Toward a Signaling Explanation of the Private Choice of Corporate Law

Corporate actors can choose their corporate domicile and haveconsiderable freedom to choose terms in corporate charters.Although contractarian corporate law literature almost alwaysanalyzes the private choice of corporate law through the lensof agency costs, this article considers the choice for its informationalcontent. A particular law may be chosen by an entrepreneur notbecause it reduces agency costs, but because it signals qualityto outside investors. The article considers the choice of aDelaware domicile. Higher expected litigation costs for relativelylow quality firms that accompany a Delaware domicile could implythat choosing Delaware signals a relatively high quality firm.Alternatively, the size and structure of the franchise tax inDelaware could give rise to a signal of quality from locatingthere. The article considers the ambiguous welfare implicationsof the signaling analysis and the debate over mandatory versusenabling rules in corporate law. It also suggests how the signalinganalysis might apply to the debate over the private choice ofa securities regulation domicile.     

Alternatives to trusts: a brave new world?

The UK's changes in the taxation of trusts have not inspiredconfidence in the long-term tax treatment of trusts in the UKand practitioners are considering new alternative mechanisms.The author examines the alternatives.     

Authoritarianism,religiosity and reactions to deviance

A modified F-Scale and a deviance-control scale were administered to a sample of 116 police science students and a random representative sample of 91 state university students. No overall relationship was found between respondents' preference to control deviance and their authoritarianism, nor did the F-Scale discriminate between the two groups. However, the police sample favored the control of deviance significantly more. Evidence of response bias to the F-Scale was also found. It was concluded that the source of the criminal sanction usually typified as moral indignation, was more a cognitively based evaluation than an emotionally based reaction.     

The gender warrior: Reformed batterers on abuse,treatment, and change

Reformed batterers were interviewed about their perceptions on the nature of their abuse and how they stopped their abuse. The interviewees were 12 men from a men's counseling program who were nonviolent for 10 months or more. The men explained their abuse as a reaction to their failed macho complex. They viewed the counseling program as a reinforcement for their self-determination to change. And they described the process of change in terms of personal growth, in which they accepted responsibility, became empathetic, and redefined their manhood. The implications of the reformed batterer's perceptions for program development are discussed in the conclusion.