The comparison of Mexico’s 2009 A/H1N1 outbreak with the U.S. H1N1 outbreak of 1976 provides notable observations—based on the strengths and weaknesses of each country’s response—that can be used as a starting point of discussion for the design of effective Emerging Infectious Diseases...

The doctrine of successor liability transfers tort liability arising from the seller's past conduct from the seller to the buyer. If the buyer has as much information about the liability as the seller, all beneficial acquisitions take place and the seller takes the efficient level of precaution....

In the game theory literature, Garrett Hardin's famous allegory of the tragedy of the commons has been modeled as a variant of the Prisoner's Dilemma, labeled the Herder Problem (or, sometimes, the Commons Dilemma). This brief paper argues that important differences in the institutional...

We characterize the distortions in environmental liability sharing between firms and banks that the imperfect implementation of government policies implies. These distortions stem from three factors: the presence of moral hazard, the use of objective functions by firms and banks that differs...

This article generalizes the analysis of settlement under joint and several liability from lawsuits involving one plaintiff and two defendants to those involving namp;#8805;2 defendants. We demonstrate that, depending upon the correlation of outcomes among the defendants, but regardless of the...

Corporate social responsibility is a good idea that is, unfortunately, dead. The debate about the proper role of corporations has been at an impasse since it began in the 1930s, and the current financial and political climate is such that any proposal seeking to impose social obligations on...

In a court decision in 1914 Benjamin Cardozo wrote that every human being of adult years and sound mind has a right to determine what shall be done with his own body.... Now known as the right or principle of autonomy, this concept pervades the law, undergirding virtually all rights relating to...

This paper compares, in the context of hazardous waste generation, the effects of joint and several liability on capital and production decisions to the effects of several only liability. Our main result shows that increased potential liability causes firms to decrease asset exposure, but may...

State Voluntary Cleanup Programs (VCPs) were established starting in the 1990s to encourage the environmental remediation and redevelopment of contaminated properties. These programs typically offer liability relief, subsidies and other regulatory incentives in exchange for site cleanup. This...

A failure in providing human rights is generally due to at least four factors: bad governance, vested interests, cultural factors and poverty. We cannot eliminate human rights violations without a local countervailing power sustained by good governance. Local entrepreneurs, who are essential for...