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Introduction

Idan Landau

in A Two-Tiered Theory of Control

That Obligatory Control (OC) is fundamentally a dual phenomenon is an old theme in generative grammar, which appears in different guises: VP vs. NP complements, PRO vs. deleted reflexive, predication ... More

That Obligatory Control (OC) is fundamentally a dual phenomenon is an old theme in generative grammar, which appears in different guises: VP vs. NP complements, PRO vs. deleted reflexive, predication vs. coindexing, functional vs. anaphoric control, restructuring vs. non-restructuring, property-denoting vs. propositional complements, etc. Most of these divisions are regretfully based on the availability of an English-specific construction, the for-infinitive. This study offers a new take on this old theme. The duality of OC we pursue is firmly grounded in the semantic type of the matrix predicate: attitude vs. nonattitude predicates. We will also see that it has syntactic consequences for the categorial size of the clausal complement. Our starting point will be the empirical landscape of clausal complementation described in Landau’s Agree model.Less

Suicide as Testimony

Sarah Waters

in Suicide Voices: Labour Trauma in France

Chapter two examines suicide letters as a mode of testimony that bears witness to extreme suffering in the contemporary workplace. In an economic order that conceals the labour relationships that ... More

Chapter two examines suicide letters as a mode of testimony that bears witness to extreme suffering in the contemporary workplace. In an economic order that conceals the labour relationships that bring services and products to us, suicides push human suffering to the surface and force it out into the open. Drawing on testimony studies, I situate suicide letters at a juncture between the everyday and the extreme that unsettles the boundaries between the two and forces us to confront extremity in the everyday. Whilst these letters give expression to exceptional trauma, they are located within the quotidian, routine and functional spaces of work. Some recent critics have depicted the contemporary workplace as a site of extremity, drawing on the historical metaphor of the Holocaust to describe forms of managerial brutality and violence. Contrary to these representations, I suggest that the workplace is best understood in terms of its everydayness. This is a space governed by order, discipline and routine, where working life is subject to endless repetition and reiteration. Yet, this everydayness has a unique quality: work suicides make visible extreme suffering, not as an exceptional phenomenon, but one that is embedded within the universal spaces of social life.Less

Emergence of Local Competitors

Sea-Jin Chang

in Multinational Firms in China: Entry Strategies, Competition, and Firm Performance

Chapter 3 examines how strong local competitors emerged in China. An important rationale of the Chinese government’s gradual opening was to buy time for local firms to restructure and improve ... More

Chapter 3 examines how strong local competitors emerged in China. An important rationale of the Chinese government’s gradual opening was to buy time for local firms to restructure and improve operations before entering head to head competition with multinationals. Thousands of SOEs transformed into limited liability firms or joint stock companies with SASACs assuming ownership. Many of these former-SOEs were listed in the stock exchanges, allowing them to be run as private firms despite de facto state ownership. These newly privatized firms were then able to invest more in fixed and intangible assets and, in turn, increase sales and improve productivity and profitability. In addition, tens of thousands of firms, typically run by private entrepreneurs with superior technology, newly entered the industry, challenging incumbent local and foreign competitors. This chapter begins with a case study of China’s consumer products industry, in which several strong local firms emerged, competing against multinationals.Less

Conclusion and a Look Forward From 1940

John L. Neufeld

in Selling Power: Economics, Policy, and Electric Utilities Before 1940

In the 1970s, both privately and government-owned utilities undertook a massive and ill-fated investment in nuclear power, resulting in huge increases in electricity prices and a financial crisis for ... More

In the 1970s, both privately and government-owned utilities undertook a massive and ill-fated investment in nuclear power, resulting in huge increases in electricity prices and a financial crisis for the industry. Unlike the case of unregulated competition, under state regulation the consequences of investments were not fully realized by the firms making the decisions, discouraging adequate investment planning, a problem not previously noticed. Based partly on experiences in other countries, a proposal arose to restructure the industry separating generation, transmission and distribution, much as had been proposed by Giant Power. In this structure, generation (only) was to be done by unregulated competing firms selling to a transmission authority (ISO or RTO). The new structure was on the way to becoming accepted in all states until a crisis in California in 2000-2001 froze further adoptions and left the industry operating under two very different structures in different states. The new structure proved workable, but unforeseen complications and flaws became evident, and it is unclear which system is better. Transmission authorities have been able to bring larger areas under unified control, realizing a portion of the benefits of larger fully integrated networks.Less

