Working Papers

2023

Empirical Foundations of the Iron Law of Financial Regulation Roberta Romano

Empirical Foundations of the Iron Law of Financial Regulation - Online Appendix Roberta Romano

Midstream Contract Interpretation Alan Schwartz and Simone M. Sepe

The Board-Room Where it Happens – A Research Note Yair Listokin


2022

Between Public and Private Enterprise: The Role and Structure of Special-Purpose Governments Conor Clarke and Henry Hansmann

Contract Remedies for New Economy Collaborations Alan Schwartz and Simone M. Sepe 

The Modern State and the Rise of the Business Corporation John Morley and Taisu Zhang


2021

ESG Investing: Why Here? Why Now? Jonathan R. Macey

Monetary Finance Brian D. Galle and Yair Listokin

Obsolescence: The Intractable Production Problem in Contract Law Robert E. Scott and Alan Schwartz


2020

A Case for Higher Corporate Tax Rates  Edward G. Fox and Zachary D. Liscow

An Efficiency Analysis of Defensive Tactics Alan Schwartz and Ronald J. Gilson

Economic Challenges for the Law of Contract Alan Schwartz and Simone M. Sepe

Sunsetting as an Adaptive Strategy Roberta Romano and Simon Levin


2019

Comment Letter of Professors John D. Morley and Robert H. Sitkoff on the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on the Definition of “Fiduciary Capacity” Regarding “Directed Trusts” John Morley and Robert H. Sitkoff

Function and Form in Contract Law Alan Schwartz and Daniel Markovits

Macroeconomics and the Law Yair Listokin and Daniel Murphy

Making Directed Trusts Work: The Uniform Directed Trust Act John Morley and Robert H. Sitkoff

Pitfalls of Global Harmonization of Systemic Risk Regulation in a World of Financial Innovation Roberta Romano

Plural Values in Contract Law: Theory and Implementation Daniel Markovits and Alan Schwartz (Second Version)

Posner on Tax: The Independent Investor Test Yair Listokin

Too Big to be Activist John Morley

Trust Law: Private Ordering and the Branching of American Trust Law John Morley and Robert H. Sitkoff

Unenforceable Portfolio Contracts Tracy Lewis and Alan Schwartz

Why Do Investment Funds Have Special Securities Regulation? John Morley


2018

Asking the Right Question: The Statutory Right of Appraisal and Efficient Markets Jonathan R. Macey and Joshua Mitts

Citizens United As Bad Corporate Law Jonathan R. Macey and the Honorable Leo E. Strine

Does Agency Structure Affect Agency Decisionmaking? Implications of the CFPB’s Design for Administrative Governance Roberta Romano

Rethinking Corporate Law During a Financial Crisis Yair Listokin and Inho Andrew Mun

Plural Values in Contract Law: Theory and Intermediation Daniel Markovits and Alan Schwartz (First Version)

The New Uniform Directed Trust Act Paves the Way for Creative and Thoughtful Divided Trusteeship John Morley and Robert H. Sitkoff


2017

Alpha Duties: The Search for Excess Returns and Appropriate Fiduciary Duties Ian Ayres and Edward G. Fox

The Common Law Corporation: The Power of the Trust in Anglo-American Business History John Morley

Defensive Tactics and Optimal Search: A Simulation Approach Ronald J. Gilson and Alan Schwartz

New Special Study of the Securities Markets: Institutional Intermediaries Allen Ferrell and John Morley

Preferential Treatment and the Rise of Individualized Investing in Private Equity William Clayton


2016

Beyond the Personal Benefit Test: The Economics of Tipping by Insiders Jonathan R. Macey

Bankruptcy Related Contracting and Bankruptcy Functions Alan Schwartz

Negotiating Investment Treaties: Mechanisms for Anticipating and Controlling Textual Drift W. Michael Reisman

Follow the Money: Essays on International Taxation - Introduction Michael J. Graetz

Integration of Corporate and Shareholder Taxes Michael J. Graetz and Alvin C. Warren Jr.

