University of North Carolina Legal Studies Research Paper Series最新文献

University of North Carolina Legal Studies Research Paper Series Pub Date : 2017-06-08 DOI: 10.2139/SSRN.2894394

K. Thomas

{"title":"Taxing the Gig Economy","authors":"K. Thomas","doi":"10.2139/SSRN.2894394","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/SSRN.2894394","url":null,"abstract":"Due to advances in technology like mobile applications and online platforms, millions of American workers now earn income through “gig” work, which allows them the flexibility to set their own hours and choose which jobs to take. To the surprise of many gig workers, the tax law considers them to be “business owners,” which subjects them to onerous recordkeeping and filing requirements, along with the obligation to pay quarterly estimated taxes. This Article proposes two reforms that would drastically reduce compliance burdens for this new generation of business owners, while simultaneously enhancing the government’s ability to collect tax revenue. First, Congress should create a “non-employee withholding” regime that would allow online platform companies such as Uber to withhold taxes for their workers without being classified as employers. Second, the Article proposes a “standard business deduction” for gig workers, which would eliminate the need to track and report business expenses. Although this Article focuses on the gig economy as an illustration of how the workplace has evolved in recent years, the proposals could apply more broadly to taxation of small, individually run businesses. In an era when the use of cash is on the decline and information can be shared rapidly and at little cost, it is time for policymakers to institute a more modern tax enforcement regime for small businesses.","PeriodicalId":299962,"journal":{"name":"University of North Carolina Legal Studies Research Paper Series","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-06-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"130726288","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 27

Legislating Memory in Rwanda 在卢旺达立法记忆

University of North Carolina Legal Studies Research Paper Series Pub Date : 2017-02-13 DOI: 10.2139/SSRN.2916201

Thomas A. Kelley

{"title":"Legislating Memory in Rwanda","authors":"Thomas A. Kelley","doi":"10.2139/SSRN.2916201","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/SSRN.2916201","url":null,"abstract":"This article describes and critiques the government of Rwanda’s use of legal and extra-legal means to control memory and history in their country. The regime, to the extent it admits its actions, justifies them as necessary to maintain stability and avoid a repeat of the country’s horrific 1994 genocide. But increasingly, critics claim that Rwanda’s president, Paul Kagame, along with his ruling coterie, are tailoring memory and history with the aim of legitimizing their autocratic rule. American legal scholars who focus on Rwanda tend to describe what is happening there in terms of First Amendment values, focusing their attention on the Rwandan government’s suppression of political speech. This paper takes a different approach. Borrowing from the disciplines of history, historiography, and memory studies, it argues that Rwanda’s government is surpassing mere suppression of speech and is instead engaging in a comprehensive effort to rewrite history and reprogram its citizens’ collective memory. Scrutiny of the Rwandan government’s program of “memory entrepreneurship” grows more consequential as Donald Trump settles into the office of president of the United States. Before President Trump’s ascendance, the United States and the world community generally condemned politicians’ efforts to fabricate and enforce history as a means of holding on to power. President Trump’s administration, however, has introduced the Orwellian notion of “alternative facts” to the American people and has raised the possibility that bald fabrication paired with aggressive insistence may now be acceptable conduct in the political realm.For Rwanda, the question of whether “memory entrepreneurship” and “alternative facts” are or are not acceptable political stratagems grows all the more urgent as the country approaches a presidential election in the summer of 2017, one that Paul Kagame is virtually certain to win.","PeriodicalId":299962,"journal":{"name":"University of North Carolina Legal Studies Research Paper Series","volume":"8 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2017-02-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"132272194","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Venezuela as a Case Study in Limited (Sovereign) Liability 委内瑞拉作为有限(主权)责任的案例研究

University of North Carolina Legal Studies Research Paper Series Pub Date : 2016-12-08 DOI: 10.1093/CMLJ/KMX020

