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This article examines the contracts at Warner Bros. for two productions by director Arthur Penn as a case study to consider how these agreements shaped production cultures during the emergence of New Hollywood. Through the 1950s, the studio employed production-distribution agreements that used strict controls and regulations to mimic its in-house procedures. But in the 1960s, it preferred short-form joint venture agreements that allowed more direct control in shaping the film's production while turning the producers into self-regulators. As the contracts reveal, Warner Bros. reshaped their business to grant production culture control to producers while also ensuring the studio's corporate role in the New Hollywood landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this contribution is to discuss the extent of the Union's competence to adopt a comprehensive instrument of substantive contract law in light of the options set forth in the Commission's 2010 Green Paper on European contract law, with a view to exploring the limits of, and the relationship between, certain prominent Treaty provisions in the debate -- namely, Articles 114, 115, 81, 169 and 352 TFEU (ex Articles 95, 94, 65, 153 and 308 EC, respectively) -- and the roles played by the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality in guiding the exercise of Union competence inside, as well as outside, the EU decision-making process. Moreover, given the reference to certain American techniques in the Green Paper, this contribution seeks to facilitate discussion of the comparative dimensions of the constitutional assessment of contract law in the European Union and the United States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the results of a study to compare contemporary e-journal licenses from two research universities in the United States and Spain in terms of e-reserves, interlibrary loan, text and data mining, authors' rights and treatment of copyright exceptions, usage statistics, governing law, data privacy, and obligations entailing security. The data include a higher proportion of scholarly society and academic press publishers than earlier license analyses. This analysis compares license terms over time, across publisher types and between the two libraries, and it compares findings with recommendations from model licenses. The results show progress toward model license goals in some areas, but deficiencies in others including self-archiving, usage statistics clauses, and clauses related to e-resource data privacy and library security and disciplinary obligations. Our findings also raise questions about international ILL and governing venue clauses in library licenses outside the North American context.

Reports on the extended strategic supply agreement between Schweiter Mauduit International Inc. and Philip Morris USA Inc. in the U.S.

The article deals with three agreements signed by the United Wall Paper Crafts of North America in New York City. This association was established by a consolidation of two smaller national unions which are the National Association of Machine Printers and Color Mixers of the U.S. and the National Print Cutters' Association of America. The first contract deals with printers and color mixers and covers 300 mechanics in 19 industrial areas. The second deals with 125 printer cutters in a single factory. Lastly, the third contract covers 150 print cutters employed in the shops of print-cutting entrepreneurs.

Adhesion contracts have a strong likelihood of being unconscionable. The laws and principles are further complicated by the introduction of electronic contracts, specifically electronic consumer contracts. The paper touches upon the duty to read doctrine in contracts and electronic contracts. While the doctrine of unconscionability has evolved it has been playing catch up with the demands of consumers. This paper compares the application of this doctrine in the United States (US), the United Kingdom (UK), and India. The paper also proposes recommendations for consumers and the development of laws. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Higher education managers are under increasing pressure from governments to reduce costs by adopting more flexible staffing practices and tensions can arise as institutions seek to sustain motivation and morale across a diversifying workforce. This paper considers how institutional management and governance practices facilitate innovative developments whilst also providing a supportive and inclusive environment. It draws on interviews in seven institutions to describe three models that reflect integrated, private-sector and partnership approaches, exploring the implications of these for the psychological contract between institutions and their staff, including different interpretations of the employment package; the establishment of processes that are seen as equitable and transparent, although not necessary identical; and the adoption of a range of communication channels, both at the level of the individual and collectively. (Contains 2 tables.)

Reports on another innovative application for the Super Slurper, a super-absorbent starch-based polymer. Its significance; Details of the cooperative agreement with Artifex Equipment Inc. of Penngrove, California.

