This paper investigates the determinants of informality (tax evasion in particular) utilizing rich cross-country data of firm-level survey from the World Bank, and hypothesizing that competition is a significant factor determining tax evasion behaviors. Competition pressure is a key stimulus to induce questionable manipulations of tax reporting behaviors. However its effect works at a decreasing speed. It is also hypothesized that business obstacles facing firms such as tax administration and corruption play significant roles in explaining tax evasion. This paper further hypothesizes that firm characteristics such as size, age, ownership are important evasion determinants. Empirical results are found supporting these hypotheses above. The analysis controls for country-level effects, for instance the quality of the legal environment. Industry sectors are also controlled and found significant in explaining corporate tax evasion levels.

This paper explores and delineates the legal environment for the practice of landscape architecture in Utah. The national, state, and local (city and county), codes that apply to landscape architecture and the related professions of architecture, engineering, and land surveying are documented, as is pertinent case law. Figures allow comparisons to be made between the various government levels to demonstrate contradictions and congruencies, as well as the clarity of the ordinances. Major findings include significant differences among the city and county regulations of landscape architecture and the related professions, and weaknesses in the state law for landscape architecture. Major recommendations include the pursuit of a practice law, and other methods of clarifying and increasing the authority of landscape architects in the state.

Nous sommes en train de passer rapidement à un nouvel environnement caractérisé par l’internationalité, la dématérialisation et la célérité. Ces caractéristiques ne sont pas sans effet. Le monde change autour de nous grâce à l’avènement de la technologie et à l’intégration des outils électroniques dans toutes nos activités. L’Internet devient un outil indispensable à utiliser et à intégrer dans nos activités, notamment les activités commerciales. Le commerce international cède de plus en plus la place au commerce électronique. Le développement du phénomène universel de l’Internet et l’émergence du commerce électronique provoquent naturellement des situations conflictuelles à dimension internationale. Face à l’impossibilité de recourir à la justice étatique, le recours au règlement dématérialisé était donc nécessaire, ce qui favorise le développement logique des ODR, notamment l’Arbitrage Électronique. Nonobstant, le recours à ce mode de résolution soulève des problématiques parfois techniques, mais il pose surtout de nombreuses problématiques juridiques, justement à cause de la nature de l’environnement juridique. Surmonter ces problématiques à travers la mise en place d’un environnement favorable au développement de l’Arbitrage Électronique est donc indispensable. Une chose est sûre, si l’Arbitrage Électronique fait appel à l’environnement technique et à l’environnement juridique, et que le processus peut apparaître à première vue complexe, il en est autrement, toutes les problématiques techniques et juridiques traitées ne sont pas insurmontables. / We are moving quickly to a new environment characterized by global dematerialization and celerity. These features are not without effect. The world around us is changing with the advent of technology and the integration of electronic tools in all our activities. The Internet is becoming an indispensable tool to use and integrate in our business, including commercial activities. International trade gives more room to the electronic commerce. The development of the universal phenomenon of the Internet and the emergence of electronic commerce naturally provoke conflicts even to international extend. Faced with the impossibility of using state justice, the use of paperless settlement was necessary, which promotes the logical development of ODR including Electronic Arbitration. Nevertheless, the use of this resolution mode sometimes raises not only technical issues, but many legal ones as well. This is precisely due to the nature of the legal environment. Overcoming these issues through the establishment of an environment fitting the development of Electronic Arbitration is necessary. For sure, if Electronic Arbitration uses technical and legal environment, and though the process may appear complex at first sight, all legal and technical issues dealt with in this thesis are, however, overcome.

This dissertation examines the effect of the legal environment on access to several types of external finance, and on the decision to invest, for the 3 countries that make up the East African Community (EAC). The results suggest that well defined creditor rights are positively correlated with access to bank loans. Strong creditor rights places pressure on firms to keep good quality financial records. More lending takes place in this environment. A good quality legal system also improves access to non-bank finance, namely trade credit and leasing finance. The analysis demonstrates that collateral in the form of machinery and equipment improves access to bank finance. Collateral appears to be of greater importance when legal enforcement costs are relatively low and information asymmetry is more acute. The results also show that the property rights environment is important for investment. However, the protection of property rights has a more meaningful effect on investment in an environment where the costs of corruption are lower and courts are more efficient. Access to bank finance has a significant positive effect on investment. Thus, a legal system that improves the flow of funds from banks to firms promotes growth enhancing activities. Internal sources of finance are also found to be important for investment. It is recommended that strong emphasis is placed on improving the laws protecting the rights of creditors over property pledged as collateral and over information they can obtain from debtors. Debtor rights over assets in their possession should also be strengthened.

