How should India reform its labour laws?

This paper examines the current policy debate around the reform of labour laws in India, which has been stimulated in part by the success of the “Gujarat model of economic development.” Gujarat’s deregulatory reforms have included changes to the legal regime governing employment terminations, which could form a basis for a change in national-level labour laws. Evidence linking labour law deregulation to growth, however, is weak, whether the focus is on India or the experience of other countries. Building labour market institutions is a long-term process which requires investment in state capacity for the management of risks associated with the transition to a formal economy.ESRCThis is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Sameeksha Trust via http://www.epw.in/journal/2015/12/special-articles/how-should-india-reform-its-labour-laws.htm

An Analytic Solution for a Vasicek Interest Rate Convertible Bond Model

This paper provides the analytic solution to the partial differential equation for the value of a convertible bond. The equation assumes a Vasicek model for the interest rate and a geometric Brownian motion model for the stock price. The solution is obtained using integral transforms

Are litigation and collective bargaining complements or substitutes for achieving gender equality? A study of the British equal pay act

We present a socio-legal case study of the recent equal pay litigation wave in Britain, which saw an unprecedented increase in the number of claims, triggered in part by the entry of no-win, no-fee law firms into this part of the legal services market. Although the rise in litigation led to greater adversarialism in pay bargaining, litigation and collective bargaining mostly operated as complementary mechanisms in advancing an equality agenda. Litigation may be a more potent agent for social change than some recent analyses, which stress the limits of the law in the face of organisational pressures to canalise and diffuse human rights, have suggestedWe are grateful to the ESRC’s Gender Network for financial supportThis is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Oxford University Press via http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/cje/bev00

Partnership, ownership and control: the impact of corporate governance on employment relations

Prevailing patterns of dispersed share ownership and rules of corporate governance for UK listed companies appear to constrain the ability of managers to make credible, long-term commitments to employees of the kind needed to foster effective labour-management partnerships. We present case study evidence which suggests that such partnerships can nevertheless emerge where product market conditions and the regulatory environment favour a stakeholder orientation. Proactive and mature partnerships may also be sustained where the board takes a strategic approach to mediating between the claims of different stakeholder groups, institutional investors are prepared to take a long-term view of their holdings, and strong and independent trade unions are in a position to facilitate organisational change

A Green′s function for a convertible bond using the Vasicek model

We consider a convertible security where the underlying stock price obeys a lognormal random walk and the risk-free rate is given by the Vasicek model. Using a Laplace transform in time and a Mellin transform in the stock price, we derive a Green′s function solution for the value of the convertible bond

Beyond shareholder primacy? Reflections on the trajectory of UK corporate governance.

Core institutions of UK corporate governance, in particular the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers, the Combined Code on Corporate Governance and the law on directors’ duties, are strongly orientated towards the norm of shareholder primacy. Beyond the core, however, stakeholder interests are better represented, in particular at the intersection of insolvency and employment law. This reflects the influence of European Community laws on information and consultation of employees. In addition, there are signs that some institutional shareholders are redirecting their investment strategies, under government encouragement, away from a focus on short-term returns, in such a way as to favour stakeholder-inclusive practices by firms. On this basis we suggest that the UK system is currently in a state of flux and that the debate over shareholder primacy has not been concluded