Regulatory Races: The Effects of Jurisdictional Competition on Regulatory Standards

2016 ◽  
Vol 54 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce G. Carruthers ◽  
Naomi R. Lamoreaux
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Regulatory Arbitrage ◽  
Banking And Finance ◽  
Regulatory Policies ◽  
Regulatory Standards ◽  
Geographic Differences ◽  
Migration Flows ◽  
Regulatory Convergence

This article surveys the literature on regulatory arbitrage in four settings: labor regulation, environmental protection, corporate governance, and banking and finance. For a regulatory race to occur, firms must migrate across state or country borders in response to geographic differences in the costs and benefits of regulation, and governments must shape their regulatory policies with the aim of affecting those migration flows. We find that both these conditions hold only in rare circumstances. Instead, the much more common outcome is for political pressures within jurisdictions to produce a heterogeneous pattern resembling Tiebout sorting. Such regulatory convergence as occurs is more often the result of deliberate harmonization or imitation. (JEL G18, G28, G38, H73, J08, L51, Q58)

scholarly journals Regulatory Arbitrage and Non-Judicial Debt Collection in Central and Eastern Europe - Tax Sheltering and Potential Money Laundering

2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Catalin-Gabriel Stanescu ◽  
Camelia Bogdan
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Europe ◽  
Money Laundering ◽  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
Regulatory Arbitrage ◽  
Legal Provisions ◽  
Regulatory Standards ◽  
Debt Collectors ◽  
Illegal Activities ◽  
Collection Practices ◽  
Debt Collection

AbstractNon-judicial recovery of debts is now rampant in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). The reason is two-fold. On the one hand, the significant number of defaults in the poorer areas of Europe makes the CEE region a very attractive market for debt-collection. On the other hand, the activity is almost entirely unregulated, especially regarding abusive debt collection practices. The CEE region still lacks mature, strong, and experienced supervisory agencies that could tackle borderline activities. This enables companies involved in debt collection to comply easily with the minimal legal provisions and to circumvent the actual purpose of the law, including through tax sheltering and money laundering. The main argument developed in the paper is that the debt collection system it is designed to maximize profits, minimize tax base and, potentially, can serve as money laundering mechanism. The system functions in a triadic relationship: the debt-seller (a credit institution), the debt-buyer (usually an investment company), and the debt-administrator (a debt-collection agency, either fully owned by, or under the control of the debt-buyer), where debt portfolios are purchased at huge discounts (varying between 90 and 95% of face value). By revealing the mechanism used by debt-collectors, the paper calls for legislative intervention to seal the gap and ensure adequate taxation of debt-collection activities. The nature of regulatory arbitrage involved relates both to tax law as well as to regulatory standards, such as licensing requirements. Debt buyers benefit from the EU passport rule, make high returns on their 'investments' and optimize their taxes on profits obtained. Debt administrators perform their activity at almost no liability and no tax payable to the state. This mechanism creates favorable premises for money laundering and financing of illegal activities, as the web of offshore companies behind the debt-buyer renders the verification of the origin of their investment money extremely difficult. Using Romania as a case study, the paper addresses not only the aforementioned practices and risks, but also the potential reasons behind the state's inability either to adopt adequate legislation, or to enforce it. In doing so, the paper employs empirical evidence regarding the activity of ten Romanian debt collection agencies and relevant case law thereof. The paper concludes with the authors' proposal for a potential solution, which can be extended beyond Romania.

Tradeoffs in Corporate Governance: Evidence From Board Structures and Charter Provisions

2011 ◽  
Vol 01 (04) ◽  
pp. 667-705 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart L. Gillan ◽  
Jay C. Hartzell ◽  
Laura T. Starks
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Corporate Control ◽  
Board Independence ◽  
Governance Structures ◽  
Board Structure ◽  
System Of Equations ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Market For Corporate Control ◽  
Monitoring Mechanism ◽  
Three Stage Least Squares

We provide arguments and present evidence that corporate governance structures are composed of interrelated mechanisms, which are in turn endogenous responses to the costs and benefits firms face when they choose those mechanisms. Examining board structures and the use of corporate charter provisions in a sample of more than 2,300 firms over a four-year period, we find that firms cluster in their use of governance mechanisms. In particular, the set of charter provisions that firms use, as measured by the Gompers et al. (2003) G Index, is associated with board structure, with the laws of the state in which the firm is incorporated, and with firm and industry characteristics. We also find that some governance structures appear to serve as substitutes. Specifically, firms that have powerful boards (as measured by board independence) also have the greatest number of charter provisions, suggesting that the market for corporate control is less effective as a monitoring mechanism for these firms. In contrast, firms that have less powerful boards tend to have few charter provisions, suggesting that the market for corporate control plays a greater monitoring role at such firms. To address potential endogeneity issues, we employ three-stage least squares analysis to estimate these relationships within a system of equations. Our results from this analysis are consistent with the hypothesis that powerful boards serve as a substitute for the market for corporate control. Finally, our findings suggest that causality runs from the board to the choice of charter provisions, but not vice versa.

scholarly journals Membangun Model Perbankan Syariah yang Transparan, Akuntanbel, Responsibility, Independensi dan Fairness Perspektif Pengetahuan (Survey Pada Perbankan Syariah di Propinsi Jambi)

