Efficiency vs. Resilience: Lessons from COVID-19

Why was the world not ready for COVID-19, in spite of many warnings over the past 20 years of the high likelihood of a global pandemic? This chapter argues that the economic goal of efficiency, focused on short-term optimization, has distracted us from resilience, which is focused on long-term optimization. Computing also seems to have generally emphasized efficiency at the expense of resilience. But computing has discovered that resilience is enabled by redundancy and distributivity. These principles should be adopted by society in the “after-COVID” era.

Law and Economics Against Feminism

This article analyzes feminism in legal theory in relation to the rise of “law and economics” during the late twentieth century as a methodology that generated academic credibility for anti-egalitarian ideology and policy. Law and economics fundamentally undermines feminism in law by constructing the economy as a sphere best governed by efficiency insulated from contested morality and politics. This division naturalizes a gendered baseline that generally makes feminist reforms appear costly and unfair. Finally, the article explores how this core division of law and economics constructs an idea of liberty that makes feminist efforts to remedy gender-based harms appear illegitimate and oppressive. Law and economics cuts against legal feminism not because gender justice is a non-economic goal, but because law and economics promotes a misleading economic ideology steeped in gender and tilted toward those most willing and able to disregard and discount others’ well-being.

The Railway’s Unjustified Enrichment as a Result of Abuse of the Right in Obligations To Carry Goods

The paper examines issues related to unscrupulous behavior of the railways, which unthoroughly benefit at the expense of other participants of the obligations for the carriage of goods. The paper considered cases where the railways use legally valid facts (transactions) as imaginary grounds for obtaining property (money) from freight and cargo owners and encourage them to provide the undue. It is proposed to qualify such a conduct of the railways as an abuse of the right committed for the purpose of unjustified enrichment. Based on the analysis of complex contractual relations (contracts on carriage organization, contracts in the form of submission and acceptance of an application for the carriage of goods, contracts of carriage of goods, etc.) arising between the participants of legal relations concerning the carriage of goods (shippers, consignees, owners of infrastructure and carriers), the author has identified conditions that are conducive to receiving unjustified enrichment by the railways, namely: combining different legal statuses by the railways (carrier, owner of infrastructure, agent of a third party, etc.), removal from the railways of the burden of performing obligations and risks of liability for the failure to perform obligations, the position of a weaker party assigned to the railways’ contractual counterparties. According to the author, in order to prevent references to legal facts as grounds for enrichment, the economic purpose of the legal relationship must be recognized as an appropriate ground. It is noted that such an economic goal is one for the goals pursued by the whole system of legal relations for the carriage of goods and that its violation deprives the railways of the right to demand execution under the transaction, since making this claim must be considered as an abuse of the right. It is argued that the contractual counterparty of the railways, aware of the absence of grounds for granting property on its part, does not commit a legal error, as soon is it is a weaker party to the contract.

Is it Possible to Introduce Efficient Breach Theory to a Civil Law Country? The Case of Qatar

The economic goal of the doctrine of efficient breach is to ensure that the rules and remedies of contract law are expected to be value maximising and that contracts are breached only if a breach is value maximising. The theory originated in the United States, and it has not been adopted in Qatar or any civil law countries. This article makes an initial attempt to understand the legal hurdles in civilian traditions that lead to rejection of the theory. Before analysing the hurdles to the theory of efficient breach, a proper appreciation for how and when efficient breach arises is necessary. One might worry about the tendency of efficient breach theory to escape its proper bounds. Therefore, analysis of efficient breach should fully consider all possible consequences and remedies available to the non-breaching party when the contract is breached.

What’s an Economy For?

This chapter describes how US policymakers would regulate the economy if they became serious about supporting the American Dream. Legislators would stop making an ever-higher GDP the ultimate economic goal and instead focus on ensuring that every American gets the resources they need to thrive. Since thriving Americans require healthy families, this would require ensuring that families, too, receive the resources they need to thrive. To serve these goals, markets must be put in their proper place in the larger economy, alongside both families and government. When it comes to ensuring that families get the resources they need, the state has five critical functions to fill. These are: (1) partnering with parents to provide the conditions young children need at home; (2) investing in excellent daycare and prekindergarten programs; (3) regulating the economy to reduce economic inequality and insecurity; (4) constructing a strong social safety net; and (5) regulating the workplace to allow workers to reconcile work with family. The chapter closes by describing the public programs that would support each of these five functions.

