Legislation

About: Legislation is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 62664 publications have been published within this topic receiving 585188 citations. The topic is also known as: law & act.

The Bayh-Dole Act of 1980 and University-Industry Technology Transfer: A Model for Other OECD Governments?

Abstract: Recent initiatives by a number of OECD governments suggest considerable interest in emulating the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980, a piece of legislation that is widely credited with stimulating significant growth in university-industry technology transfer and research collaboration in the US. We examine the effects of Bayh-Dole on university-industry collaboration and technology transfer in the US, emphasizing the lengthy history of both activities prior to 1980 and noting the extent to which these activities are rooted in the incentives created by the unusual scale and structure (by comparison with Western Europe or Japan) of the US higher education system. Efforts at “emulation” of the Bayh-Dole policy elsewhere in the OECD are likely to have modest success at best without greater attention to the underlying structural differences among the higher education systems of these nations.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002

Abstract: The President has signed legislation, the “Sarbanes‐Oxley Act of 2002”, (the “Act”) that amends the U.S. securities and other laws in significant ways. The law changes corporate governance, including the responsibilities of directors and officers; the regulation of accounting firms that audit public companies; corporate reporting; and enforcement. Many of the Act’s provisions will be enhanced by SEC rulemaking and, probably, by stock market listing standards as well. Generally, the Act applies to U.S. and non‐U.S. public companies that have registered securities (debt or equity) with the SEC under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The Act is lengthy. The implications of the Act will not be fully known until the SEC adopts implementing rules and, thereafter, as interpretations develop, whether by the SEC or in litigation. This memorandum is a summary and not a complete description of the Act. It does not constitute legal advice for any particular situation.

Legislating a Woman's Seat on the Board: Institutional Factors Driving Gender Quotas for Boards of Directors

Abstract: Ten countries have established quotas for female representation on publicly traded corporate and/or state-owned enterprise boards of directors, ranging from 33-50%, with various sanctions. Fifteen other countries have introduced non-binding gender quotas in their corporate governance codes enforcing a "comply or explain" principle. Countless other countries’ leaders and policy groups are in the process of debating, developing, and approving legislation around gender quotas in boards. Taken together, gender quota legislation significantly impacts the composition of boards of directors and thus the strategic direction of these publicly traded and state-owned enterprises. This article outlines an integrated model of three institutional factors that explain the establishment of board of directors gender quota legislation based on the premise that the country’s institutional environment co-evolves with gender corporate policies. We argue that these three key institutional factors are female labor market and gendered welfare state provisions, left-leaning political government coalitions, and path dependent policy initiatives for gender equality, both in the public realm as well as in the corporate domain. We discuss implications of our conceptual model and empirical findings for theory, practice, policy, and future research. These include the adoption and penalty design of board diversity practices into corporate practices, bottom-up approaches from firm to country-level gender board initiatives, hard versus soft regulation, the leading role of Norway and its isomorphic effects, the likelihood of engaging in decoupling, the role of business leaders, and the transnational and international reaction to board diversity initiatives.