When Civil Society Uses an Iron Fist: The Role of Private Associations in Social Control Robert C. Ellickson

(In)Efficient Breach of Contract Daniel Markovits and Alan Schwartz

The Uncertain Welfare Effects of Railroad Competition and Railroad Regulation, 1870-1900 George L. Priest

Preferential Treatment and the Rise of Individualized Investing in Private Equity William Clayton

The Common Law of Contract and the Default Rule Project Alan Schwartz and Robert E. Scott

External and Internal Asset Partitioning: Corporations and Their Subsidiaries Henry Hansmann and Richard Squire


2015

Regulatory Competition and the Market for Corporate Law Ofer Eldar and Lorenzo Magnolfi

What Is a Dividend? Wanling Su and Rahul K. Goravara

Firm Ownership: The Legacy of Grossman and Hart Henry Hansmann

A Principled Approach to Insurance Law: The Economics of Insurance and the Current Restatement Project George L. Priest

The Private Ordering Solution to Multiforum Shareholder Litigation Roberta Romano and Sarath Sanga

Commissioner Gallagher’s and Professor Grundfest’s Wrongful Attack on the Shareholder Rights Project Jonathan R. Macey

Is the U.S. Law Enforcement Stronger than that of a Developing Country? The Case of Securities Fraud by Brazilian Corporations and Lessons for the Private and Public Enforcement Debate Erica Gorga

Why Law Firms Collapse John Morley

Third Party Beneficiaries and Contractual Networks Alan Schwartz and Robert E. Scott


2014

The Impact of the Financial Crisis on Nonfinancial Firms: The Case of Brazilian Corporations and the ‘Double Circularity’ Problem in Transnational Securities Litigation Erica Gorga

Regulating for Rationality Alan Schwartz

Further Assessment of the Iron Law of Financial Regulation:  A Postscript to Regulating in the Dark Roberta Romano

The Market for Corporate Law Redux  Roberta Romano

Incomplete Organizations: Legal Entities and Asset Partitioning in Roman Commerce Henry Hansmann, Reinier Kraakman and Richard Squire

Ronald Coase, Firms and Markets George L. Priest

Innovation Sticks: The Limited Case for Penalizing Failures to Innovate Ian Ayres and Amy Kapczynski

Corporate Control & Governance after a Decade from ‘Novo Mercado’:  Changes in Ownership Structures and Shareholder Power in Brazil Erica Gorga

Litigation Discovery and Corporate Governance: The Missing Story About the ‘Genius of American Corporate Law’ Erica Gorga and Michael Halberstam       

The Flawed Mechanics of Mutual Fund Fee Litigation Quinn Curtis and John Morley

Bounded Institutions Yair Listokin

Beyond Diversification: The Pervasive Problem of Excessive Fees and ‘Dominated Funds’ in 401(k) Plans Ian Ayres and Quinn Curtis

Anti-Herding Regulation Ian Ayres and Joshua Mitts

Finding Order in the Morass: The Three Real Justifications for Piercing the Corporate Veil Jonathan R. Macey and Joshua Mitts

Getting Incentives Right: Is Deferred Bank Executive Compensation Sufficient? Sanjai Bhagat, Brian Bolton and Roberta Romano

Challenges in Global Financial Services Erica Gorga, Roberta Romano and Natalya Shnitser

The Role of Social Enterprise and Hybrid Organizations Ofer Eldar


2013

Bork’s Strategy, Price Fixing, and the Influence of the Chicago School on Modern Antitrust Law George L. Priest

The No Reading Problem in Consumer Contract Law Ian Ayres and Alan Schwartz

Destructive Federal Preemption of State Wealth Transfer Law in Beneficiary Designation Cases: Hillman Doubles Down on Egelhoff John H. Langbein

Skeletons in the Database: An Early Analysis of the CFPB’s Consumer Complaints Ian Ayres, Jeff Lingwall and Sonia Steinway

Managerial Distance and Virtual Ownership: The Governance of Industrial Foundations Henry Hansmann and Steen Thomsen

The Evolution of Shareholder Voting Rights: Separation of Ownership and Consumption Henry Hansmann and Mariana Pargendler