Creditor Committees in Sovereign Debt Restructurings: Understanding the Benefits and Addressing Concerns

Timothy B. DeSieno

in Too Little, Too Late: The Quest to Resolve Sovereign Debt Crises

The chapter makes three points regarding recent improvements for sovereign debt contracts suggested by the International Capital Market Association (ICMA), which were later endorsed by the IMF. ... More

The chapter makes three points regarding recent improvements for sovereign debt contracts suggested by the International Capital Market Association (ICMA), which were later endorsed by the IMF. First, he argues that the new clauses are a useful and potentially important instrument to deal with the problem of holdout creditors. Second, he claims the new clauses are not a panacea. This assessment reflects the fact that it will take some time for these clauses to be embedded in the stock of outstanding bonds and that, whatever their merits, the new clauses do not fully address the issues of unenforceability and discharge of sovereign debts. Third, the debate between voluntary/contractual and statutory approaches is a false dichotomy. Contractual approaches will necessarily be incomplete and the design of “institutions,” whether bankruptcy provisions embodied in formal treaty or the responses of existing international financial institutions, will influence the outcome of sovereign debt restructurings.Less

Perspectives on a Sovereign Debt Restructuring Framework: Less is More

Richard A. Conn

in Too Little, Too Late: The Quest to Resolve Sovereign Debt Crises

Chapter 13: argues that the creation of an agreed upon framework that interacts with private party contracts or restricts contractual options ex ante is a logical alternative to the status quo. This ... More

Chapter 13: argues that the creation of an agreed upon framework that interacts with private party contracts or restricts contractual options ex ante is a logical alternative to the status quo. This approach can provide greater stability and efficiency in the restructuring process while allowing for sufficient flexibility and certainty for market participants. He claims that there are procedural frameworks that could add value to the restructuring process with less risk of treading on the political terrain of sovereigns. The chapter discusses the catalyst for recent efforts to create a framework for and the context for evaluating sovereign debt restructuring; a strategy to successfully adopt a framework that deals with problems that require resolution; highlights the deficiencies of relying solely upon private party contractual revisions; discusses practical impediments to a substantive law approach to sovereign debt restructuring; and finally, puts forward specific proposals for a consensual, procedural framework designed to earn broad political support.Less

Toward a Framework for Sovereign Debt Restructuring: What can Public International Law Contribute?

Robert Howse

in Too Little, Too Late: The Quest to Resolve Sovereign Debt Crises

Chapter 14: analyzes some of the possible elements of an international law approach to a multilateral framework for sovereign debt restructuring. The chapter draws extensively from the deliberations ... More

Chapter 14: analyzes some of the possible elements of an international law approach to a multilateral framework for sovereign debt restructuring. The chapter draws extensively from the deliberations and publications of the UNCTAD Working Group. He proposes the creation of a “counter-framework” using soft-law instruments of a kind generated by various UN processes and institutions, including the International Law Commission (ILC), UNCITRAL, and UNCTAD. The “counter-framework” would offer different norms, fora, legal mechanisms, expertise and analyses to those that dominate the existing informal framework (IMF, Paris Club, US Treasury, financial industry associations, private law firms, creditors’ groups, etc.). It would offer alternatives for borrower-lender relationships and the restructuring of debt, alternatives which if the analysis of this chapter (and the other chapters of this book) is correct, would benefit both sovereign debtors and creditors. This proposal might be of particular interest to states that could be sources of new finance and do not want to keep with the existing informal framework (like perhaps China).Less

Creating a Framework for Sovereign Debt Restructuring That Works

Martin Guzman and Joseph E. Stiglitz

in Too Little, Too Late: The Quest to Resolve Sovereign Debt Crises

Recent controversies surrounding sovereign debt restructurings show the weaknesses of the current market-based system in achieving efficient and fair solutions to sovereign debt crises. This article ... More

Recent controversies surrounding sovereign debt restructurings show the weaknesses of the current market-based system in achieving efficient and fair solutions to sovereign debt crises. This article reviews the existing problems and proposes solutions. It argues that improvements in the language of contracts, although beneficial, cannot provide a comprehensive, efficient, and equitable solution to the problems faced in restructurings–but there are improvements within the contractual approach that should be implemented. Ultimately, the contractual approach must be complemented by a multinational legal framework that facilitates restructurings based on principles of efficiency and equity. Given the current geopolitical constraints, in the short-run we advocate the implementation of a “soft law” approach, built on the recognition of the limitations of the private contractual approach and on a set of principles – most importantly, the restoration of sovereign immunity – over which there may be consensus. We suggest that in a context of political economy tensions it should be impossible for a government to sign away the sovereign immunity either for itself or successor governments. The framework could be implemented through the United Nations, or it could prompt the creation of a new institution.Less

