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An Empirical Study of Abnormal Stock Returns of Illegal Insider Trading: SEC Enforcement Actions for the Years 2000 to 2009
No full textThis dissertation investigates the abnormal returns of illegal insider trading transactions filed by the SEC insider trading enforcement actions for the years 2000 to 2009. Using a modified market model in conjunction with event study methodology, six hypotheses based on new and current theories are tested. Sample stocks are divided into positive news stocks and negative news stocks in order to examine their abnormal returns separately. This study supports results of previous studies that show takeover announcements generate high abnormal returns, small firms have high information asymmetry, there is large abnormal returns on positive news, and large loss avoidance on negative news. Insider trading generates higher abnormal returns for high-tech firms than for non-high tech firms when using a Fama-French SIC code one classification scheme. Abnormal returns due to insider trading generally decreased after the passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) regulation. Illegal insider trading motivated by news on Private Investment in Public Equity (PIPEs), a specific strategy of hedge funds and considered a negative news event, show positive abnormal returns under some event windows. Overall, findings suggest that stocks with known existing insider traders are less efficient in absorbing negative news than positive news, implying that insider trading contributes to market inefficiency thus refuting the strong-form market efficiency theory. Anomalies in the sample data support the lack of SEC enforcement for hedge funds’ illegal insider trading
Zoning’s Centennial: A Complete Account of the Evolution of Zoning into a Robust System of Land Use Law—1916-2016 (Part IV)
Get PDFFracking is happening and local governments are subjected to many of its associated risks. They either need to act, or know—clearly and convincingly—why they should not. The federal government has stopped far short of comprehensive regulation of fracking; the states’ regulations range from fair to poor, sometimes preempting local regulation but most often sharing regulatory authority over land use impacts
Scientists & Librarians Turn to “End of Presidential Term” Web Archive to Safeguard Climate Change Data
Get PDFIn anticipation of president-elect Donald Trump’s taking office, scientists have been working round the clock to safeguard federal government climate change data. Many academics and librarians share the concern that federal .gov climate data and information, for example from the EPA and NOAA websites, will be lost or become unavailable with the transition to the new administration. Fact is, a large percentage of information on federal government servers, including digital federal records, reports, and research, is not protected by any law or agency mandate, and can vanish within days of the arrival of a new president
Migratory Waterbird Conservation at the Flyway Level: Distilling the Added Value of AEWA in Relation to the Ramsar Convention
Get PDFIn June 1995, the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) was adopted, and this instrument remains the only legally binding waterbird Agreement in the CMS Family. However, while AEWA has been lauded as a very promising instrument, the concern has also been raised that the Agreement “has a large potential scope for the duplication of obligations, especially with regard to the protection of wetland habitats, given the operation of the Ramsar Convention”. The existing literature thus recognizes that overlap between AEWA and the Ramsar Convention is potentially problematic. It fails, however, to provide a detailed analysis of the nature of this overlap and the interplay between the provisions of the Agreement and the Convention, or of their respective roles in relation to waterbird conservation. This article’s primary objective is to present such an analysis and, in so doing, draw conclusions about the gaps that AEWA is able to fill in the Ramsar regime. The article’s subsidiary objectives are to make suggestions concerning the lessons that AEWA can draw from the experiences of the Ramsar Convention (and the critiques thereof); as well as the lessons that a comparison of the Convention and the Agreement offer concerning the roles, advantages, and disadvantages of ecosystem-based and species-based treaties more broadly.
To provide a framework against which to assess the extent to which the Ramsar Convention currently promotes the conservation of waterbirds and the areas in which AEWA makes – or has the potential to make – a unique contribution in relation to Ramsar, part II of the article outlines priority measures for achieving the effective long-term conservation of migratory waterbirds. Particular detail is provided regarding habitat conservation, since it is in this area that the provisions of the Agreement and the Convention experience the greatest overlap and in respect of which the most intricate analysis is therefore necessary in order to distinguish each treaty’s distinctive role. That AEWA has a more pronounced contribution to make than Ramsar in respect of threats that are unrelated to habitat is fairly obvious; though, as will be illustrated in the course of the article, the Convention’s provisions are also relevant in this regard and establish an important link to the Agreement. Part II, therefore, also briefly outlines the need to address threats that are not habitat-related, as well as to address gaps in knowledge. After an introduction to the Ramsar Convention and AEWA is presented in part III, parts IV to VI assess the manners in which the texts of, and the guidance, procedures, and institutions developed under, these two instruments provide for the measures identified in part II, and suggest various improvements that can be made in this regard. While other multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs) are referred to where relevant, a full assessment of their contribution to waterbird conservation falls beyond the scope of this article.
