University of California Hastings College of the Law
UC Hastings Scholarship Repository (University of California, Hastings College of the Law)Not a member yet
18514 research outputs found
Sort by
The Business of Abortion: Access to Capital Post Dobbs
No full textAccess to credit—that is, the ability to receive financial leverage that could help jump-start businesses—is one of the most significant barriers preventing millions of American women from opening new businesses. Congress has attempted to address this issue since the 1970s, with legislation like the Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA). Nevertheless, studies continue to show a persistent gender gap in access to credit. Scholars have offered a host of explanations for this gap, focusing on both the supply and demand sides of the equation.
This Article contributes to this growing scholarly exploration by offering a new, overlooked explanation for this gap: namely, it links access to reproductive care—particularly the right to abortion—with access to credit. To investigate this connection, this Article adopts a three-stage novel empirical methodology that utilizes the enactment of Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers (“TRAP Laws”) as proxies for abortion restrictions. We find consistent evidence that restrictions on access to reproductive care reduce women’s ability to raise capital and leverage their business endeavors. As such, these restrictions widen the gender gap in entrepreneurship and diminish potential economic growth.
This Article thus explores an impact that seems to have slipped under the radar of scholars and policymakers evaluating the negative impact of the decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization on women’s equality. Given the potential expansion of abortion restrictions across the nation, these findings are particularly noteworthy.
Legislative efforts, like the ECOA, seem insufficient to overcome the additional barriers that laws restricting access to reproductive rights create. Accordingly, to overcome the gender gap in access to credit, legislative and policy efforts must address more deeply entrenched discriminatory patterns and cultural norms. To that end, this Article proposes three modes of action that could potentially mitigate the devastating effects on women’s equal participation in the economy in a post-Dobbs era: (1) government-led action; (2) civil society-led efforts; and (3) business owners-led initiatives
Pop Culture Depictions of Diversity in Business – Mad Men, Super Store, and Barbie
No full textWe have come a long way from only having women in the secretarial pool (as depicted in M ad Men), to having women and racial minorities in the workforce (as depicted in Super Store), to a company that creates a fictional world where women hold all the top positions (Barbie). Both Mad Men and Super Store are American TV shows – Mad Men was made in the present- day to depict life in the world of advertising agencies in New York in the 60s. Super Store is a series on Netflix about the issues workers face in a big company in the present day. Barbie is a big-budget film funded by Mattel, the company that created the doll called Barbie. In this article, I will argue that both shows and the movie have interesting things to tell us about present-day conversations and policy fixes to address diversity issues in corporations. While we have come a long way, problems persist. This article also seeks to make three broader points. First, pop culture has an indirect impact on policy- making in corporate law and on corporate behaviour. Second, most pop culture narratives paint corporations, big business, and entrepreneurs as the villains. However, there are exceptions to this narrative and the three shows/movies I have chosen to study here are, in some ways, exceptions to this trope. Third, contrary to the narrative of business always representing evil, corporations have, in many instances, been able to contribute positively to society, including diversity. This last point is particularly apparent when we compare the past (Mad Men) to the present (Super Store and Barbie)
Impossibility of Artificial Inventors
No full textRecently, the United Kingdom Supreme Court decided that only natural persons can be considered inventors. A year before, the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued a similar decision. In fact, so have many of the courts all over the world. This Article analyzes these decisions, argues that the courts got it right, and finds that artificial inventorship is at odds with patent law doctrine, theory, and philosophy. This Article challenges the intellectual property (IP) post-humanists, exposing the analytical and normative perils of their argumentation, and recommends against getting rid of the nominally central place of humans in the law. This response to IP post-humanism rests in equal measure on patent doctrine, legal causation, and the mythology which creates and justifies the law
Implementing Armenia’s New Climate Law: Navigating Energy Independence and Geopolitical Tensions in the South Caucasus
