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Henderson on Executive Compensation in Bankruptcy

TOTM Todd Henderson’s paper finds that compensation arrangements of solvent and insolvent firms are similar to each other. The empirical strategy involves the assumption that firms . . .

Todd Henderson’s paper finds that compensation arrangements of solvent and insolvent firms are similar to each other. The empirical strategy involves the assumption that firms in bankruptcy are a useful control group for testing agency theory explanations of executive compensation because those costs are significantly lower for insolvent firms.

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Financial Regulation & Corporate Governance

Defending (Positive) Law & Economics

TOTM Securities Mosaic is a fantastic resource for anyone working in the securities field. It provides comprehensive information in six key areas: disclosure, laws, rules, guidance, . . .

Securities Mosaic is a fantastic resource for anyone working in the securities field. It provides comprehensive information in six key areas: disclosure, laws, rules, guidance, news, and compliance centers. In addition, the site features SM Blogwatch, which republishes posts from various securities-related blogs, including this one.

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Explaining Backdating (and Jenkins Channels Manne Again)

TOTM Holman Jenkins reports that a group of economists led by Milton Friedman and Harry Markowitz are getting behind the idea of putting an end to . . .

Holman Jenkins reports that a group of economists led by Milton Friedman and Harry Markowitz are getting behind the idea of putting an end to the expensing of options. It is a great column. Jenkins goes on to discuss options backdating and makes the following points, which will sound unfamiliar to TOTM readers..

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Financial Regulation & Corporate Governance

The Perils of Paternalism

TOTM According to Bar None, an op-ed by Jack Turner in today’s NYT, “history shows that, however commendable the reasoning, efforts to control how people drink . . .

According to Bar None, an op-ed by Jack Turner in today’s NYT, “history shows that, however commendable the reasoning, efforts to control how people drink — or eat, or smoke — tend to backfire.” I’ve made a similar argument in discussing smoking bans.

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Innovation & the New Economy

Antitrust Around the World: An Empirical Analysis of the Scope of Competition Laws and Their Effects

Scholarship Abstract This paper investigates a dataset that codes key features of the competition laws of 102 countries. It first compares the scope of the laws . . .

Abstract

This paper investigates a dataset that codes key features of the competition laws of 102 countries. It first compares the scope of the laws overall, and of various subcomponents such as the law governing dominance, collusive conduct, and mergers. The second question examined in this paper is whether competition law has any effect on the intensity of competition within a nation. We find, in ordinary least squares regressions, that the scope of a country’s competition law is positively associated with the perceived intensity of competition in the country’s economy. However, we find no evidence that the scope of competition law is positively associated with an objective proxy of the intensity of competition. Moreover, instrumental variables regressions, though preliminary, do not indicate that the scope of competition law affects the perceived intensity of competition.

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Antitrust & Consumer Protection

The Law and Economics of Contracts

TOTM This new chapter in the forthcoming Handbook of Law and Economics (Polinsky & Shavell, eds.) from Avery Katz, Benjamin Hermalin, and Richard Craswell looks like . . .

This new chapter in the forthcoming Handbook of Law and Economics (Polinsky & Shavell, eds.) from Avery Katz, Benjamin Hermalin, and Richard Craswell looks like essential reading for anyone interested in economic analysis of contracts and contract law.

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Hovenkamp on Slotting, Discounts, and Competition for Distribution

TOTM Like Thom, I also have spent the last few weeks reading Herbert Hovenkamp’s excellent new antitrust book, The Antitrust Enterprise: Principles and Execution. I am . . .

Like Thom, I also have spent the last few weeks reading Herbert Hovenkamp’s excellent new antitrust book, The Antitrust Enterprise: Principles and Execution. I am looking forward to Thom’s review in the Texas Law Review, and wholeheartedly agree with him that Hovenkamp’s book is an important and significant contribution to the antitrust literature (see also Randy Picker’s book review here describing “The Antitrust Enterprise as The Antitrust Paradox for a post-Chicago antitrust landscape”). I’m still digesting most of the book, and perhaps will share some more thoughts in this space later on, but thought I would chime in with some thoughts on two issues relevant to my own research on slotting contracts, discounts, and competition for product distribution.

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Antitrust & Consumer Protection

Saving Tigers (and Other Endangered Species)

TOTM Want to save endangered species? Turn them into private assets. So argues Barun Mitra in today’s NYT. In Sell the Tiger to Save It, Mitra . . .

Want to save endangered species? Turn them into private assets. So argues Barun Mitra in today’s NYT.

In Sell the Tiger to Save It, Mitra observes that our thirty year-old conservation policy, which prohibits harm to individual tigers and the trading of tiger products, has failed to increase the tiger population. The problem, Mitra argues, is that the prevailing prohibitionist approach fights markets rather than harnesses them…

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Hovenkamp on the Indirect Purchaser Rule

TOTM I’ve had the pleasure of spending the last few weeks curled up with Herbert Hovenkamp’s wonderful new book, The Antitrust Enterprise: Principle and Execution, which . . .

I’ve had the pleasure of spending the last few weeks curled up with Herbert Hovenkamp’s wonderful new book, The Antitrust Enterprise: Principle and Execution, which I’m reviewing for the Texas Law Review. Hovenkamp is a sharp thinker and a wonderfully clear writer, and the book is a fantastic read for scholars and students alike. As a reviewer, though, I’m charged with pointing out the weak spots. Hovenkamp’s discussion of Illinois Brick‘s indirect purchaser rule is, I believe, one of those spots.

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Antitrust & Consumer Protection