Cette thèse étudie le financement obligataire des entreprises. Les résultats soulignent le rôle de l’environnement légal et de la gouvernance. Le premier chapitre démontre le rôle de la protection et l’information des créanciers sur le marché obligataire. Il identifie un impact non homogène entre les firmes. Le second chapitre analyse l’impact d’une émission obligataire sur la valeur d’une entreprise à l’aide d’une méta-analyse. Il souligne les facteurs expliquant des résultats jusqu’alors divergents dans la littérature. Le troisième chapitre se focalise sur le marché des émissions obligataires des entreprises chinoises et met en exergue le rôle de la propriété étatique et managérial sur la valeur créée par une émission obligataire. Enfin, le quatrième chapitre isole un biais religieux des investisseurs professionnels, et contribue à la littérature comportementale s’intéressant à la valeur de l’entreprise. / This dissertation studies the corporate bond market. Results emphasize the role of legal environment and governance. The first chapter demonstrates the role of creditors’ protection and information on the corporate bond market. It identifies a non-homogenous impact across firms. The second chapter uses a meta-analysis to scrutinize the effect of a bond offering on the firm’s value. It stresses the reasons underlying diverging results in the literature so far. The third chapter focuses on the Chinese corporate bond market and highlights the role of state and management ownership on the value created by a bond offering. The fourth chapter isolates a religious bias from professional investors and contributes to the literature on the impact of behavioural biases on the firm’s value.

As more and more individuals express themselves with tattoos and body piercings and push the envelope on what is deemed appropriate in the workplace, employers have an increased need for creation and enforcement of reasonable dress codes and appearance policies. As with any employment policy or practice, an appearance policy must be implemented and enforced without regard to an individual's race, color, gender, national origin, religion, disability, age, or other protected status. A policy governing dress and appearance based on the business needs of an employer that is applied fairly and consistently and does not have a disproportionate effect on any protected class will generally be upheld if challenged in court. By examining some of the more common legal challenges to dress codes and how courts have resolved the disputes, health care managers can avoid many potential problems. This article, the second part of a 3-part examination of dress codes and appearance policies, focuses on the issue of gender under the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Pertinent court cases that provide guidance for employers are addressed.

安隆財報醜聞造成其簽證會計師事務所聲譽受損，有鑑於以往的文獻對於Andersen聲譽受損與其簽證客戶股價關聯之探討，多僅限於美國本土，因此，本研究希望能擴大視野，由全球的角度來探討國際結盟會計師事務所聲譽受損在各地資本市場的外溢效果。本研究將針對世界各國Andersen簽證客戶進行研究，研究對象選取同Bhattacharya, Daouk and Welker(2003)所研究之國家，並扣除無法從Datastream獲取股價資料的簽證客戶，故最後選取34個國家892家公司為研究對象。 本研究旨在透過股價的分析，探討國際結盟會計師事務所聲譽受損對客戶股價的影響，研究結果指出，法律執行力較差、避免負盈餘程度越高、資本市場重要性越大的國家，簽證客戶股價因為國際結盟事務所聲譽受損而遭受股價下跌的機率較高。本研究進一步探討股價下跌幅度與不同地區之法律環境、會計資訊品質與資本市場成熟度間的關係，實證結果均無法支持本文先前的預期，各國股價下跌的幅度與該國法律環境、會計特性以及資本市場規模並沒有系統性的相關連。 / The financial scandal surrounding the collapse of Enron Corporation caused an erosion in the reputation of its auditor, Andersen. In consideration of past research about such article was confined to America only, we extend the field of vision to investigate the spillover effects by examining the cumulative abcdrmal returns of clients of the auditors across 34 different areas. In order to include the CPA-firm clients’ name and price data, we merged the data from Worldscope and Datastream, and our sample was 892 firms across 34 countries. In this paper, we examine the auditor’s clients’ stock price reactions to the deterioration of Andersen’s reputation after its admission that a significant number of documents had been shredded on January 10, 2002. Our results suggest that when news about Andersen’s January 10, 2002 shredding admission was released, the areas with weaker law enforcement, higher degree of the loss avoidance, and more developed financial market are more likely to react negatively to Andersen’s tarnished reputation, but there is no further evidence to show that the magnitude of the respond is associated with the legal environments, the characteristics of accounting earnings, and the development of the financial market.