No full textAs a result of human activity, the Earth is warming faster than at any point in recorded history. The effects of climate change are already devastating communities and crippling ecosystems globally. With deep cultural and traditional ties to the land, indigenous peoples are especially vulnerable to the direct consequences of the climate crisis despite contributing the least to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The 3 million Armenians living in the Republic of Armenia are no exception. Escalating climate change threatens their food security, degrades watersheds, and further endangers the people of this small, land-locked nation. Still, the government of Armenia has signaled a pivotal shift towards sustainable development and energy independence with its newly adopted Long-Term Low Emissions Development Strategy (LT-LEDS) as a potential path towards achieving climate neutrality. This paper investigates Armenia’s newly adopted climate law in the context of Armenia’s current over-reliance on imported energy sources. First, I explain what makes Armenia particularly vulnerable to climate change compared to other nations, such as its unique geography, complex mountain ranges, and diverse climates. I also discuss the implications of a warming climate on Armenian agricultural practices. Second, I contextualize Armenia’s path to energy independence by explaining critical aspects of its energy profile, ranging from its production capacity, its reliance on imported natural gas, diver- sification of its grid, and system reliability of its only domestic energy source: the Soviet-era Metsamor Nuclear Power Plant. This section would not be complete without a discussion of the consistent threats of strikes to the plant from the Azer- baijani Ministry of Defense, the Armenian Genocide of 1915, the 44-Day War fought between Armenia and Azerbaijan in 2020, and the ethnic cleansing of 120,000 indigenous Armenian peoples from ancestral Armenian lands in the former Republic of Artsakh (internationally recognized as Nagorno-Karabakh) in 2023.
Lastly, I analyze Armenia’s ambitious new law against the backdrop of the nation’s specific climate vulnerabilities and strategic goals. I explore the strategy’s potential to address GHG emissions, promote renewable energy sources, and enhance Armenia’s energy security and geopolitical standing. I further examine the challenges and considerations that might impede the success of Armenia’s strategy, offering insights into the complex interplay between climate change mitigation, energy policy, and regional stability in the South Caucasus
Truth in Advertising for Environmental Sustainability
No full text“Sustainability” is in—but what does that term mean, when applied to products, services or brands? This article explores existing Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) oversight of “sustainable” claims in marketing, centering on the FTC’s Guidelines for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims (often referred to as the “Green Guides”). It analyzes thousands of public comments filed in a recent FTC quasi-rulemaking docket to inform proposed revisions to the Green Guides. The article suggests that the FTC include guidance on “sustainable” claims in its next revision to the Green Guides, and further recommends that the FTC formally extend the Green Guides to include claims made about brands and brand operations in response to growing use of “sustainable” claims in brand-level advertisements. This increased oversight of “sustainable” claims will instill confidence in consumers about the sustainable products they buy, help marketers make genuine “sustainable” claims, and foster competition and innovation in businesses to meet the demand for sustainable products
Artificial Intelligence and Cracks in the Foundation of Intellectual Property
No full textOur implicit image of progress and the standards we use to calibrate human contribution to progress are quietly at risk from the onslaught of artificial intelligence (AI). AI has the potential to significantly shrink the pool of creative work that is protectable by intellectual property (IP) law and the range of information that is protectable, as well as shrinking the value proposition of IP regimes themselves.
As society faces this changing landscape, we must tread carefully to distinguish fears about AI from the task of defining the boundaries of intellectual property, whose theoretic concepts aren’t designed to bear such weighty burdens. We also should be wary of our all-too-human instinct to insist on the primacy of our individual contributions to innovation. What we choose to protect must be bounded by the value of the contribution. As that value shifts, in light of what AI makes commonplace, so must our boundaries shift for what we consider extraordinary.
Adaptation does not require reimaging the field. Rather, paths forward can be understood through the Allegory of the Diamond, described in Part IV. Law can limit the supply of products subject to protection, casting the net only around the remarkable, thereby preserving value and facilitating a coordinated body for providing a “Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval.” Together, these two paths would mitigate problems threatening intellectual property regimes. One can predict much wailing and gnashing of teeth as we step into this iteration of human technological interaction. In response, one could borrow a concept from both existential philosophers and their arch opponents, theologians: a little humility in the enterprise is due
