This study is an examination of how English courts have approached, or are likely to approach - and therefore, the effectiveness of - attempts by the parties to oil and gas contracts to allocate risks arising from the activities which form the subject matter of their respective contracts inter se. The study utilises petroleum industry standard form offshore drilling contracts in the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States of America as the context for this analysis, and examines the risks associated with drilling and other incidental operations, in the light of catastrophic events such as the Macondo disaster in the Gulf of Mexico and the Montara disaster in the Timor Sea. Drawing from the Economic Theory of Law espoused by Richard Posner, which correlates market behaviour, resource allocation and the legal system, and so conceptualises risk from a cost and utility perspective, the study will show that it is actually the economic consequences of the occurrence of an event that are being allocated, and that the entire notion of risk allocation is a determination of how the economic cost of the occurrence of the particular consequence will be borne by the parties to the contract. The study will conclude with a comparative analysis of risk allocation in the different model contracts, and an opinion on the success/effectiveness of the model contracts, as tools used by parties for risk allocation inter se, in response to the challenges created by legislative and judicial intervention. Justification for this opinion will be given, with reference to relevant case law and statutes in the different jurisdictions. Recommendations will be made on how the risk allocation structure can be improved, either by reference to other approaches the parties could adopt, or by clarifying ambiguities in the current approach (where applicable), and proposing a balance in the instances in which, from the study's perspective, the allocation formula is skewed, either due to the imbalance of power between the parties or by the interference of external forces such as the courts and legislature.

This study examined The Margin Protection Program for Dairy’s impact on the “effective margins” or margins realized by dairy producers in various regions. Each selected margin and percentage of production history offered by the national policy was analyzed in a forecasting, national and regional manner. Couplet margins were simulated for fifteen regions from 2017 through 2020. Five scenarios were analyzed for the change in MPP’s effects under a 15%, 10%, and 5% drop in the price of milk as well as a 50% increase in the price of corn and a scenario where milk decreases 15% while corn prices simultaneously increases 25%. The results demonstrate that more than half of the regions have higher probabilities of triggering indemnities at every coverage level when compared to the US, MPP margin. Margins change in response to the policy effects, where lower coverage levels experience margin increase, and higher coverage levels experience margin decrease. In the US, MPP margin, risk reduction is observed at every coverage level. The program was found to decrease risk at most coverage levels, where higher shocks to the margin increased the protection offered by the program’s effects.

One of the ways a man has to provide his own subsistence is through work. In the context of the rural area, the Brazilian Law regulated the activity of the agriculture worker by the Law nº 5889, of June 8th, 1973 and by the Decree nº 73626 of February 12th, 1974. Later on, in 1988, in the Federal Constitution, the 7th article equates the rural worker to the urban one in terms of rights. The place where the worker exercises his job may present risks to his physical and psychological integrity. Moreover, the risky attitudes he performs can cause accidents. The accidents at work are directly connected to the activities developed by the human being in order to survive. Since the Stone Age, out of survival, the human beings have created tools in order to make their activities easier. The risks of accident grew significantly after the Industrial Revolution, in the XVIII century. Recently, the exposure of the workers to risks has increased, and so have the number of accident-type; accident-path and diseases related to the working activity. As a consequence of this increase in the number of accidents, the improvement in the access to justice and the worker s awareness, several judicial demands appeared aiming at the repayment of the material, moral or aesthetical damages caused. Thus, this study aims at identifying the main occupational accidents and diseases resulting from work in the rural environment and analyzed the Labor Judicial impacts (Working Claims or Indemnity Claims) and the criteria adopted by the First Instance judges and comparing them to the decisions of the Regional Labor Courts, in the grounding given to the decisions and on the values or indemnities established for material damage (emerging damage and loss of profit), moral damage and aesthetical damage. In order to obtain the data required, we conducted researches in the Labor Departments and in the Regional Labor Courts in eight Brazilian states chosen for being more agriculture oriented. It was concluded that there is a set of criteria for the grounding of material damage. For moral and aesthetical damage the grounding is similar; however, there is divergence in the arbitration of quantum. / Uma das formas do homem prover a sua subsistência é o trabalho. No âmbito rural o direito brasileiro regulou a atividade do trabalhador, inicialmente pela Lei nº 5.889, de 8 de junho de 1973, e pelo Decreto nº 73.626, de 12 de fevereiro de 1974. Mais tarde, em 1988, a Constituição Federal, no seu art. 7º equipara em direitos o trabalhador rural ao urbano. O meio onde o trabalhador exerce suas atividades pode apresentar riscos à sua integridade física e psicológica. Também as atitudes de risco provocadas por ele próprio podem gerar riscos. Os acidentes de trabalho estão diretamente ligados às atividades desenvolvidas pelos seres humanos para sobreviver. Desde a Idade da Pedra, pela necessidade de sobrevivência, os seres humanos passaram a criar ferramentas para facilitar suas atividades. Os riscos de acidentes cresceram a partir da Revolução Industrial, no século XVIII. Nos últimos anos a exposição dos trabalhadores aos riscos aumentou, assim como o número de acidentes-tipo, de acidentes-trajeto e as doenças do trabalho. Em consequência deste incremento nos acidentes, melhoria do acesso à justiça e a conscientização do trabalhador surgiram demandas judiciais visando ao ressarcimento para o dano material, dano moral e dano estético. Sendo assim, o presente estudo tem como objetivo identificar os principais acidentes e as doenças ocupacionais decorrentes do trabalho no meio ambiente rural e analisar os impactos judiciais trabalhistas (Reclamatórias Trabalhistas ou Ações Indenizatórias) e os critérios adotados pelos juízes de Primeiro Grau, comparando-os com as decisões dos Tribunais Regionais do Trabalho, na fundamentação das decisões e na fixação dos valores das indenizações por dano material (dano emergente e lucro cessante), dano moral e dano estético. Para a obtenção dos dados foram realizadas pesquisas nas jurisprudências das Varas de Trabalho e nos Tribunais Regionais do Trabalho em oito estados brasileiros, escolhidos pela vocação para a agricultura. Constatou-se, que existe certa unidade de critério para a fundamentação do dano material. Para o dano moral e para o dano estético, a fundamentação é semelhante, porém, com divergência no arbitramento do quantum.

