Transaction Costs and Property Rights: Or Do Good Fences Make Good Neighbors?

The Persistent Puzzles of Safeguards: Lessons From the Steel Dispute

“…In Argentina-Footwear, 38 the Appellate Body considered a case in which Argentina had adopted the approach embraced some years earlier by the U.S. ITC-a five year "rule of thumb" for establishing the import baseline. The dispute panel in the case concluded that it is "reasonable to examine the trend in imports over a five-year historical period.…”

“…There must be 'such increased quantities' as to cause or threaten to cause serious injury to the domestic industry in order to fulfill this requirement for applying a safeguard measure. And this 38 Argentina-Safeguard Measures on Imports of Footwear, WT/DS121/AB/R (1999). 39 Id.…”

Simplicity and Complexity in Contracts

“…If the employee is risk-averse, or has hidden characteristics that the employer wants to screen, the contract may become still more complex, as it will have to provide for risk-sharing and possibly terms that make the contract unattractive for potential employees with undesirable characteristics. 38 The third explanation for contractual complexity is as a response to government policy, what we will call "political economy." Parties frequently enter complex and convoluted contracts in the hope of avoiding tax liability, or other forms of liability such as responsibility for environmental harm.…”

Steady the Course: Property Rights in Genetic Material

“…My uneasiness here does not rest solely on the predictable opposition from within the biotech industry, 38 although that should serve as a warning bell to the aggressive implementation of these schemes, which will founder unless they can rely on the cooperation of the relevant parties. But the opposition to this proposal runs deeper.…”

“…at 1682. 38 anthrax scares in the aftermath of 9/11. But even then circumstances moved so quickly that this problem fell to the back burner as soon as a voluntary deal was completed.…”