Mark C. Weidemaier, Matthew R. Gauthier

{"title":"Venezuela as a Case Study in Limited (Sovereign) Liability","authors":"Mark C. Weidemaier, Matthew R. Gauthier","doi":"10.1093/CMLJ/KMX020","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1093/CMLJ/KMX020","url":null,"abstract":"Venezuela is in a severe economic crisis. An October 2016 debt swap bought some time for the beleaguered state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PDVSA), but there remains speculation about default by both PDVSA and the government. The fact that Venezuela’s economy is heavily dependent on oil exports has led some observers to assume that, in the wake of a default, creditors could easily seize assets associated with natural resource exploitation. In this article, we explore some of the legal considerations that would govern such litigation. Our primary claim is that matters are not so simple. Even ignoring issues associated with sovereign immunity and bankruptcy law, we emphasize the doctrine of separate corporate personhood (i.e., the fiction that corporations are independent legal persons responsible for their own, and only their own, debts). We do not purport to predict the outcome of any disputes that might arise in the wake of a default. Instead, we use Venezuela as a case study, identifying the many ways in which the doctrine of separate corporate personhood may affect the relative rights and bargaining power of a sovereign debtor and its creditors.","PeriodicalId":299962,"journal":{"name":"University of North Carolina Legal Studies Research Paper Series","volume":"39 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2016-12-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"116985045","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 3

The Relevance of Law to Sovereign Debt 法律与主权债务的相关性

University of North Carolina Legal Studies Research Paper Series Pub Date : 2015-02-01 DOI: 10.1146/ANNUREV-LAWSOCSCI-120814-121408

Mark C. Weidemaier, G. Gulati

引用次数: 17

The Ontological Function of the Patent Document 专利文献的本体论功能

University of North Carolina Legal Studies Research Paper Series Pub Date : 2012-02-25 DOI: 10.2139/SSRN.2010987

Andrew Chin

{"title":"The Ontological Function of the Patent Document","authors":"Andrew Chin","doi":"10.2139/SSRN.2010987","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/SSRN.2010987","url":null,"abstract":"With the passage and impending implementation of the “first-to-file” provisions of the America Invents Act of 2011, the U.S. patent system must rely more than ever before on patent documents for its own ontological commitments concerning the existence of claimed kinds of useful objects and processes. This Article provides a comprehensive description of the previously unrecognized function of the patent document in incurring and securing warrants to these ontological commitments, and the respective roles of legal doctrines and practices in the patent system’s ontological project. Among other contributions, the resulting metaphysical account serves to reconcile competing interpretations of the written description requirement that have emerged from the Federal Circuit’s recent jurisprudence, and to explain why the patent system is willing and able to examine, grant and enforce claims reciting theoretical entities. While this Article is entirely descriptive, it concludes by identifying promising normative and prescriptive implications of this work, including the formulation of an appropriate test for the patent-eligibility of software-implemented inventions in the post-Bilski era.","PeriodicalId":299962,"journal":{"name":"University of North Carolina Legal Studies Research Paper Series","volume":"88 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-02-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"127157036","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 1

Reforming Sovereign Lending Practices: Modern Initiatives in Historical Context 改革主权贷款实践:历史背景下的现代举措

University of North Carolina Legal Studies Research Paper Series Pub Date : 2012-01-31 DOI: 10.2139/SSRN.1996763

