Protection for whom? creditor conflicts in bankruptcy

Revised. In this article we provide a rationale for bankruptcy law that is based on the conflicts among creditors that occur when a debtor’s liabilities exceed its assets. In the absence of a bankruptcy law, the private debt-collection remedies that creditors pursue when a debtor is insolvent result in an ad hoc disposal of the debtor’s assets, thereby reducing the aggregate value of creditors’ claims. We show that coordination clauses can be used by creditors in their loan agreements that will result in coordination, ex post. Although all creditors would benefit from including these clauses in their contracts, they nevertheless choose not to in precisely those circumstances in which it is desirable to coordinate. This is an important insight because previous theories supporting a role for bankruptcy law are based on the notion that creditors want to contract about bankruptcy, but cannot. In contract, we demonstrate that creditors will choose not to coordinate ex ante, even though it is in their best interest ex post. ; We also examine a variety of other contractual mechanisms, including covenants and seniority, and show that although including these terms in loan contracts can improve creditors’ incentives to write coordination clauses, they do so only in special circumstances. Our analysis of creditor conflicts and the potential for private contracting remedies provides an economic rationale for the existence of a bankruptcy law that mandates ex post coordination among the creditors of an insolvent debtor.Bankruptcy

Beneath the rhetoric: clarifying the debate on mortgage lending discrimination

The authors' simple model of the mortgage underwriting process provides a framework within which to define discrimination and various notions of the default rate. By providing those with differing views a common framework for discussing their positions, the model clarifies and reconciles some of the most controversial issues in the debate over mortgage discrimination. It also shows how this theoretical framework can help in the design of practical policy responses to this vexing social problem.Discrimination in mortgage loans ; Mortgages

Self-selection and discrimination in credit markets

This paper increases understanding of the causes and consequences of discrimination in credit markets. It develops an underwriting model in which lenders use a simple Bayesian updating process to evaluate applicant creditworthiness. It also models individuals' self-selection behavior to show how market frictions can affect application decisions.Mortgages ; Discrimination in consumer credit

Speaking on Your Own Behalf: Managing Footing and Representation in “Indigenous,” Intercultural Public Discourse

In Canadian cities, public podium talks featuring Indigenous speakers are increasingly turned to as an avenue for raising public awareness and promoting social change. Podium talks provide occasions for Indigenous activists and spokespeople to tell their own stories, to speak on their own behalf. Yet, as a particular mode of discursive interaction, they also organize how such telling unfolds. Through an in-depth discourse analysis of one talk addressing Indigenous eco-activism, focusing in particular on pronoun use and quoted speech, this paper examines the affordances and obligations present in speaking both about Indigenous people and as an Indigenous person to non-Indigenous audiences. Investigating how Indigenous speakers act both with and against the contexts of interaction provide one approach to thinking about Indigenous agency in contemporary Canada

Laboratory studies, analysis, and interpretation of the spectra of hydrocarbons present in planetary atmospheres including cyanoacetylene, acetylene, propane, and ethane

Combining broadband Fourier transform spectrometers (FTS) from the McMath facility at NSO and from NRC in Ottawa and narrow band TDL data from the laboratories with computational physics techniques has produced a broad range of results for the study of planetary atmospheres. Motivation for the effort flows from the Voyager/IRIS observations and the needs of Voyager analysis for laboratory results. In addition, anticipation of the Cassini mission adds incentive to pursue studies of observed and potentially observable constituents of planetary atmospheres. Current studies include cyanoacetylene, acetylene, propane, and ethane. Particular attention is devoted to cyanoacetylen (H3CN) which is observed in the atmosphere of Titan. The results of a high resolution infrared laboratory study of the line positions of the 663, 449, and 22.5/cm fundamental bands are presented. Line position, reproducible to better than 5 MHz for the first two bands, are available for infrared astrophysical searches. Intensity and broadening studies are in progress. Acetylene is a nearly ubiquitous atmospheric constituent of the outer planets and Titan due to the nature of methane photochemistry. Results of ambient temperature absolute intensity measurements are presented for the fundamental and two two-quantum hotband in the 730/cm region. Low temperature hotband intensity and linewidth measurements are planned

Resistance and Education: An Exploration of Anti-Colonial Struggles and Implications for Critical, Reflexive Pedagogy

On the basis of knowledge and learning as social and subjective in nature, this paper explores contemporary notions of identity and discourse to inform an argument on how sites of formal education can confine students in oppressive subject positions but also potentially allow students to exert agency in the constructions and performances of their own identity. This paper argues that if education is to incite self-empowerment and social change, discursive understandings of identity formation and socialization must be reconciled with pedagogical conceptions of agency and social justice. To this end, postcolonial arguments on resistance and criticality are drawn upon to posit that identity is important in struggles against oppression, and as such is a central concern for critical pedagogy

Growing Pennsylvania's High-Tech Economy: Choosing Effective Investments

Compares Pennsylvania's high-tech economic development incentives, programs, and taxes with those of six competitor states. Includes case studies, program summaries, and analyses using a proprietary model and database. Makes policy recommendations