Robert C. Bird

Do Wrongful‐Discharge Laws Impair Firm Performance?

We estimate the effects on firm costs and profitability of wrongful‐discharge protections adopted by U.S. state courts during 1977–99. By examining the data of approximately 18,000 commercial banks, after controlling for local state economic conditions, we find evidence of a relationship between the adoption of the implied contract exception and the increase in labor expenses. In addition, adoption of the implied contract exception is found to have a significant and negative effect on overall profitability. The study corroborates previous findings that wrongful‐discharge laws place increased costs on employers.

Developing Nations and the Compulsory License: Maximizing Access to Essential Medicines While Minimizing Investment Side Effects

This manuscript addresses how developing countries can maximize access to essential medicines and minimize unwanted side-effects within the legal environment of a compulsory license regime. While compulsory licensing can play a role in improving public health, external social and political conditions must be considered in order to make licensing an effective practice.

Law, Strategy, and Competitive Advantage

Firms aggressively seek a competitive advantage over rivals. A voluminous body of strategy scholarship has identified numerous sources of competitive advantage. Yet, the notion that law may be a source of competitive advantage remains largely unexplored. This is surprising given the significant time and resources managers dedicate to legal issues. This article examines whether legal resources can generate a sustainable competitive advantage for firms. This article also identifies firm attributes and managerial attitudes that might encourage legally strategic thinking. This article concludes that law can be a source of a sustainable competitive advantage and numerous variables exist worthy of future study.

The global challenge of intellectual property rights

Contents:PrefacePART I: INTRODUCTION1. The Continuing Challenge of Global Intellectual Property RightsSubhash C. Jain and Robert BirdPART II: DEVELOPED NATIONS IN A GLOBAL MARKET2. Unifying the International Law of Business Method and Software PatentsLarry A. DiMatteo and Robert E. Thomas3. Secondary Liability for Intellectual Property Law Infringement in the International Arena: Framing the DialogueLynda J. Oswald4. Coming Attractions: Opportunities and Challenges in Thwarting Global Movie PiracyLucille M. Ponte, J.D.PART III: INDIA AND CHINA5. Protecting Well Known Marks in China: Challenges for Foreign Mark HoldersStephanie M. Greene6. India: A Study in Patent-Law EffectsGeorge T. Haley and Usha C.V. Haley7. Employee Disclosures of Trade Secrets in China: Prevention StrategiesMarisa Anne Pagnattaro8. The Indian Patent Matrix-Issues in Patent Amendment 2005V.C. Vivekanandan9. Intellectual Property, Foreign Direct Investment and the China ExceptionPeter K. YuPART IV: VALUE CAPTURE AND RETENTION STRATEGIES10. Protecting Unconventional Trademarks in the European Union and the United StatesWillajeanne F. MacLean11. National IPR Policies and Multinational R&D Strategies: An Interactive PerspectiveMinyuan Zhao and Bernard YeungPART V: PERSPECTIVES OF EMERGING NATIONS12. The Vulnerability of Middle Developed Countries to Changes in Foreign Investment Arising from Intellectual Property Reform in Developing Countries: Trade and Investment DimensionsDouglas Lippoldt13. A Skeptics View of Intellectual Property RightsDonald G. RichardsIndex

The Impact of Local Knowledge on Banking

We use firm-level data to study how local knowledge impacts the wage and profitability of commercial banks. Using a novel regulatory and competitive environment as a natural experiment, we find that restrictions on the mobility of local knowledge negatively impact the incidence of new bank charters. Also consistent with expected theory, we also find no impact on banks formed through mergers or acquisition where the acquiring bank can simply purchase the local knowledge available. We also find that restrictions on the mobility of local knowledge decrease labor expenses. This supports the hypothesis that such mobility restrictions enable employers to extract rents from workers who lack bargaining power arising from a potential job change to a local rival. We also find that increases in labor restrictions are positively correlated with profitability, benefiting established banks because it restricts competitive with potential new banks that could potentially exploit local knowledge more effectively. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015

Do Disability Laws Impair Firm Performance

Much has been written about the impact of disability laws on employers and employees. Yet there is little empirical support available on whether disability laws impact employers in a negative or positive way. We fill this gap in the literature by studying the impact of state disability laws adopted by legislatures and courts between 1976 and 1988. By examining the data of approximately 18,000 commercial banks and after controlling for local state economic conditions, we examine whether disability laws impact firm employment, salaries, profitability, and capital investments. We find a small decline in employee salaries and a large decline in fixed asset investment associated with the passage of state disability laws. Our results are significant and surprising, and have policy implications for both state and federal disability protections.

The Impact of theMoseleyDecision on Trademark Dilution Law

This article assesses the impact of the Supreme Court decision Moseley v. V Secret Catalogue Inc. on methods of proving trademark dilution in federal court. It also examines federal court decisions that have interpreted Moseleys rulings on trademark dilution. The article concludes that brand owners are most successful in federal court when the challenged junior users brand is identical to the senior users brand. In light of results that indicate that consumer surveys play a minimal role in post-Moseley cases and are susceptible to rejection by courts, this article suggests alternative survey approaches that could better satisfy the rigorous requirements of any foreseeable statutory regime.

The Role of the Chief Legal Officer in Corporate Governance

The CLO shapes and enforces corporate governance, but is faced with a dual-role paradox that requires her to act as both monitor of corporate governance and executive of the firm. We study the role of the CLO under environments that are most likely to impact governance and pressure the firm to either emphasize or marginalize the CLOs role as monitor or facilitator. Using the financial shock of a securities class action lawsuit on large corporations, we measure changes in CLO value through the metrics of total and relative compensation of the CLO and other C-suite members. After controlling for relevant variables such as growth and total assets, we find that when firms have more insiders on their board of directors, the CLOs compensation declines when the preceding years Tobins Q is high. CLO compensation increases under conditions of high opacity, but that compensation partially erodes in high Tobins Q environments. We also find that a lawsuit increases CFO and CEO turnover but not the CLOs. Our results have implications for corporate governance, the dual and potentially conflicting role of CLO as gatekeeper and monitor, executive compensation, and agency costs.

Counterfeit Drugs: The Consumer Perspective

Much has been written about the problems of the supply of pharmaceutical counterfeits. Common topics include inadequate laws, lack of enforcement, and the absence of criminal penalties for counterfeiters. Less has been written in the legal literature, however, about the demand side of pharmaceuticals. Consumers remain both the root problem and the ultimate destination of counterfeit products. A substantial portion of counterfeit losses can be traced to willing purchases by consumers. Understanding under what temporal, economic, social, and psychological conditions individuals purchase counterfeit medicines is essential to understanding the underlying determinants of demand. This understanding can assist pharmaceutical firms and policy makers to better address consumer needs and ultimately reduce the preference for these potentially dangerous remedies. The purpose of this article is to present a brief discussion of consumer behavior toward counterfeit drugs.

Law as a Source of Competitive Advantage

Although business scholars express significant interest in the sources of firm competitive advantage, little research exists on the use of law as a value capturing resource. This is surprising given that legal issues demand a significant percentage of available time for managers. This manuscript proposes a model showing how a firm can use its legal environment to create sustainable competitive advantages over rivals.