1,721,028 research outputs found
Crypto-Securities Regulation: ICOs, Token Sales and Cryptocurrencies under EU Financial Law
No full textCryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin and ethereum, have not only risen to public attention as novel means of payments, but also as facilitators of initial coin offerings (ICOs, also called token sales). In these entirely online-mediated offerings, entrepreneurs sell tokens registered on a blockchain in exchange for cryptocoins. Buyers receive tokens that can be understood as cryptographically-secured coupons which embody a bundle of rights and obligations. In July 2017, the SEC released an investigative report that highlighted that such tokens can be subject to the full scope of US securities regulation. It is unclear, however, to what extent EU securities regulation is applicable to ICOs and, particularly, whether issuers have to publish and register a prospectus in order to avoid criminal and civil prospectus liability in the EU. In conceptual terms, this depends on whether tokens are considered “securities” under the EU prospectus regulation regime. Against this background, this paper develops a nuanced approach that distinguishes between three archetypes of tokens: currency, investment, and utility tokens. It analyzes the differential implications of each of these types, and their hybrid forms, for EU securities regulation, and develops policy proposals for their regulation.Cryptocurrencies, such as bitcoin and ethereum, have not only risen to public attention as novel means of payments, but also as facilitators of initial coin offerings (ICOs, also called token sales). In these entirely online-mediated offerings, entrepreneurs sell tokens registered on a blockchain in exchange for cryptocoins. Buyers receive tokens that can be understood as cryptographically-secured coupons which embody a bundle of rights and obligations. In July 2017, the SEC released an investigative report that highlighted that such tokens can be subject to the full scope of US securities regulation. It is unclear, however, to what extent EU securities regulation is applicable to ICOs and, particularly, whether issuers have to publish and register a prospectus in order to avoid criminal and civil prospectus liability in the EU. In conceptual terms, this depends on whether tokens are considered “securities” under the EU prospectus regulation regime. Against this background, this paper develops a nuanced approach that distinguishes between three archetypes of tokens: currency, investment, and utility tokens. It analyzes the differential implications of each of these types, and their hybrid forms, for EU securities regulation, and develops policy proposals for their regulation
Institutional Investor Voting Behaviour
No full textThis chapter shows how network theory can improve our understanding of institutional investors’ voting behavior and, more generally, their role in corporate governance. The standard idea is that institutional investors compete against each other on relative performance and hence might not cast informed votes due to rational apathy and rational reticence. In other words, institutional investors have incentives to free ride, instead of “cooperating” and casting informed votes. We show that connections of various nature among institutional investors, whether from formal networks, geographical proximity or common ownership, and among institutional investors and other agents, such as proxy advisors, contribute to shaping institutional investors’ incentives to vote “actively.” They also create intricate competition dynamics: competition takes place not only among institutional investors (and their asset managers), but also at the level of their employees and among “cliques” of institutional investors. Employees, who strive for better jobs, are motivated to obtain more information on portfolio companies than may be strictly justified from their employer institution’s perspective, and to circulate it within their network. Cliques of institutional investors compete against each other. Because there are good reasons to believe that cliques of cooperators outperform cliques of non-cooperators, the network-level competition might increase the incentives of institutional investors to collect information. These dynamics can enhance institutional investors’ engagement in portfolio companies and also shed light on some current policy issues such as the antitrust effects of common ownership and mandatory disclosures of institutional investors’ voting
Generative discrimination: what happens when generative AI exhibits bias, and what can be done about it
No full textAs generative Artificial Intelligence (genAI) is increasingly used across sectors, its potential for societal benefit is paired with risks of discrimination. This chapter explores how genAI challenges non-discrimination law, identifying two primary types of discriminatory outputs: (i) demeaning and abusive content; and (ii) subtler biases from inadequate representation of protected groups. The latter includes genAI output that, while not discriminatory in a single instance, has discriminatory effects over time. For example, a genAI system may predominantly display white men when asked for examples of people in important jobs. The chapter examines the resources of existing EU law in addressing such cases and demonstrates how traditional legal categories, such as direct and indirect discrimination and harassment, are sometimes inadequate for genAI. The final part also offers suggestions on updating EU laws and mitigating biases pre-emptively in training and input data
Introduction to the foundations and regulation of generative AI
No full textThis chapter introduces The Oxford Handbook of the Foundations and Regulation of Generative AI, outlining the key themes and questions surrounding the technical development, regulatory governance, and societal implications of generative AI. The chapter highlights the historical context of generative AI, distinguishes it from traditional AI, and explores its diverse applications across multiple domains, including text, images, music, and scientific discovery. The discussion critically assesses whether generative AI represents a paradigm shift or a temporary hype. Furthermore, the chapter extensively surveys both emerging and established regulatory frameworks, including the EU AI Act, the General Data Protection Regulation, privacy and personality rights, and copyright, as well as global legal responses. We conclude that, for now, the ‘Old Guard’ of legal frameworks regulates generative AI more tightly and effectively than the ‘Newcomers’, but that may change as the new laws fully kick in. The chapter concludes by mapping the structure of the handbook
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
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