Voraussetzungen und Effekte betrieblicher Interessenvertretung in eigentümergeführten Unternehmen

Zusammenfassung Im Zentrum ökonomischer Mitbestimmungsforschung steht die Frage, ob Betriebsräte effizient sind. Die hierzu vorliegenden empirischen Befunde tendieren zu einem überwiegend positiven Einfluss von Betriebsräten auf die Performance eines Unternehmens. Weniger Beachtung in diesem Kontext fand bisher die Rolle des Eigentürmers als Geschäftsführer. Mit den Daten des IAB-Betriebspanels wird daher untersucht: (1) welchen Einfluss die Eigentümerführung auf die Wahrscheinlichkeit der Existenz eines Betriebsrats hat und (2) welche ökonomischen Effekte (Produktivität) unter den besonderen Bedingungen der Eigentümerführung erzielt werden. Mittels gepoolten OLS-Schätzungen und dynamischen Panelansätzen wird aufgezeigt, dass eigentümergeführte Unternehmen auf positive ökonomische Effekte der betrieblichen Interessenvertretung verzichten, um ihre nicht-ökonomischen Ziele wie den Erhalt von Einfluss und Kontrolle zu erfüllen. Abstract The efficiency of works councils has always been in the focus of economic research on co-determination. Empirical findings show a positive influence of works councils on firm performance. Less attention so far has been given to the role of owner-managers. The data of the IAB establishment panel is used to (1) examine the influence of owner management on the likelihood of the existence of a works council and (2) the economic effects achieved under the particular conditions of owner management. The estimations of pooled OLS and GMM models show, that owner-managers dispense with positive economic effects of works councils in order to achieve their non-economic goal of maintaining control and influence.

When Too Much Is Too Little: Evaluating the Italian Startup Act

Public policies aimed at incentivizing the birth and growth of start-up ecosystems in developed countries have so far produced mixed results, and the vast majority have resulted in wasting taxpayers’ money. This failure is the result of mechanically importing policies that have worked in other countries without understanding (1) the real economic goal of start-up policies and (2) how to adopt strategies that have worked elsewhere to the local context. Countries should promote start-ups not because they are a “nice to have” but because, if done right, start-ups can boost the innovation content of an economy and spur economic growth. Governments indeed have a role to play but must target innovation, or they are wasteful. Applying this framework to the Italian 2012 Startup Act, the author finds the effort has not yet produced good results and propose some solutions.

MENILIK PEREMPUAN SEBAGAI SOCIAL CLIMBER DALAM PANDANGAN EKONOMI ISLAM

<p class="IIABSTRAK333">Social climber is described as a person who is eager to gain a higher social status in his or her society. In the globalization era, many women show off their styles that are not in accordance with their belongings. Those who look glamorous do not pay attention to the Islamic economic value. Therefore how women restrict the future generations not to be excessive in appearing their performance to avoid undesirable social and psychological impacts. Principally, Islam does not justify social climber because in Islamic economics <em>istishod</em> is recognized as the balance between the world and the hereafter which is in line with the Islamic economic goal namely <em>al-falah</em>. It means a balanced luck between the world and the hereafter. But it does not mean showing off glamorous behaviour in the world as such so it causes jealousy among the surrounding environment and induces criminals to commit crime such as theft, robbery and others. Social climber is also regarded as <em>isrof</em> means extravagance. Islamic economics forbids people to live extra­vagant­ly and miserly regardless of its impact because Islamic economics advocate simple life.</p><p class="IIABSTRAK333">_________________________________________________________<strong></strong></p>S<em>ocial climber</em> digambarkan sebagai seseorang yang ingin men­dapatkan status sosial yang lebih tinggi di sekitarnya. Dalam kondisi zaman globalisasi banyak perempuan yang bergaya pamer tidak sesuai dengan kondisi materi yang dimilikinya. Mereka yang ber­penampilan glamor tidak memperhatikan nilai-nilai ekonomi Islam. Oleh karena itu bagaimana para perempuan membatasi agar generasi-generasi mendatang tidak berlebihan dalam berpenampil­an untuk menghindari dampak sosial dan psikologi yg tidak diingin­kan. Pada prinsipnya, Islam tidak membenarkan <em>social climber</em> karena di dalam ekonomi Islam dikenal istilah istishod yakni ke­seimbangan antara dunia dan akhirat yang sejalan dengan tujuan ekonomi Islam yang disebut <em>al-falah.</em> Artinya keberuntungan yang seimbang antara dunia dan akhirat, jangan hanya untung dunia yang justru pamer atau berperilaku glamor yang menyebabkan kecemburuan lingkungan sekitar dan mengundang penjahat me­laku­kan kejahatan misalnya pencurian, perampokan dan lain-lain. <em>Social climber</em> juga termasuk <em>isrof </em>yakni pemborosan. Ekonomi Islam melarang hidup boros berfoya-foya dan kikir tanpa memperhatikan dampaknya karena ekonomi Islam menganjurkan hidup sederhana.