The author studies the interaction between imperfect labor contracts and international trade in a setting in which workers have private information about their own abilities. When an individual's contribution to firm output can be measured accurately in some activities but not in others, the most able workers select occupations in which their pay most closely reflects their own performance. In a world economy with two otherwise similar countries that have different distributions of talent, the country with the more heterogeneous labor force exports the good that is produced by the most talented individuals. In this country, trade exacerbates the "polarization" of the labor force and often worsens the distribution of income. (Contains 22 notes.)

Reports that Lawrence, Massachusetts-based Merrimac Paper Co. subsidiary Holyole Card Co. has received a three-year contract from GBC for paper supplies.

A discussion of the legal and social implications of collaboration between Australia industry and higher education institutions for the development of new technologies focuses on the forms of collaboration and the disposition of intellectual property rights between employer and employee or customer and contractor. (MSE)

The proper interpretation of offers and acceptances has, despite their undisputable role in the formation of contracts, received relatively little theoretical and comparative analysis in recent years. The notorious legal question of when a contract is considered to have been formed is a fundamental concept in all legal systems, yet its nature remains poorly understood and controversial. Moreover, recent doctrinal and jurisprudential developments in English, French, US, German, and Canadian law of contracts call for further systematic assessment of this fascinating topic. This paper seeks to provide a systematic comparative evaluation of the disparate doctrines governing offer and acceptance and the consequential formation of contracts in English, US, German, French, and Canadian law of contracts. While employing well-defined normative criteria of justice and wealth-maximization, it identifies the aspects of suboptimal reliance, rent-seeking, cost-avoidance, and opportunistic revocations and provides a set of economically inspired arguments for justification of the mailbox rule. The paper is an attempt to determine how much new light the comparative analysis of law can shed on the puzzling issues of offer and acceptance so as to help clarify them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaluates cases related to the violation of consumer credit laws in the United States. Reference to provisions of the Uniform Commercial Code; Rulings regarding signature by authorized representative in contracts; Manifestation of the meaning of attorneys' fee provision.

Explains the Agenda 2020, an agreement between the U.S. Department of Energy and the paper industry. Consideration of the economic pressures facing the U.S. pulp and paper industry; Improvement of competitiveness through Agenda 2020; Fiber recovery and utilization; Wood products revolution.

Annual turnover of home care workers represents a huge loss of revenue and is a key source of inefficiency in the home health care industry. In this article, we propose a data-driven approach to monitor employee churn and to capture the evolution of employee intent to leave. Unlike most papers in the literature, we use machine learning techniques to analyze over 2 million visits in the US, Canada, and Australia between 2016 and 2019. Results show that the gap between the number of hours worked and in the contract is the most important factor to predict employee intent to leave, which means an employee should be given as many hours as requested in the contract to improve retention. Secondary results show that having diverse shift lengths and continuity in services and patients seem to be associated with less turnover. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the decision of a U.S. court, given in the year 1966, in the lawsuit International Brotherhood of Pulp, Sulphite and Paper Mill Workers, Local 874 v. St. Regis Paper Co. The court decided that where the arbitrator's interpretation of the contract is not so wholly impermissible as to be arbitrary or capricious, his award will not be set aside.

Highlights the supply agreement signed by North Carolina-based Blue Ridge Paper Products Inc. with Italpack Cartons of Lacedonia, Italy.

Reports on the definitive agreement entered by Jefferson Smurfit Group PLC to sell its Munksjo Specialty paper business to EQT III Fund in the U.S. Terms of the agreement; Proceeds of the disposal.

