要大人,还是要孩子?!

第一次听说"要大人,还是要孩子"这个奇怪的问题是几十年前从一个少时挚友那里,他是一个很有些才气的青年,可惜早在我上大学时就因风湿性心脏病猝然而亡.他的死,让我难过了很长时间,第一次感到生命的脆弱与无常.他曾骄傲地告诉我,他的出生是他父亲做出的一个伟大决定的结果.     

Institutions and contracts: Franchising

This paper investigates a new dataset of franchise networks in nine countries in order to assess whether and to what extent do institutions influence the practice of franchising. Our regressions relate the structure of franchise networks (the rate of franchised units as opposed to corporate units) to individual parameters supposed to reflect the extent of moral hazards on the franchisor's and franchisee's sides and, more specifically, to various institutional parameters of the franchisor's country, namely, the legal tradition, the level of procedural formalism, the constraints imposed by labour regulation and the effectiveness of trademark protection. While agency theory parameters seem to perform rather badly in this international setting, institutions such as trademark protection and labour regulation have more explanatory power: greater trademark protection encourages franchising and the impact of labour regulation is mostly positive, depending on the type of labour regulation that is being considered. The effect of legal tradition and formalism seems negligible once these parameters are taken in. JEL Classification D23 · F23 · K12     

Baby Jane Doe in the media

A review of national television, magazine, and newspaper coverage of the case of Baby Jane Doe indicates that most of it lacked perspective and context; stories were generally incomplete and often imprecise; reporting was sometimes inaccurate; and overall, inadequate attention was paid to the medical, legal, philosophical, and social implications of the case. Human-interest and political elements of the story were generally well covered. Even after taking account of the pressures and constraints of daily and weekly news reporting, we conclude that the print press and television could have done a better job without devoting more space or time to the story. This could have been done by assigning reporters with greater expertise and by paying more attention to the needs of a hypothetical "reasonable reader."     

船舶建造合同损害赔偿法律制度

在过去的几个月里,经济低迷,世界贸易增长放缓,很大程度上是由正在持续的金融危机导致的.各种造船订单正受到被取消或延期的威胁.因此,从英国法律的角度去理解适用于船舶建造合同的损害赔偿法律制度变得重要.如果造船厂以及船舶买家要违反船舶建造合同,则他们需要评估其相应的合法权利和义务.     

海上保险合约中的承诺性保证条文

海上保险合约中的承诺性保证条文重要性十分显著。介绍海上保险合约中的承诺性保证条文,并结合相关案例对明示承诺性保证、默示承诺性保证、违反承诺性保证条文的严重后果及其法律地位的改变进行探讨。     

Cryptocurrencies are (smart) contracts

The functioning of cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin ultimately depends on participants’ agreements to selectively disclose or conceal information. Various arguments suggest that those agreements amount to a large multilateral contract to which all participants are parties. That multilateral agreement is automatically enforced through smart contract technology. Therefore, cryptocurrency “wallet holders” are simultaneously creditors and debtors of smart contract claims vis-à-vis their cryptocurrency community.     

船舶建造合同损害赔偿法律制度

在过去的几个月里,经济低迷,世界贸易增长放缓,很大程度上是由正在持续的金融危机导致的。各种造船订单正受到被取消或延期的威胁。因此,从英国法律的角度去理解适用于船舶建造合同的损害赔偿法律制度变得重要。如果造船厂以及船舶买家要违反船舶建造合同,则他们需要评估其相应的合法权利和义务。     

Technology contracts: An academic perspective

As university-industry ties broaden and strengthen it becomes more important for technology managers on both sides to understand the nature and obligations of the other, and thus its needs, policies, and limitations. This paper discusses some relevant aspects of the nature of universities, the needs of industry, current technologytransfer laws, and in consequence, university policies. It also provides standard language in selected clauses of research and licensing agreements that address these issues. In explicating this fundamental information, the paper might be a useful basis for starting negotiations.