Sovereign Debt of Developing Countries: Overview of Trends and Policy Perspectives

Marilou Uy and Shichao Zhou

in Too Little, Too Late: The Quest to Resolve Sovereign Debt Crises

This paper focuses on the sovereign debt of developing countries, particularly over the last decade. It provides an overview of broadly favorable public debt trends in developing countries. It notes ... More

This paper focuses on the sovereign debt of developing countries, particularly over the last decade. It provides an overview of broadly favorable public debt trends in developing countries. It notes that the increased access of developing countries to international financial markets and a wider set range of creditors and investors brings with it opportunities for investments that stimulate growth but also new, additional sources of risk. The paper also describes the unique debt management challenges faced by specific groups of countries. While this paper acknowledges that countries have the responsibility to manage their debt, it also recognizes that the global community has a complementary role to enable fair and efficient sovereign debt resolution that minimizes the adverse impact on the prospects for economic recovery of debtor countries. Yet there is no clear global consensus on how to strengthen the system of sovereign debt resolutions. Countries hold widely divergent views on how these issues should be resolved but recent experience in debt restructuring in some countries point to the need for collective agreement on meaningful reforms. To this end, the paper concludes by tracing the evolution of discussions and policy perspectives within and between developing countries and intergovernmental forums and potential approaches that could foster consensus.Less

Greek Debt Denial: A Modest Debt Restructuring Proposal and why it was Ignored

Yanis Varoufakis

in Too Little, Too Late: The Quest to Resolve Sovereign Debt Crises

Greek Debt Denial: A Modest Debt Restructuring Proposal and Why It Was Ignored, by Yanis Varoufakis

Count the Limbs: Designing Robust Aggregation Clauses in Sovereign Bonds

Anna Gelpern, Ben Heller, and Brad Setser

in Too Little, Too Late: The Quest to Resolve Sovereign Debt Crises

Count the Limbs: Designing Robust Aggregation Clauses in Sovereign Bonds, by Anna Gelpern, Ben Heller, and Brad Setser

Contractual and Voluntary Approaches to Sovereign Debt Restructuring: There is Still More to do

Richard Gitlin and Brett House

in Too Little, Too Late: The Quest to Resolve Sovereign Debt Crises

The international community made some important advances in recent years to reduce the costs of sovereign debt restructuring for debtors and creditors through improved contractual language for bond ... More

The international community made some important advances in recent years to reduce the costs of sovereign debt restructuring for debtors and creditors through improved contractual language for bond agreements and the reform of some International Monetary Fund (IMF) processes. Little, however, has been done to reduce the inhibitions debtor countries face in working proactively with creditors to prevent and treat sovereign debt distress. This chapter lays out a pragmatic work program to reduce the ex ante costs of sovereign debt restructuring, complemented by additional measures to mitigate the in medias res and ex post costs of restructuring. Wide-spread and even full implementation of these proposals would not create a perfect ecosystem for sovereign debt restructuring, but it would represent a significant improvement on the status quo.Less

Sovereign Debt Restructuring: A Coasean Perspective

James A. Haley

in Too Little, Too Late: The Quest to Resolve Sovereign Debt Crises

The chapter points to the importance of creditor committees for achieving successful sovereign debt restructurings. He claims that a more widespread utilization of creditor committees would minimize ... More

The chapter points to the importance of creditor committees for achieving successful sovereign debt restructurings. He claims that a more widespread utilization of creditor committees would minimize the holdout problems, as they would facilitate inter-creditors consensus, as most creditors will usually feel they can trust “a group of their own” more readily than they can trust the issuer.Less

Occupation Children

Regina Mühlhäuser

in Sex and the Nazi Soldier: Violent, Commercial and Consensual Encounters during the War in the Soviet Union, 1941-45

As the war progressed, detailed plans were even drawn up to deal with the children (with projected numbers running into the millions) resulting from sexual encounters with women in the occupied ... More

As the war progressed, detailed plans were even drawn up to deal with the children (with projected numbers running into the millions) resulting from sexual encounters with women in the occupied Soviet territories. This is the subject addressed in this chapter. It explores Nazi plans, which aimed to ensure that those children considered to have “Aryan potential” were “made useful” for the Nazi regime.Less