One of the leading commercial drivers applied in developing countries, especially in economies with conservative policies, is free trade agreements or tariff preferences with strategic economic zones worldwide. The countries of Latin America and the Caribbean are no exception. The United States is the region's leading trading partner; however, several countries have signed trade agreements with the European area in recent years. In this paper, we ask ourselves to what extent these agreements are beneficial. In addition, we evaluate the impact on exports with other world regions. Mainly, we analyze the effect of commercial firms in the European zone on the level of exports of the other partners, especially with the United States. The results consistently suggest that signing trade agreements with the European zone generates an export displacement effect. In other words, although the gross level of exports to the European zone increases, the level of exports to other regions of the world, especially to the United States, grows faster than other countries that do not even have agreements with the Europeans. Generally, exports do not have a statistically significant effect on signing trade agreements with the European zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contractual agreements are becoming increasingly important for city governments seeking to manage urban development. Contractual governance involves direct relations between the local state and different public and private actors and citizens. Although abundant literature exists on public–private partnerships related to urban development projects, agreements made between citizens, interest organizations and market parties, such as Community Benefits Agreements remain under-explored and under-theorized. While it may seem that the state is absent from contemporary forms of contractual governance, such agreements remain highly intertwined with government policies. The central aim of this paper is to better conceptualize Community Benefits Agreement practices in order to build understanding of how contractual governance caters for direct end-user involvement in urban development, and to yield insights into its potential as to render development processes more inclusive. Based on academic literature in planning and law, expert interviews and several case studies in New York City, this paper conceptualizes end-user involvement in urban development projects and innovates within urban planning and governance theory through the use of two new concepts—project collectivity and the image of a fourth chair. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the optimal procurement, processing, and production decisions of a meat-processing company (hereafter, a "packer") in a beef supply chain. The packer processes fed cattle to produce two beef products, program (premium) boxed beef and commodity boxed beef, in fixed proportions, but with downward substitution of the premium product for the commodity product. The packer can source input (fed cattle) from a contract market, where long-term contracts are signed in advance of the required delivery time, and from a spot market on the spot day. Contract prices are taken to be of a general window form, linear in the spot price but capped by upper and lower limits on realized contract price. Our analysis provides managerial insights on the interaction of window contract terms with processing options. We show that the packer benefits from a low correlation between the spot price and product market uncertainties, and this is independent of the form of the window contract. Although the expected revenues from processing increase in spot price variability, the overall impact on profitability depends on the parameters of the window contract. Using a calibration based on the report by the GIPSA (Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration. 2007. GIPSA livestock and meat marketing study, vol. 3: Fed cattle and beef industries. Report, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington,DC), this paper elucidates for the first time the value of long-term contracting as a complement to spot sourcing in the beef supply chain. Our comparative statics results provide some rules of thumb for the packer for the strategic management of the procurement portfolio. In particular, we show that higher variability (higher spot price variability, product market variability, and correlation) increases the profits of the packer, but decreases the reliance on the contract market relative to the spot market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reports on the definitive agreement entered by Boise Cascade LLC with Forest Capital Partners LLC in the U.S.

Reports that Stora Enso and Finnish specialist software provider Stockway have started cooperation to develop a smart packaging solution based on radio frequency identification in the U.S.

Is democracy compatible with thriving markets that produce long-term prosperity? To survive, a thriving market-economy requires restrictions on political choice, including the rule of law, secure property rights and the enforcement of contracts. This problem comes to the fore as many democratic theorists advocate fewer constraints on the choices by political officials. Robert Dahl, perhaps the most prominent theorists of democracy, asks "How democratic is the U.S. Constitution?" His answer: not very because of its many sources of constraints on politics. Americans take political and constitutional stability for granted. Yet, only 25 percent of all countries have a government free of violent turnover for a generation and the number of countries that have sustained democracy since 1950 is around two dozen. This paper advances a framework for understanding democratic stability, including three conditions: the limit condition, which enhances democracy's survival by lowering the stakes of politics and preventing coups; the consensus condition which supports citizen-coordination to defend against possible transgressions; and the adaptation condition, which holds that successful constitutions adapt the constitution to shocks and crises. Constitutions embody the limit condition through countermajoritarian constraints. The force of this paper is to demonstrate the value of appropriately chosen countermajoritarian provisions in the constitution that constrain democracy. In particular, such constraints are necessary to support long-term, stable democracy as well as a thriving market economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]