Publications

March 2001 (Revised April 2002)
Case

Ginzel et al v. Kolcraft Enterprises et al (A)

By: Michael A. Wheeler

Examines the wrongful death lawsuit brought by the family of an infant who died after a portable crib collapsed. The manufacturer, Kolcraft, licensed the Playskool brand name from the co-defendant, Hasbro Industries. Raises difficult questions about what the two... View Details

Keywords: Safety; Product; Negotiation; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Lawsuits and Litigation; Legal Liability; Brands and Branding; Consumer Products Industry; United States

July 1995
Background Note

Managerial Duties and Business Law

By: Joseph L. Badaracco Jr. and Jerry Useem

Consists of excerpts from Principles of Corporate Governance, a set of legal guidelines that enumerates the principal duties of corporate managers and directors, including fiduciary duty, duty of care, and duty of fair dealing. Also addresses legal obligations relating... View Details

Keywords: Ethics; Corporate Governance; Retention; Common Law; Business or Company Management; Goals and Objectives; Managerial Roles

October 1994
Background Note

Note on Crude Oil and Crude Oil Derivatives Markets

By: Andre F. Perold, Wai Lee and Kuljot Singh

Briefly describes the crude oil markets and common derivatives contracts written on oil. The contracts are oil forward and futures contracts, and over-the-counter oil price swaps. View Details

Keywords: Non-Renewable Energy; Futures and Commodity Futures; Credit Derivatives and Swaps; Contracts; Energy Industry

February 1994 (Revised August 1994)
Background Note

Note on Contingent Environmental Liabilities

By: Richard H.K. Vietor and Forest L. Reinhardt

Addresses contingent environmental liabilities that are the result of unforeseen environmental risks where the dollar amount of such liabilities is unknown and depends on future events. In contrast, fines for violating environmental laws are liabilities, but are not... View Details

Keywords: Legal Liability; Risk Management; Natural Environment; Laws and Statutes; Pollutants; Governance Compliance; United States

October 1992 (Revised February 1995)
Background Note

Note on the Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Organizations

By: Lynn S. Paine

Describes the federal guidelines used by judges for sentencing organizations convicted of criminal wrong-doing under U.S. law as of November 1, 1991. Describes the guidelines' approach to calculating criminal fines for organizations, determining an organization's... View Details

Keywords: Crime and Corruption; Governance Compliance; Law Enforcement; Laws and Statutes; Organizations; Legal Services Industry; United States

Article

Renegotiation and the Form of Efficient Contracts

By: Jerry R. Green and J. J. Laffont

Two parties may agree to a mutually binding contract that will govern their behavior after an uncertain event becomes known. As there is no agent who can both observe this uncertain outcome and enforce the contract, contingent agreements are precluded. However, the... View Details

Keywords: Negotiation; Contracts

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June 1983
Article

A Comparison of Tournaments and Contracts

By: Jerry R. Green and Nancy Stokey

Tournaments, reward structures based on rank order, are compared with individual contracts in a model with one risk-neutral principal and many risk-averse agents. Each agent's output is a stochastic function of his effort level plus an additive shock term that is... View Details

Keywords: Tournaments; Contracts