Family rediscovered? Working carers of older people in Finland and Sweden

Outi Jolanki, Marta Szebehely, and Kaisa Kauppinen

in Combining paid work and family care: Policies and experiences in international perspective

The chapter addresses the characteristics and situations of working carers of older people in Finland and Sweden. It draws together knowledge on employment legislation, public policy and payments to ... More

The chapter addresses the characteristics and situations of working carers of older people in Finland and Sweden. It draws together knowledge on employment legislation, public policy and payments to working carers with studies on family care of older people. The central questions addressed are: Who are the carers? What kind of support is available for them? Are their working lives affected by caring responsibilities? And how do they perceive their everyday lives? The chapter shows that in both countries, family carers, the majority of whom are working women, have a major role in older people’s care. It argues that restructuring older people’s public care services has implicitly increased the expectation that family members will provide care, and notes that, while in the 2000s family care and working carers of older people have risen up the political agenda, legislation and practical actions to support them are still largely absent.Less

Hedge Fund Activism, Poison Pills, and the Jurisprudence of Threat

William W. Bratton

in The Corporate Contract in Changing Times: Is the Law Keeping Up?

This chapter reviews the single high profile case in which twentieth century antitakeover law has come to bear on management defense against a twenty-first century activist challenge — the Delaware ... More

This chapter reviews the single high profile case in which twentieth century antitakeover law has come to bear on management defense against a twenty-first century activist challenge — the Delaware Court of Chancery’s decision to sustain a low-threshold poison pill deployed against an activist in Third Point LLC v. Ruprecht. The decision implicated an important policy question: whether a twentieth century doctrine keyed to hostile takeovers and control transfers appropriately can be brought to bear in a twenty-first century governance context in which the challenger eschews control transfer and instead makes aggressive use of the shareholder franchise. Resolution of the question entails evaluation of the gravity of two sets of threats, one at the doctrinal level and the other at the policy level. The doctrinal threats are exterior threats to corporate policy and effectiveness on which managers justify defensive tactics under Unocal v. Mesa Petroleum Co. Because some threats have greater justificatory salience under Unocal than do others, a question arises as to the nature and characterization of the threats allegedly held out by activist intervention. The policy threats implicate the new balance of power between managers and shareholders. The chapter appraises the threats.Less

This Syntax Needs Studied

Elspeth Edelstein

in Micro-Syntactic Variation in North American English

This chapter examines the alternative embedded passive (AEP), a feature of varieties such as “Pittsburghese,” in which a past participle directly follows need, want, or like, as in “The cat needs ... More

This chapter examines the alternative embedded passive (AEP), a feature of varieties such as “Pittsburghese,” in which a past participle directly follows need, want, or like, as in “The cat needs fed.” Differences from the corresponding Standard English form (e.g., “The cat needs to be fed”) indicate the AEP does not arise from phonological ellipsis of to be, as is often assumed. An implicational hierarchy of use with the three possible matrix verbs, along with their varying acceptability as Control predicates, suggests the AEP is a Raising construction. Moreover, several diagnostics show the embedded participle is verbal rather than adjectival. In essence, the AEP represents a syntactically distinct Restructuring configuration, consisting of a Raising verb selecting for a reduced nonfinite complement.Less

Poland: National Correspondents:

in Rescue of Business in Europe: A European Law Institute Instrument

Polish insolvency law regulations were subject to major reforms when the new Restructuring Law and revised Bankruptcy Law came into force on 1 January 2016. Responses provided in this document ... More

Polish insolvency law regulations were subject to major reforms when the new Restructuring Law and revised Bankruptcy Law came into force on 1 January 2016. Responses provided in this document reflect the state of the law applicable for that date, unless a specific reference to a later date is made. Less

Poland: National Correspondents:

in Rescue of Business in Europe: A European Law Institute Instrument

Reform of the Polish insolvency law completed on 1 January 2016 has substantially changed the legal scene in Poland with instruments available to debtors to complete a reorganisation of their ... More

Reform of the Polish insolvency law completed on 1 January 2016 has substantially changed the legal scene in Poland with instruments available to debtors to complete a reorganisation of their business with success. The reform affected both substantive and procedural law and placed them among the most advanced in the European Union. A substantial increase in the number of opened restructuring proceedings combined with a decreased number of bankruptcy proceedings (on a year to year basis) are indirect proof that the reform has been a success. Less