Rule of law and the international diffusion of E-commerce

A conceptual model of various factors that could explain the differences among countries in the adoption of e-commerce is presented. Firms' technology adoption decisions and output growth depend upon the efficiency of the capital markets, which diversify the risks of adopting new technologies and thus encourage early adoption of e-commerce. Countries with an active direct marketing industry experience higher levels of e-commerce activities because companies do not need to educate customers about the nature of the remote purchases. The development of e-commerce may be slow in countries without strong and effectively enforced commercial laws, despite having the necessary conditions to accelerate e-commerce

Development of company law in India : the case of the Companies Act 1956

The influence of culture and politics on the promulgation of accounting regulations in the Companies Act 1956 in India immediately post independence is analysed using an exploratory framework based on the work of McKinnon (1986) and Gray (1988). Within the framework, the process of change is analysed into three phases, a source phase, diffusion phase and reaction phase with all phases of change being influenced by intra-system activity, trans-system activity and the social and cultural context of India. In particular, the importance of the role of the Government within the process of accounting change is seen and the social context is seen to influence both the need for change and the process of change

Internet y la capacidad de innovar en América Latina

(Disponible en idioma inglés únicamente) En este trabajo presentamos una panorámica general de la situación de internet en América Latina y sostenemos que si bien los países latinoamericanos se han incorporado relativamente tarde, en principio pueden ponerse al día con mayor rapidez y a un costo menor. Pero eso depende del entorno de la innovación en esos países; en ese respecto, puede que la adopción de internet no se diferencie de la de otros avances tecnológicos. En este trabajo también se trata cómo el grado de innovación de un país explica en parte el grado al que se pueden absorber nuevas tecnologías con mayor eficacia. Lo sorprendente de esta relación es que sea válida, incluso cuando se aísla el hecho de que los países con mejor infraestructura telefónica también son los que tienen más proveedores de servicios de internet. Hallamos que la capacidad de innovar y asimilar nuevas tecnologías no es sólo cuestión de ingresos o de la capacidad de la infraestructura.

ICT Use in the Developing World: An Analysis of Differences in Computer and Internet Penetration

Computer and Internet use, especially in developing countries, has expanded rapidly in recent years. Even in light of this expansion in technology adoption rates, penetration rates differ markedly between developed and developing countries and across developing countries. To identify the determinants of cross-country disparities in personal computer and Internet penetration, both currently and over time, we examine panel data for 161 countries over the 1999-2004 period. We explore the role of a comprehensive set of economic, demographic, infrastructure, institutional and financial factors in contributing to the global digital divide. We find evidence indicating that income, human capital, the youth dependency ratio, telephone density, legal quality and banking sector development are associated with technology penetration rates. Overall, the factors associated with computer and Internet penetration do not differ substantially between developed and developing countries. Estimates from Blinder-Oaxaca decompositions reveal that the main factors responsible for low rates of technology penetration rates in developing countries are disparities in income, telephone density, legal quality and human capital. In terms of dynamics, our results indicate fairly rapid reversion to long run equilibrium for Internet use, and somewhat slower reversion for computer use, particularly in developed economies. Financial development, either measured as bank lending or the value of stocks traded, is also important to the growth rate of Internet use.

Federalism and International Human Rights in the New Constitutional Order

This Essay examines the contours of what I have elsewhere called the new constitutional order with respect to international human rights and federalism. The background is my suggestion that the U.S. political-constitutional system is on the verge of moving into a new constitutional regime, following the end of the New Deal-Great Society constitutional regime. The Supreme Court\u27s innovations in the law of federalism in connection with Congress\u27s exercise of its powers over domestic affairs has provoked speculation about the implications of those innovations for the national government\u27s power with respect to foreign affairs. Most of the speculation has been that the Court is about to - or at least should - engage in what I have called projects of restoration and revolution. That is, the Court will, or should, return to an understanding of the relation between the nation\u27s power with respect to foreign affairs that prevailed before the New Deal-Great Society era

Development of company law in India : the case of the Companies Act 1956

The influence of culture and politics on the promulgation of accounting regulations in the Companies Act 1956 in India immediately post independence is analysed using an exploratory framework based on the work of McKinnon (1986) and Gray (1988). Within the framework, the process of change is analysed into three phases, a source phase, diffusion phase and reaction phase with all phases of change being influenced by intra-system activity, trans-system activity and the social and cultural context of India. In particular, the importance of the role of the Government within the process of accounting change is seen and the social context is seen to influence both the need for change and the process of change.culture; politics; accounting change; India; company law

Technological Innovations and Endogenous Changes in U.S. Legal Institutions, 1790-1920

Recent scholarship highlights the importance of institutions to the processes of economic growth, but the precise nature of their relationship bears further examination. This paper considers how the evolution of legal institutions has contributed to, and in turn been affected by, major technological innovations. The first section of the paper examines the U.S. intellectual property system. Patent and copyright laws, and their interpretation and enforcement by the federal judiciary, certainly influenced the course of technical and cultural change, but it is clear that they did not develop independently of the state of technology and of the economy. Both the statutes and their interpretations altered in response to the introduction and diffusion of new technologies. The second section explores in more detail the impact of some of these technological innovations -- including steamboats, railroads, telegraphy, medical technologies, and automobiles -- on the common law, regulation and insurance. Such technological advances often led to institutional bottlenecks, which then required accommodations in legal rules and their enforcement. Although the common law had some capability for economizing on legal adjustment costs through 'adjudication by analogy', the socio-economic changes wrought by major innovations ultimately produced more fundamental change in legal institutions, such as shifts in the relative importance of state and federal policies, and in the degree of reliance on regulation by bureaucracy. In sum, the historical record of the evolution of legal rules and standards in the United States indicates a remarkable degree of flexibility as such institutions responded to changing economic circumstances.