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This study is primarily a reexamination of an earlier study of regional mortgage rate differentials conducted by A.H. Schaaf [6]. Schaaf's work examined mortgage rate differentials existing in 1963 among 18 large SMSA's. Schaaf hypothesized that regional mortgage rate differentials were due mainly to three factors: 1. the default and delinquency risk associated with a region's mortgage loans 2. the distance of a region from the capital markets of the Northeast 3. the local supply of savings relative to a region's demand for mortgage funds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of state usury ceilings upon noninterest mortgage loan terms and mortgage loan volume is analyzed in this paper. As of December, 1973, sixteen of the nation's states had usury laws maintaining mortgage rates at levels below those prevailing in noncontrolled states. These controls may have important implications for credit allocation. Specifically, the hypotheses to be tested in this paper are (1) usury controls result in the rationing of credit by means of noninterest loan terms and (2) usury controls result in diminished mortgage loan flows and residential construction. In that government insured mortgages are generally exempt from low state usury restrictions [16, pp. 114-116], this study concentrates on the effects of usury ceilings on the conventional loan market. Section II of the paper contains the model upon which the empirical tests are based. Empirical procedures and results are discussed in Section III. Conclusions and policy implications of the study are presented in Section IV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines economic, ethical, and jurisprudential issues posed by global tax shelters and legal instruments and exotic financial arrangements designed to exploit hyperliteral interpretations of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC). It mentions that ethics draws on recent Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) directives. It also mentions that the traditional antitax avoidance (ATA) doctrines in the U.S.

Background and Objectives Post-transfusion reactions with dyspnoea ( PTR) are major causes of morbidity and death after blood transfusion. Transfusion-related acute lung injury ( TRALI) and transfusion-associated circulatory overload ( TACO) are most dangerous, while transfusion-associated dyspnoea ( TAD) is a milder respiratory distress. We investigated blood components for immune and non-immune factors implicated in PTR. Material and Methods We analysed 464 blood components (RBCs, PLTs, L-PLTs, FFP) transfused to 271 patients with PTR. Blood components were evaluated for 1/antileucocyte antibodies, 2/cytokines: IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, TNF-α, sCD40L, 3/lysophosphatidylcholines (LysoPCs), 4/microparticles (MPs) shed from plateletes (PMPs), erythrocytes (EMPs) and leucocytes (LMPs). Results Anti- HLA class I/ II antibodies or granulocyte-reactive anti- HLA antibodies were detected in 18·2% of blood components ( RBC and FFP) transfused to TRALI and in 0·5% of FFP transfused to TAD cases. Cytokines and Lyso PCs concentrations in blood components transfused to PTR patients did not exceed those in blood components transfused to patients with no PTR. Only EMPs percentage in RBCs transfused to patients with TRALI was significantly higher ( P < 0·05) than in RBCs transfused to patients with no PTR. Conclusion Immune character of PTR was confirmed mainly in 1/5 TRALI cases. Among non-immune factors, only MPs released from stored RBCs are suggested as potential mediators of TRALI. Our results require further observations in a more numerous and better defined group of patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this issue of the American Business Law Journal, Professor Don Mayer continues an important conversation regarding the ethics of corporate legal strategy. Addressing several of my published works, Mayer offers two primary criticisms: (1) the works are too sanguine with regard to the appropriate scope of the strategic decision to 'breach-and-pay,' and (2) the works offer too little guidance for the well-intentioned corporate executive. In this response, I briefly restate my views, address Mayer's two criticisms, and offer concluding remarks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The crystallization of block copolymers (BCPs) under homogeneous and heterogeneous nucleation is currently well understood revealing the strong interplay of crystallization in competition to microphase separation. This article reports investigations on synthesis and crystallization processes in weakly interacting supramolecular pseudo-BCPs, composed of poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) and poly(isobutylene) (PIB) blocks, connected by a specifically interacting hydrogen bond (thymine/2,6-diaminotriazine). Starting from ring opening polymerization of ε-caprolactone, the use of 'click'-chemistry enabled the introduction of thymine endgroups onto PCL polymer, thus generating the fully thymine-substituted pure PCLs ( 1a, 1b) as judged via NMR and MALDI analysis. Physical mixing of 1a, 1b with a bivalent, bis(2,6-diaminotriazine)-containing molecule ( 2) generated the bivalent polymers BC1 and BC2, whereas mixing of 1a or 1b with the 2,6-diaminotriazine-substituted PIB ( 3) generated the supramolecular pseudo-BCPs BC3 and BC4. Thermal investigations (DSC, Avrami analysis) revealed only minor changes in the crystallization behavior of BC1- BC4 with Avrami exponents close to three, indicative of a confluence of the growing crystals during the crystallization process. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the role of civil disobedience in the business context. It examines if a businessperson may choose among business regulations or must fulfill all legal obligations equally, without reference to the particular regulatory law in question. Further, it discusses four cases including one on addressesing the ethics of hiring undocumented workers and two examining the social duty to obey two misconceived workplace-safety laws.

The article focuses on the importance of corporate legal strategy in enhancing a firm's profit. It analyses the problems posed by underforced or unenforced laws and imperfections in the legal texts. It is stated that the firm's executives and stockholders have an ethical obligation to obey reasonably just laws which includes abiding by laws that are not effectively enforced and exercising self-restraint in lobbying activities.

The article discusses the two reasoning related to how people obey the law. The pecuniary self-interest reasons reflect somewhat crass logic of deterrence where people obey the law to avoid the negative consequences associated with law breaking. The moral self-restraint embodies some good news that human are capable of restraining even when the logic of motivational influence fails. According to the observations, individuals have general duty to comply with the rules even if the law is not effectively enforced. Answers related to the issues between the reasoning are also presented.

Seeks to advance discussions of the topic of corporate social responsibility by critically examining the relationship between a businessperson's social and legal duties. Differentiation of the situations in which a corporate executive has a social duty to cooperate with the spirit of business laws from situations where mere compliance with the letter of those is sufficient; Question of whether willful evasions of law can ever be justified; Examination of both the notion of an efficient breach of regulatory law and the proper role of civil disobedience in business settings.

Explores the concept of corporate social responsibility with an analytical perspective borrowed from linguistic philosophy. Examination on the competing conceptions of laws; Legal issues on CSR; Classic defense of the market mechanism.

Evaluates selected provisions of contract law in Hungary to demonstrate the economic approach to legal reforms in Eastern Europe. Comparison of post-Communist law reform issues with the history of Hungary's legal system; Discussion of fundamental tenets of contemporary analysis of law; Use of the tenets in evaluating provisions of the Hungarian Civil Code.

Identifies the origins of the modern/postmodern divide in the early-twentieth century realist revolt against legal formalism. Implications of pragmatism for the practice of economic analysis of law; Applications to contract law doctrines; Account of related studies.

Argues that the unconscionability decisions in contracts, follow an implicit economic logic. Overview of precedents; Substantive unconscionability; Procedural unconscionability; Critical variables; Evaluation of suspect clause; Negotiation process; Relational context; Cases; Non-customary clauses that misallocate costs.

Focuses on the association of nonprice adjustments with bank credits. Changes in interest rates and non-interest stringency; Difference between the equilibrium interest rate and market interest rates; Classical formulation of the central bank.

Analyzes municipal antitrust liability under the state action exemption in the United States. History of the state action exemption; Procedures through which a state may authorize a state agency or private party to engage in anticompetitive business conduct; Role of municipalities in regulating the economy.

Focuses on the impact of bank credit cards on money demand. Payment functions of money; Emphasis on the store-of-wealth function of money; Elasticity of bank credit cards.