2012

Contracting about Private Benefits of Control Ronald J. Gilson and Alan Schwartz

Technological Innovation, International Competition, and the Challenges of International Income Taxation Michael J. Graetz and Rachel Doud

Constraints on Private Benefits of Control: Ex Ante Control Mechanisms Versus Ex Post Transaction Review Ronald J. Gilson and Alan Schwartz

For Diversity in the International Regulation of Financial Institutions: Critquing and Recalibrating the Basel Architecture Roberta Romano

Ex Tempore Contracting Andrew Verstein

Firm Ownership and Organizational Form Henry Hansmann

Reflections on the End of History for Corporate Law Henry Hansmann and Reinier Kraakman

Conceptualizing Contractual Interpretation Alan Schwartz and Joel Watson

Standard Oil, the Origins of Dual Antitrust Jurisdiction in the U.S., and the Modern Justification for Unified Enforcement George L. Priest

Long Term Contracting with Private Information Tracy Lewis and Alan Schwartz

Framing Contracts - Why Loss Framing Increases Effort Richard R. W. Brooks, Alexander Stremitzer and Stephan W. Tontrup

Rethinking the Economic Basis of the Standard Oil Refining Monopoly: Dominance Against Competing Cartels George L. Priest


2011

Beyond Ex Post Expediency - An Ex Ante View of Rescission and Restitution Richard R. W. Brooks and Alexander Stremitzer

Regulating in the Dark Roberta Romano

The Costs of Complex Land Titles: Two Examples from China Robert C. Ellickson

Anti-Corruption Policy: Can International Actors Play a Constructive Role? Susan Rose-Ackerman

Why the U.S. Does Not Have a Renewable Energy Policy E. Donald Elliott

Assessing Dodd-Frank Andrew Verstein and Roberta Romano

Two Culture Problems in Law and Economics Alan Schwartz

Intertemporal Choice and Legal Constraints Keith Chen and Alan Schwartz

Rethinking the Laws of Good Faith Purchase Alan Schwartz and Robert E. Scott

The Myth of Efficient Breach: New Defenses of the Expectation Interest Daniel Markovits and Alan Schwartz

Tax Inclusive, Tax Exclusive, and Tax Bases in Between Yair Listokin

Taxation and Liquidity Yair Listokin

Reducing Systemic Risk: The Role of Money Market Mutual Funds as Substitutes for Federally Insured Bank Deposits Jonathan R. Macey


2010

Against Financial Regulation Harmonization: A Comment Roberta Romano

Diversification Across Time Ian Ayres and Barry J. Nalebuff

Randomizing Law Michael Abramowicz , Ian Ayres and Yair Listokin

Remedies On and Off Contract Richard R. W. Brooks and Alexander Stremitzer

Taking Exit Rights Seriously: Why Governance and Fee Litigation Don’t Work in Mutual Funds John Morley and Quinn Curtis

Burn the Rembrandt? Trust Law’s Limits on the Settlor’s Power to Direct Investments John H. Langbein

Regulatory Dualism as a Development Strategy: Corporate Reform in Brazil, the U.S., and the EU Ronald J. Gilson , Henry Hansmann and Mariana Pargendler

If You Misrate, then You Lose: Improving Credit Rating Accuracy Through Incentive Compensation Yair Listokin and Benjamin Taibleson

The Meaning of Contractual Silence: A Field Experiment Yair Listokin


2009

On and Off Contract Remedies Richard R. W. Brooks and Alexander Stremitzer

Insolvency and Biased Standards - The Case for Proportional Liability Alexander Stremitzer and Avraham D. Tabbach

Reforming Executive Compensation: Simplicity, Transparency and Committing to the Long-Term Sanjai Bhagat and Roberta Romano

Contract Interpretation Redux Alan Schwartz and Robert E. Scott

Breach Remedies Inducing Hybrid Investments Alexander Stremitzer and Daniel Goller

Stabilizing the Economy Through the Income Tax Code Yair Listokin

The Essential Elements of Corporate Law John Armour , Henry Hansmann and Reinier Kraakman

Agency Problems, Legal Strategies, and Enforcement John Armour , Henry Hansmann and Reinier Kraakman