This final diploma thesis called "Global analysis of the current business-legal environment in the Czech Republic" thoroughly evaluates business-legal environment in the Czech Republic and reveals how it is perceived by small and medium entrepreneurs. This analysis further uncovers and specifies fields where there are deficiencies in the Czech legal system. There is also a short view of the situation in the countries neighboring with the Czech Republic such as Germany, Poland, Austria, Hungary, France and the whole of EU. The topic of EU legislation was not neglected either. These new legal provisions coming from the EU are more and more becoming part of the Czech legal system and have bigger and bigger influence on the Czech entrepreneurs. Businessmen in the Czech Republic still perceive many difficulties related to the state restrictions and regulatory authorities decisions. The situation is especially gravely perceived in case of tax laws, labor laws and the overall complexity and complicatedness of the Czech legislation as a whole. Based on the research that was a part of the research, high level of conservativeness of the small and medium entrepreneurs was proved. Czech businessmen tend to have difficulties adopting new things including laws even if those could have positive impact in the end. It further seems that the Czech businessmen tend to approach their business environment skeptically but not passively. They feel like participating actively in changes in their business environment even thou it often seems impossible.

Multinational corporations (MNCs) encounter intricate challenges as they expand their global presence, which demands strategic decision-making. The selection of an entry mode significantly impacts various aspects of a firm's operations, stakeholder relationships and long-term performance. This thesis focuses on Swedish companies entering the US market to investigate how Internal Factors and Host Country Conditions shape entry mode strategies. The primary objective is to deepen the understanding of interactions between internal firm demands and external conditions when evaluating entry mode choices. The study considers Internal Factors such as dissemination risk, control, and resource commitment, as well as Host Country Conditions including culture, market attractiveness, legal environment, and uncertainty. The key findings highlight a discrepancy between the recommended entry modes in each category, emphasizing the importance for firms to assess the relative significance of each category and prioritize one over the other. This approach enables firms to gain a clearer understanding of how to effectively enter the market.

Emerging markets such as India have witnessed waves of domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions. This historical analysis, which consists of two parts, tests central tenets of resource dependence theory. The first part entails an analysis of the transition in public policy governing corporations between 1991 and 2005. The second part tests hypotheses derived from resource dependence theory relating to a firm’s decision to acquire. The analysis explores the factors that explain why firms engage in mergers and acquisitions by examining three specific policy periods (i.e., 1991-1996, 1997-2001 and 2002-2005). The findings from the historical analysis suggest that firms did not merely react to the conditions (i.e., constraints on capital) in their environment by undertaking merger and acquisition activity, but attempted to alter them as resource dependence theory suggests. Findings from the event history logit model also support resource dependence theory. Overall, the study shows that merger and acquisition activity increased during a period of intense deregulation (i.e., 1991-2005) brought about by the adoption of neo-liberal reforms, change to the multilayer subsidiary form, deregulation of the banking and financial sectors’ and reforms in foreign direct investment and equity markets. During this period of uncertainty, firms controlling more resources in terms of earnings, efficiency and number of subsidiaries were more likely to undertake acquisition activity as they have leverage in organization-environment relationships. The effect of number of subsidiaries on acquisition activity was the most consistent across policy periods’. This dissertation is organized in the following manner: Following the introductory chapter, Chapter II is a historical examination of the three policy periods and includes an analysis of the effect of the political-legal environment on mergers and acquisitions between 1991 and 2005. Chapter III reviews the propositions of resource dependence theory that pertain to organizational change and presents research hypotheses related to mergers and acquisitions. Chapter IV describes the data, measurement and methodology employed in the quantitative analysis. Chapter V presents the findings from the quantitative analysis and discusses the results. The concluding chapter (Chapter VI) includes a presentation of the theoretical findings and discussion of the limitations and scope of the study.