This IPRO team will have the responsibility of extending Operation Kosovo. Operation Kosovo is an IIT-Chicago Kent initiative to promote rule... Show moreThis IPRO team will have the responsibility of extending Operation Kosovo. Operation Kosovo is an IIT-Chicago Kent initiative to promote rule of law, democracy, civil society, and economic development in Kosovo. Students will continue work on projects such as: providing research assistance to legal counsel in Kosovo through CDRC; providing support to the University of Pristina law school's student organization; establishing a Kosovo Leadership Council, a Small Business Assistance Clinic, and a Kosovo investment fund; establishing firm contact with Kosovars in the Diaspora; maintaining support for the University of Pristina law school's externship program; website updating; and posting Kosovar law on the internet. There may also be an opportunity to structure a process for developing business plans for new enterprises in Kosovo as the team's work moves forward. Students who join this team will have the opportunity to make a positive and lasting contribution to the people of Kosovo; and will develop a deep appreciation for how social, political, technology and economic factors combine to influence rule of law. Sponsorship: Criminal Defense Resources Council (CDRC) Project Plan for IPRO 397: Operation Kosovo for the Summer 2003 semester Show less
Students will research, design, and build a web site to be hosted in the Ukraine at our partner university. The site is designed to teach... Show moreStudents will research, design, and build a web site to be hosted in the Ukraine at our partner university. The site is designed to teach viewers about important legal issues relating to e-commerce both internationally and in Ukraine. Our objective is to create the leading legal portal addressing e-commerce in Ukraine. The site should also include tutorials on practical issues such as what steps to take to seek intellectual property protection for one's inventions. Sponsorship: U.S. Government Project plan for IPRO 380: Legal Aspects Website for the Spring 2002 semester Show less
In this study, we empirically investigate the relation between corporate finance and fixed income securities. Specifically, we employ... Show moreIn this study, we empirically investigate the relation between corporate finance and fixed income securities. Specifically, we employ staggered changes in state corporate income tax rates as exogenous shocks and estimate how these state tax changes affect bond at-issue yield spreads. We find a significant increase in bond yield spreads after state tax increases but not after state tax decrease. Tax increases result in a 36 basis points increase in the yield spreads, which translates into a $12 million increase in interest expenses for firms experiencing tax increases. Besides, we employ the staggered adoption of universal demand (UD) laws by different states in the United States as a quasi-experimental setting and investigate the effect of UD laws on bond yield spreads at issuance. The adoption of UD laws raises the hurdle for shareholders to bring derivate lawsuits against firms and weakens shareholder litigation rights. Using a sample of bond issuances from 1985 to 2009, we find that the adoption of UD laws is positively associated with yield spreads of bonds issued by U.S. firms. Show less