The Future of Financial Regulation John D. Morley and Roberta Romano

Does the Sarbanes-Oxley Act Have a Future? Roberta Romano

If You Give Shareholders Power, Do They Use It? An Empirical Analysis Yair Listokin

Intertemporal Choice and Legal Constraints Alan Schwartz and Keith Chen

The Pivotal Mechanism and Organizational Control Yair Listokin

How the Obama Administration should Regulate the Financial Sector Michael Solender

Reforming Executive Compensation: Focusing and Committing to the Long-Term Sanjai Bhagat and Roberta Romano


2008

Learning through Policy Variation Yair Listokin

Helping Law Catch Up to Markets: Applying Broker-Dealer Law to Subprime Mortgages Jonathan R. Macey, Geoffrey P. Miller, Maureen O’Hara and Gabriel D. Rosenberg

Assessing Post-ADA Employment: Some Econometric Evidence and Policy Considerations John J. Donohue III, Michael Stein, Sascha Becker and Christopher L. Griffin Jr.

A Multilateral Solution for the Income Tax Treatment of Interest Expenses Michael J. Graetz

Market Damages, Efficient Contracting and the Economic Waste Fallacy Alan Schwartz and Robert E. Scott

Corporate Voting vs. Market Price Setting Yair Listokin

Promises to Keep: Metaphors and Meta-Strategies For Corporate Practitioners To Raise the Bar In Achieving Excellence as Gatekeepers and as Lawyer-Statesmen Craig M. Wasserman

Globalizing Commercial Litigation J. C. Dammann and Henry Hansmann

Interpreting Empirical Estimates of the Effect of Corporate Governance Yair Listokin

Does Shareholder Voting Maximize Stock Market Value? Yair Listokin


2007

Rethinking Antitrust Law in an Age of Network Industries George L. Priest

The Promise and Peril of Corporate Governance Indices Sanjai Bhagat, Brian J. Bolton and Roberta Romano

Tradable Patent Rights: A New Approach to Innovation Ian Ayres and Gideon Parchomovsky

Why Did Trust Law Become Statute Law in the United States? John H. Langbein

Modes of Gap Filling: Good Faith and Fiduciary Duties Reconsidered Mariana Pargendler

Intellectual Property as Property: Delineating Entitlements in Information Henry E. Smith

Institutional Investors and Proxy Voting: The Impact of the 2003 Mutual Fund Voting Disclosure Regulation Martijn Cremers and Roberta Romano

Management Always Wins the Close Ones Yair Listokin

A Global Market for Judicial Services Jens Dammann and Henry Hansmann

United States Courts and the Optimal Deterrence of International Cartels: A Welfarist Perspective on Empagran Alvin K. Klevorick and Alan O. Sykes

Behavioral Law and Economics Christine Jolls


2006

Valuation of Collateral Alan Schwartz

New Rules for Promissory Fraud Ian Ayres and Gregory Klass

Price Discrimination with Contract Terms: The Lost Volume Problem Barry E. Adler and Alan Schwartz

“Paying for Performance in Bankruptcy: Why CEOs Should be Compensated with Debt” Yair Listokin

What Do Corporate Default Rules and Menus Do? An Empirical Examination Yair Listokin

Is Secured Debt Used to Redistribute Value from Tort Claimants in Bankruptcy? An Empirical Analysis Yair Listokin

The Law and Economics of Preliminary Agreements Alan Schwartz and Robert E. Scott

Dear Prudence: Finding a Proper Balance in the Post-Enron Regulatory and Enforcement Arena Craig M. Wasserman

Federalism vs. Federalization: Preserving the Division of Responsibility in Corporation Law E. Norman Veasey, Shawn Pompian and Christine Di Guglielmo

Law and the Rise of the Firm Henry Hansmann , Reinier Kraakman and Richard C. Squire

Modularity in Contracts: Boilerplate and Information Flow Henry E. Smith


2005

Accounting and Litigation Risk Zhiyan Cao and Ganapathi Narayanamoorthy

Is the Dutch Auction IPO a Good Idea? Anita I. Anand

From Orders to Markets Jonathan R. Macey and Maureen O’Hara

After the Revolution in Corporate Law Roberta Romano

Empirical Studies of Corporate Law Sanjai Bhagat and Roberta Romano

The States as a Laboratory: Legal Innovation and State Competition for Corporate Charters Roberta Romano

