Showing papers on "Principal (commercial law) published in 1973"

The Economic Theory of Agency: The Principal's Problem.

Abstract: The relationship of agency is one of the oldest and commonest codified modes of social interaction. We will say that an agency relationship has arisen between two (or more) parties when one, designated as the agent, acts for, on behalf of, or as representative for the other, designated the principal, in a particular domain of decision problems. Examples of agency are universal. Essentially all contractural arrangements, as between employer and employee or the state and the governed, for example, contain important elements of agency. In addition, without explicitly studying the agency relationship, much of the economic literature on problems of moral hazard (see K. J. Arrow) is concerned with problems raised by agency. In a general equilibrium context the study of information flows (see J. Marschak and R. Radner) or of financial intermediaries in monetary models is also an example of agency theory. The canonical agency problem can be posed as follows. Assume that both the agent and the principal possess state independent von Neumann-Morgenstern utility functions, G(.) and U(.) respectively, and that they act so as to maximize their expected utility. The problems of agency are really most interesting when seen as involving choice under uncertainty and this is the view we will adopt. The agent may choose an act, aCA, a feasible action space, and the random payoff from this act, w(a, 0), will depend on the random state of nature O(EQ the state space set), unknown to the agent when a is chosen. By assumption the agent and the principal have agreed upon a fee schedule f to be paid to the agent for his services. T he fee, f, is generally a function of both the state of the world, 0, and the action, a, but we will assume that the action can influence the parties and, hence, the fee only through its impact on the payoff. T his permits us to write,

The Protection of Shareholders' Interests in the Light of the Barcelona Traction Case

Abstract: Professor Briggs’ summary of the decision of the International Court of Justice in the Case Concerning the Barcelona Traction, Light and Power Company Limited fairly recapitulates the principal reasons which led the Court to deny “the existence of any general rule of international law or of any special circumstances or considerations of equity which confer a right of diplomatic protection of national shareholders in a foreign company where the acts complained of were directed by authorities of a third state against the company rather than against any legal rights of the shareholders as such.”

Of private wrongs

Abstract: The next, and principal, object of our inquiries is the redress of injuries by suit in courts: wherein the act of the parties and the act of law co-operate; the act of the parties being necessary to set the law in motion, and the process of the law being in general the only instrument, by which the parties are enabled to procure a certain and adequate redress.

Israel's Restrictive Trade Practices Law: Antitrust Misadventures in a Small Developing Country

Abstract: In 1959, Israel's parliament, the Knesset, enacted a government-proposed Restrictive Trade Practices Law, without a dissenting vote. In urging passage, the Minister of Finance and members of the labour parties comprising the Government had declared that the Law would fulfil an important role in preventing injury to the economy and exploitation of the consumers, taking the place of pervasive governmental controls, and would make a “substantial contribution to competition, efficiency and to the viability of the country's economy”. The principal complaint of legislators outside the labour parties, particularly those associated with the business community, was that the Law did not go far enough in establishing a competitive environment, for “competition is as essential to us as air to breathe”.

The Emerging Law of Due Process for Public School Students.

Abstract: central theme of this discussion deals with the legal aspect and increasing prominence of due process of law as it relates to the rights of students in public schools. The article is prompted by a federal court decision involving expulsion of a student from a public school in Dade County, Florida.1 The significance of this decision rests in the fact that the United States District Court stipulated in its final judgment that the principal of the school reimburse student plaintiff compensatory damages and costs. Although there are some who feel the judgment has little or no value as precedent due to the fact that the court's order was by stipulation and agreement of counsel, nevertheless, this reasoning has failed to relieve the concern of practicing administrators in Dade County. The legal aspect referred to above is more simply expressed in terms of the proliferation of cases before the federal court system questioning the actions of school administrators relative to procedural due process. It is my contention that greater direction must be given the practicing school administrator since the intricate complexity of case law is rapidly changing. As a result of this change, the historic shibboleth that the courts award a wide degree of latitude to school boards over the internal management of schools has eroded to a lesser degree. Insufficient attention to the whole panoply of school law, specifically student rights, can create vexing problems for school administrators and school boards.

The Principal and School Law.

Abstract: Knowing the magnitude of one's responsibilities as well as the limits of one's power as principal, the author writes, will help the educational leader avoid legal crisis and free him to exercise constructive leadership.