Part VII highlights the need to make accession more appealing to developing countries and considers whether there are any lessons that AEWA can draw from the Ramsar Convention in this regard. Although the article does not attempt to present a comprehensive analysis of the current implementation status of AEWA and the Ramsar Convention, it does comment on the extent to which, and the manner in which, certain provisions are being implemented, as determined by the various monitoring mechanisms that are in place under each treaty. Finally, by unpacking the unique, though complementary, contributions of AEWA and the Ramsar Convention, the article provides a setting within which to reflect on the respective advantages and disadvantages of ecosystem-based and species-based treaties in general. The broader lessons that are offered by this comparison are therefore briefly considered in part VIII before conclusions are presented in part IX
Wrigley Field, the Trademark
Get PDFThis paper is about the theory of applying the law of trade dress and all the protections that come with it to stadiums, specifically to Wrigley Field, home of Major League Baseball’s Chicago Cubs. Trade dress is the version of trademark reserved for the packaging, design, or color of products. If the packaging, design, or color possesses the ability to identify the source or creator of the product, then it can create a possessory interest in the product’s creator for that style of packaging, design of the product, or color used. This possessory interest is used to protect the reputation of the creator as a producer of quality products and protect consumers from confusion when they go to purchase products.
During the last decade or more, sports have become big business and do not show any signs of stopping. One of the signs of this trend is the arms race that has developed for the biggest and best stadiums and facilities. Applying trade dress protection to these stadiums and facilities would protect an owner from the creation of a similar stadium or facility by a rival owner and could open up a new revenue stream by allowing that owner to use the look and design of his stadium to sell and market goods with. The application of this theory could be endless and only fully realized when it hits the free market
Tampon Taxes, Discrimination, and Human Rights
Get PDFThis Article makes two contributions to the study of taxation. First, it argues that the “tampon tax”--an umbrella term to describe sales, VAT, and similar “luxury” taxes imposed on menstrual hygiene products--illustrates how deeply embedded gender is in legal structures such as the tax system that are thought to be neutral. Second, this Article posits that tax reform is an essential tool in achieving both gender equality and human rights. In recent months, activists around the globe have harnessed the power of the Internet to raise awareness of the tampon tax. In response to pressure from constituents, five states and Canada have repealed their tampon tax. Active repeal campaigns are underway in Australia, the United Kingdom, and several other countries. Where public pressure has not been an effective technique, those seeking to challenge the tampon tax in the United States have turned to litigation. In four states, class action lawsuits have been filed seeking repeal of the tax and a refund for back taxes paid, alleging equal protection violations. In the international context, human rights law may provide a promising foundation for similar legal challenges to the tampon tax because human rights law takes a capacious approach to gender equality. In the European Court of Human Rights, for example, there are several tax cases that recognize gender-differentiated taxes as a form of impermissible discrimination. This Article explains how the tampon tax is both a form of gender discrimination and a violation of human rights norms. Full realization of gender equality will require revision of tax laws. As a cultural matter, the tampon tax has gone unnoticed because of a history of cultural (and legal) unease about women\u27s bodies in general and menstruation in particular. Women\u27s (involuntary) bleeding is meant to happen “out of sight, out of mind,” whereas men\u27s (voluntary) bleeding in war, for example, is valorized. A new generation of activists, relying heavily on the Internet, is deeply engaged in cultural and legal reform efforts designed to create positive change in the practical realities of women\u27s lives
Foundations for Sustainable Development: Harmonizing Islam, Nature and Law
Get PDFHuman society is weakening Earth’s environment, its only home. In 2015, nations agreed on a new set of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to guide restoring and sustaining the wellbeing of peoples everywhere. If the SDGs are to succeed, all cultural and religious communities will need to urgently implement them. Islam offers a holistic view of God’s creation and the Qur’an clearly sets forth duties to care for the Earth. In the past, most people have ignored the world-wide trends of environmental degradation which scientist have reported. There is a pressing need to expand education and public awareness about the threats to the environment. Islamic principles mandate both such education and stewardship of the environment. At present, however, these spiritual values are not fully observed, as can be seen in case studies of countries such as Jordan, Morocco, or Pakistan. Sacred duties to protect the purity of water are insufficiently observed. Because the daily lives of Muslims are not guided by legislation, environmental treaties, or SDGs, but rather by the Qur’an, SDGs will be successfully implemented if the harmony between Islam and the SDGs is clear and celebrated. Understanding the spiritual knowledge of the Qur’an can motivate the people in Islamic nations, and everywhere, to design resilient practices that restore the environment and sustain it for future generations
Black Panther\u27s Fight: An Argument for the Inclusion of Digital and Webcomics Comics.
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Microcredit and Survival Microenterprises: The Role of Market Structure
Get PDFPoverty remains a pervasive problem all over the world, but the problem is worst in underdeveloped areas like Africa. While microfinance is supposed to address this problem through the promotion of viable businesses, it has not been very successful in helping survival microenterprises, i.e., businesses that the very poor with limited human capital have access to, in sectors with low barriers to entry and selling undifferentiated products. In this paper, I examine the role of market structure in mediating the impact of micro-lending to such survival enterprises. While there have been many evaluations of microfinance institutions (MFIs), there have been very few that look at market conditions as an input into the success of micro-lending. My theoretical analysis suggests that when introducing an extensive program of microcredit in undeveloped and relatively isolated rural areas, it is important to look at how the market structure mediates the impact of the provision of loans on the demand and supply for the end-product or service. I present some empirical evidence, which provides partial confirmation that MFIs are not currently taking these considerations into account