Mark C. Weidemaier

{"title":"Reforming Sovereign Lending Practices: Modern Initiatives in Historical Context","authors":"Mark C. Weidemaier","doi":"10.2139/SSRN.1996763","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2139/SSRN.1996763","url":null,"abstract":"The sovereign debt crisis in the Eurozone has prompted a number of policy responses. Among the most significant is an initiative by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development to identify what it has termed “Principles of Responsible Sovereign Lending and Borrowing.” The Principles aim to transform sovereign debt contracts – to set “a global standard...against which to assess” their terms. Principle 15, for example, seeks to ensure that debt restructurings, such as that presently underway in Greece, occur “promptly, efficiently, and fairly,” and it envisions the use of collective action clauses (CACs) to achieve this end. Public officials agree with this goal; Eurozone leaders have stated their intent to mandate the use of standardized CACs in all euro area sovereign bonds. This article explores, and questions, whether the Principles are likely to have a significant impact on bond contracts. Over the past century, a number of other initiatives have pursued the same goal, with varying degrees of success. Using a dataset of bonds issued in New York and London, the article demonstrates how contracts responded (or failed to respond) to these initiatives, often in ways reformers did not anticipate. Several lessons emerge. First, initiatives designed to encourage changes to entrenched contracting practices may require significant and coordinated leadership by states and other international actors. Without such leadership, these initiatives may fail. One reasons for this is that reformers often misread market sentiment or fail to appreciate the diverse preferences of market actors. Second, even successful initiatives can have unexpected results. In particular, efforts to encourage the use of uniform contract terms may have the paradoxical effect of provoking greater contract variation. The third lesson, then, is that standardization – assuming that is a desirable and feasible goal – may have to be mandated. The paper concludes by exploring other ways in which initiatives like the Principles can influence sovereign lending markets.","PeriodicalId":299962,"journal":{"name":"University of North Carolina Legal Studies Research Paper Series","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2012-01-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"122155250","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 4

High Volatility, Negative Correlation, Roth IRA Conversions, and the Codified Economic Substance Doctrine 高波动性，负相关，罗斯个人退休帐户转换，和编纂的经济实质原则

University of North Carolina Legal Studies Research Paper Series Pub Date : 2010-11-30 DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.1717019

Gregg D. Polsky

引用次数: 2

Women and Subprime Lending: An Essay Advocating Self-Regulation of the Mortgage Lending Industry 妇女与次级贷款:一篇提倡抵押贷款行业自我监管的文章

University of North Carolina Legal Studies Research Paper Series Pub Date : 2010-10-06 DOI: 10.18060/4071

C. N. Brown

{"title":"Women and Subprime Lending: An Essay Advocating Self-Regulation of the Mortgage Lending Industry","authors":"C. N. Brown","doi":"10.18060/4071","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.18060/4071","url":null,"abstract":"This project will build upon my most recent article, Racism’s Property Victims: Prime Subprime Mortgage Targets, by considering gender and gender trait stereotypes as predictors of whether or not a borrower receives a subprime loan or refinance. I hope to use 2006 HUD and HMDA data, along with other studies and research, to explore the subprime lending disparity experienced by women, in particular women at the highest income levels.According to several prominent studies, single women are one of the fastest growing segments of the home buying population. In 1995, single women were 14% of all home buyers and in 2006, single women were 22% of all homebuyers. Moreover, woman-owned companies are the fastest growing segment among small businesses. The bad news is that statistics also indicate that women are the fastest growing segment of the population filing bankruptcy. My article has the potential to make a very important contribution to this underwritten area of the law. Given the increasingly active and prominent presence of single women in the real estate market, why has this group not been targeted by banks as a promising “emerging” population of candidates for prime loans? Are single women borrowers and business owners perceived by lenders as full participants in the economy? Could it be that the bankruptcy statistics provide all the answers — single women are just bad credit risks — or do the bankruptcy statistics merely reflect the unavoidable consequences of the harm done to women borrowers by lenders earlier in the lending process? My article will address these and other important questions.","PeriodicalId":299962,"journal":{"name":"University of North Carolina Legal Studies Research Paper Series","volume":"4 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2010-10-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"115190377","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Government Investment in Banks: Creeping Nationalization or Prudent, Temporary Aid? 政府对银行的投资:缓慢的国有化还是谨慎的临时援助?

University of North Carolina Legal Studies Research Paper Series Pub Date : 2009-03-20 DOI: 10.25148/LAWREV.4.2.5

L. Broome

引用次数: 1

A Malthusian Analysis of the So-Called Dynasty Trust 所谓王朝信托的马尔萨斯分析

University of North Carolina Legal Studies Research Paper Series Pub Date : 2008-10-03 DOI: 10.2139/SSRN.1276224

William J. Turnier, J. Harrison

引用次数: 1