Foreign Direct Investment and the Business Environment in Developing Countries: The Impact of Bilateral Investment Treaties Susan Rose-Ackerman and Jennifer Tobin

Questioning the Trust Law Duty of Loyalty: Sole Interest or Best Interest? John H. Langbein

Is Regulatory Competition a Problem or Irrelevant for Corporate Governance? Roberta Romano

Extraterritorial Courts for Corporate Law Henry Hansmann and Jens Dammann

A Normative Theory of Business Bankruptcy Alan Schwartz


2004

Agency Problems and Legal Strategies Henry Hansmann and Reinier Kraakman

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the Making of Quack Corporate Governance Roberta Romano

Promissory Fraud Without Breach Ian Ayres and Gregory Klass

What is Corporate Law? Henry Hansmann and Reinier Kraakman

Trigger Happy or Gun Shy? Dissolving Common-Value Partnerships with Texas Shootouts Richard R.W. Brooks and Kathryn E. Spier

Understanding MACs: Moral Hazard in Acquisitions Ronald J. Gilson and Alan Schwartz

The Law and Economics of Costly Contracting Alan Schwartz and Joel C. Watson

Was Arthur Andersen Different? An Empirical Examination of Major Accounting Firms’ Audits of Large Clients Theodore Eisenberg and Jonathan R. Macey


2003

Observations on the Role of Commodification, Independence and Governance in the Accounting Industry Jonathan R. Macey and Hillary A. Sale

Who Should Pay for Bankruptcy Costs? Ivo Welch, Arturo Bris and Alan Schwartz

Contract Theory and the Limits of Contract Law Alan Schwartz and Robert E. Scott

What ERISA Means by ‘Equitable’: The Supreme Court’s Trail of Error in Russell, Mertens and Great-West John H. Langbein


2002

Optimal Penalties in Contracts Aaron S. Edlin and Alan Schwartz

Ownership Form and Trapped Capital in the Hospital Industry Henry Hansmann, Daniel P. Kessler and Mark B. McClellan

Does Confidential Proxy Voting Matter? Roberta Romano

The Law and Economics of Costly Contracting Alan Schwartz and Joel C. Watson


2001

The Need for Competition in International Securities Regulation Roberta Romano

Endowment Effects Within Corporate Agency Relationships Jennifer Arlen, Matthew L. Spitzer, Eric L. Talley

Event Studies and the Law: Part II - Empirical Studies of Corporate Law Sanjai Bhagat and Roberta Romano

Assessing the Cost of Regulatory Protections: Evidence on the Decision to Sell Securities Outside the United States Stephen J. Choi

Event Studies and the Law - Part I: Technique and Corporate Litigation Sanjai Bhagat and Roberta Romano

Sales and Elections as Methods for Transferring Corporate Control Ronald J. Gilson and Alan Schwartz

Substitutes for Insider Trading Ian Ayres and Joseph Bankman


2000

A Dilution Mechanism for Valuing Corporations in Bankruptcy Barry E. Adler and Ian Ayres

Less Is More: Making Shareholder Activism A Valued Mechanism Of Corporate Governance Roberta Romano

Economic and Legal Aspects of Costly Recontracting Alan Schwartz and Joel C. Watson

The End Of History For Corporate Law Henry Hansmann and Reinier Kraakman


1999

The Employment Contract Ian Ayres and Stewart J. Schwab

Higher Education As An Associative Good Henry Hansmann

Regulating Consumer Bankruptcy: A Theoretical Inquiry Barry E. Adler, Ben Polak and Alan Schwartz

Law And Post-privatization Regulatory Reform: Perspectives From The U.S. Experience Peter H. Schuck

‘Grand’ Corruption and the Ethics of Global Business Susan Rose-Ackerman

Karl Llewellyn and the Origins of Contract Theory Alan Schwartz

Threatening Inefficient Performance of Injunctions and Contracts Ian Ayres and Kristin M. Madison