conduct a public goods experiment where leaders act as third-party punishers under one of two exogenously imposed sanctioning regimes. Under the first "flat fee" regime leaders receive a flat fee as compensation but do not receive any monetary gains from punishment. Under the second, "incentivised" regime leaders receive the punishment (tokens taken from the game participants) as compensation. We use villagers' perceived measures of corruption of their leader as our preferred measure for leadership quality. To empirically distinguish between sanctioning itself and the identity of the person sanctioning we have a treatment variation where a random villager acts as the third party punisher. We find that real village leaders elicit higher contributions than random villagers or groups without sanctioning. We also report that the effectiveness of sanctioning is attenuated by chiefs that are perceived to be of low-quality, especially when the sanctioner has no material incentive to punish. This suggests that low-quality chiefs are less likely to exert effort for public goods if they do not also privately benefit from it. Finally we find that people's preferred regime choice seems to depend on their real-life experiences in the village rather than their individual characteristics. Current development programmes heavily rely on community self-management and local institutions. Our paper supports the idea that a programme's success is likely to depend on whether villagers deem their leader to be credible norm enforcers. |
| Keywords: | Corruption, Public goods, Monitoring, Sanctioning, Field Experiment |
| JEL: | C93 K42 O17 O12 |
| Date: | 2018–02–19 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:unm:unumer:2018011&r=law |
| By: | Emily Kazyak; Kelsy Burke; Mathew Stange |
| Abstract: | The authors use data from a general population survey of Nebraskans as a mixed-methods case study to examine public opinion of religious freedom laws. |
| Keywords: | public opinion, sexuality, LGBT rights, religious freedom |
| JEL: | I |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:4b06e5df0977473c8f7a8cf524c0c0e8&r=law |
| By: | Julie Berry Cullen; Nicholas Turner; Ebonya L. Washington |
| Abstract: | We ask whether attitudes toward government play a causal role in the evasion of U.S. personal income taxes. We first use individual-level survey data to demonstrate a link between sharing the party of the president and trust in the administration generally and opinions on taxation and spending policy, more specifically. Next, we move to the county level, and measure tax behavior as elections, decided by the voting behavior in swing-states, push voters in partisan counties into and out of alignment with the party of the president. Using IRS data, we find that reported taxable income increases as a county moves into alignment, with the increases concentrated in income sources that are easily evaded, due to lack of third-party reporting. Corroborating the view that evasion falls, potentially suspect EITC claims and audit rates also fall. Our results provide real-world evidence that a positive outlook on government lowers tax evasion. |
| JEL: | D72 H24 H26 H3 |
| Date: | 2018–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:24323&r=law |
| By: | Erica Raimondi; Loris Vergolini |
| Abstract: | In this paper, we analyse the effect of the Berlinguer reform that was implemented in Italy in 1999 and increased the compulsory school from eight to nine years. As a result of the reform, students had to attend school until age 15 instead of age 14 and thus had to attend at least one year of upper secondary school (for students with a regular career). Using data from Italian Labour Force Surveys (LFS) (1993-2010) and following a counterfactual approach, applying counterfactual time series and segmented regressions, we evaluate the effect of the Berlinguer reform on attendance and graduation rates. The results show that the expansion of compulsory schooling leads to staying in school for a larger share of 16-year-olds, especially those who are judged to be more at risk of dropping out: students with less-educated parents and those with parents having a low occupational level. By age 17, however, part of the effect has already vanished, and no effects are found on graduation rates, even among at-risk youths. The compulsory schooling policy may have been more effective in adjusting the legislation to extant student behaviours than in producing relevant changes in educational decisions. |
| Keywords: | Compulsory schooling, Educational reform, Drop-out, Graduation, Italy |
| JEL: | D04 I24 I28 |
| Date: | 2017–10 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fbk:wpaper:2017-05&r=law |
| By: | Robert Willans (Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust); Silviya Nikolova (Academic Unit of Health Economics, Leeds Institute of Health Sciences, University of Leeds); Claire Hulme (Academic Unit of Health Economics, Leeds Institute of Health Sciences, University of Leeds); Ranjit Lall (Warwick Clinical Trials Unit, University of Warwick); Tom Quinn (Faculty of Health, Social Care and Education, Kingston University London and St.George’s University of London); Gavin Perkins (Warwick Clinical Trials Unit, University of Warwick; Heart of England, NHS Foundation Trust) |
| Abstract: | Objective To understand the demographic, health and healthcare (HC) use profile of patients who experience an out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) in England and Wales between April 2010 and June 2013. The association with 24-hour survival was studied as a secondary objective. Methods The Paramedic study is a trial which collected information on 4471 patients with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA). Trial data was linked to Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), administrative data covering the trial period. Multivariate survival analysis was used to quantify the impact of identified risk predictors. Results Healthcare use increases in the years leading up to a cardiac arrest with the profile of this increase differing depending on age and overall healthcare resource utilisation of the patient. Patients who are older than 60 were found to have 2.35 fold increase in the probability of not surviving OHCA. However, older patients with medium and high healthcare resource use have higher chances of surviving OHCA event (decrease in mortality risk of 67% and 70% respectively). A diagnosis of dementia carries a 3.1 fold increase in mortality risk. Conclusions Routinely collected administrative hospital data may be used to identify patients at risk of OHCA and thus may help decrease cardiovascular mortality |
| Keywords: | OHCA, survival, predictors, healthcare use, health |
| JEL: | I1 |
| Date: | 2018 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lee:wpaper:1804&r=law |
| By: | Fu, Kun (Loughborough University London); Larsson, Anne-Sophie (The Ratio Institute); Wennberg, Karl (Linköping University and the Ratio Institute) |
| Abstract: | We investigate the impact of country-level labour market regulations on the re-entry decision of experienced entrepreneurs, whereby they become habitual entrepreneurs. Multilevel logit models on entry decisions among 15,709 individuals in 29 European countries show that labour market regulations have a positive influence on the decision to re-enter into entrepreneurship. This positive impact is stronger among individuals holding wage jobs at the time of re-entry compared to those that do not. Our results indicate that novice and habitual entrepreneurs may respond very differently to labour market rigidity. We discuss and provide tentative explanations for these differences, and outline potential policy implications. |
| Keywords: | Habitual entrepreneurship; employment; labour market rigidity; institutional context; multilevel modelling |
| JEL: | J24 J41 K31 L26 |
| Date: | 2017–12–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:hhs:ratioi:0297&r=law |