Privatization in Transition Countries

Two economists at the International Monetary Fund review a selection of empirical studies on privatization experiences in transition countries. The purpose is to examine the relative performance of privatized and state owned enterprises. In so doing the importance of privatization method is stressed, as is the importance of the background market environment. The role of de novo firms in enlarging the private sector in transition economies is also reviewed, along with the question of whether privatization efforts support or hinder de novo private-sector development.     

Disintegration: Environmental Protection and Article 81 EC

This article addresses the question of whether the modernisation and decentralisation of EC competition law will affect the integration of environmental protection requirements into the framework of Article 81 EC. First, the interface between competition policy and environmental protection at both the constitutional level and operational level is investigated. Following this, the Commission's assessment of environmental benefits under Article 81(3) EC prior to decentralisation and modernisation is explored. It is submitted that the Commission's expansion of its interpretation of the first two positive criteria of Article 81(3) EC allowed environmental objectives and competition goals to be balanced within the framework of Article 81 EC. Finally, this article examines the extent to which the decentralisation and modernisation of Community competition law may impede the integration of environmental protection into the definition and implementation of Article 81 EC.     

Contributory Negligence in the Twenty‐First Century: An Empirical Study of First Instance Decisions

In this article we report the results of an empirical study of 368 first instance decisions on the contributory negligence doctrine handed down in England and Wales between 2000 and 2014. The two central questions at which we looked were: how often a defendant's plea of contributory negligence was successful; and by how much a claimant's damages were reduced when a finding of contributory negligence was made. We also considered the extent to which the answers to these questions depended on the following variables: the claimant's age; the claimant's gender; the type of damage suffered by the claimant; the contextual setting of the claim; and the year of the decision. Our study uncovered several important truths about the contributory negligence doctrine hidden in this mass of case law, some of which cast significant doubt on the accuracy of widely held views about the doctrine's operation.