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 62
Author(s):  
Mukhzarudfa Mukhzarudfa
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Large Population ◽  
Governance Structure ◽  
Islamic Banking ◽  
Muslim Population ◽  
Banking And Finance ◽  
Governance Model ◽  
Content Analysis Method ◽  
Banking Market ◽  
Professional Business

Jambi Province is one of the provinces with the largest Muslim population in Indonesia, with such a large population, Jambi Province should have been a pioneer and direction for the development of Islamic banking and finance in Indonesia. Nevertheless, the contribution of sharia business is still very low compared to conventional business, in 2016 the sharia banking market share is still less than 5%. For the development of sharia banking in the future, the specificity of the application of sharia principles in totality, demanding products and contracts of Islamic banking must have a link with real sector activities. This is where an understanding of governance and a professional business model and the aspects of muamalat fiqh are needed. Islamic banking as a modern banking needs to be managed with the principles of modern governance, which are in accordance with sharia principles, for this reason, this study tries to uncover and analyze how the model of sharia corporate governance implementation in sharia financial institutions. This study aims to explore the model of disclosure mechanism of sharia banking corporate governance in Jambi Province. The sample banks in the study consisted of 7 Islamic banks in Jambi Province. Research is done by using Qualitative Methods. Data analysis is done using the content analysis method. The results of the study show that for 2016, the sharia banking model that is transparent, accountable, responsive, independent and fairness analyzed can be grouped into four aspects, namely the regulatory aspects, organizational structure, process aspects and functions. From the aspects analyzed, it can be concluded that the Islamic commercial banks in implementing their governance show that bank management has implemented the principles of governance fairly well, in accordance with the provisions of the applicable legislation. And there are still significant weaknesses in the application of its sharia governance structure model. The sharia governance model that is built is to produce a sharia banking model that is transparent, accountable, responsible, independent and fairness that is applied in Jambi Province at the same time as the provisions that apply to sharia banking internationally.

Vertical and Horizontal Problems in Financial Regulation and Corporate Governance

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan R. Macey ◽  
Maureen O'Hara
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Financial Institutions ◽  
Insider Trading ◽  
Financial Regulation ◽  
Fiduciary Duty ◽  
Federal Law ◽  
Regulatory Arbitrage ◽  
Holding Companies ◽  
The Third ◽  
And Control

This chapter discusses vertical and horizontal problems in financial regulation and corporate governance. More specifically, it examines three contexts in which efforts to mitigate systemic risk and moral hazard in capital markets and financial institutions clash with long-standing principles of corporate governance. The first issue relates to the so-called “vertical” challenge between financial institutions and the separately incorporated holding companies that own and control them. The second issue relates to the “horizontal” challenge, in which regulatory arbitrage occurs between the banking subsidiaries of complex holding companies and their less-regulated nonbank and shadow bank siblings. The third and final issue deals with the conflict between the conception of fiduciary duty in the federal law of insider trading and the concept of fiduciary duty in state law.

scholarly journals Safety at work and immigration

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 167-221
Author(s):  
Cristina Bellés-Obrero ◽  
Nicolau Martin Bassols ◽  
Judit Vall Castello
Keyword(s):  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Instrumental Variables ◽  
Workplace Safety ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Administrative Dataset ◽  
Native Workers ◽  
Workplace Accidents ◽  
Immigration Debate ◽  
Migration Flows ◽  
The Universe

Abstract This paper examines the effect of immigration on workplace safety, an understudied outcome in the literature. We use a novel administrative dataset of the universe of workplace accidents reported in Spain from 2003 to 2015 and follow an instrumental variables (IV) strategy based on the distribution of early migrants across provinces. Our results show that the massive inflow of immigrants between 2003 and 2009 reduced the number of workplace accidents by 10,980 for native workers (7% of the overall reduction during that period). This decline in workplace accidents is driven by Spanish-born workers shifting away from manual occupations to occupations involving more interpersonal interactions. Immigrant flows during the economic crisis (2010–2015) had no impact on natives’ workplace safety. The scarcity of jobs during that period may have prevented shifts between occupations. Finally, we find no effects of immigration on the workplace safety of immigrants. These results add a previously unexplored dimension to the immigration debate that should be taken into account when evaluating the costs and benefits of migration flows.

Accounting for Climate Change: Rethinking the Chaotic Corporate Reporting Landscape and Its Purpose, with the UK’s Failure as a Case Study

2020 ◽  
pp. 69-100
Author(s):  
Charlotte Villiers ◽  
Georgina Tsagas
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Global Warming ◽  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Company Law ◽  
Corporate Reporting ◽  
Current State ◽  
Legal Consequences

The chapter considers whether company law and corporate governance-related initiatives provide effective mechanisms for holding corporations to account for their contribution to climate change. A key regulatory device targeted at corporations is disclosure, the goal of which, in this context, is to achieve greater transparency regarding the risks and opportunities connected to climate change. The chapter explores to what extent climate change-related reporting contributes to the efforts towards reducing global warming. It is argued that there are a number of significant problems with climate-related reporting in its current state, in so far as there are many different requirements, including standards, codes, guidelines, at industry or sector level as well as at national and international levels; all these combined create a chaotic reporting landscape. Moreover, there is no meaningful link between the disclosures required under company law and initiatives within the area of environmental protection; hence it becomes difficult to identify clearly what the key reporting information is and what the responses and possible legal consequences of any such disclosures should be. Consequently, corporations’ accountability for their contribution to climate change is open to question.

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