Ce travail a interrogé les relations entre la victoire, la récompense et le vainqueur, dans les concours sportifs, en Grèce ancienne, du VIIIe s. av. J.-C. jusqu’à la prise de Corinthe par Mummius. Durant tous ces siècles, les concours, les récompenses et la place du vainqueur dans la cité ont connu des évolutions. Outre l’augmentation du nombre de rencontres et la constitution de la période, les récompenses ont aussi varié tant dans leur nature que dans leur signification. Nous avons étudié les rapports entre les trois termes de notre sujet selon trois perspectives : établir la victoire pour proclamer le vainqueur. Différents moyens sont alors lentement expérimentés, de la constitution d’un jury à l’équipement des lieux et à l’autopsis de la victoire, en passant par l’ouverture de nouvelles épreuves et catégories, tant humaines qu’animales. Puis comment la récompense et sa remise transforment l’athlète vainqueur sur le lieu même de son succès. A la cérémonie de proclamation et de couronnement dans le sanctuaire succèdent, dans un temps plus ou moins long, la mise en image et en mots. La victoire acquise et affirmée, la récompense reçue lui confèrent alors un statut nouveau et peuvent donner lieu à un enrichissement personnel. Dans une troisième partie nous avons analysé la relation entre l’athlète vainqueur et la cité de ses pères, selon trois axes : le premier met en évidence la rivalité entre certaines cités pour obtenir la gloire d’une proclamation. Le retour de l’athlète donne lieu à des cérémonies variées selon qu’elles sont familiales ou civiques. Enfin, nous avons confronté l’image négative transmise par certaines de nos sources à la carrière de quelques vainqueurs. / This PhD assessed the relations between victory, reward and victor in sport contests, both athletics and equestrianism, in Ancient Greece, from the 8.th century B.C. to the seizure of Corinth by Mummius. During all these centuries, increasing numbers of contests and rewards developed modifying the victor’s position in the city. By the way, cities organizing new contests, the « periodos » was established (the circuit of the Big Four Contests,) and the kind of rewards moved on the one hand to crowns and on the other to prizes. At the same time, the meaning of reward changed. We first examined the links between the three terms from three standpoints : first, reward and victor mean that victory in a contest is publicly set. Various means have been slowly tested to assert it, from building up the jury to sports facilities and victory autopsis, including new age groups or events, for humans as well as animals. Then we studied how reward and prize-giving change the athlete’s position on the spot of his victory. After he has been proclaimed and crowned in the sanctuary of the contests, the victor might publicly be praised or portrayed, even later on. Victory and reward gained give him a new position and could make him richer.

Despite the potential benefits of larger datasets for crop insurance ratings, pooling yields with similar distributions is not a common practice. The current USDA-RMA county insurance ratings do not consider information across state lines, a politically driven assumption that ignores a wealth of climate and agronomic evidence suggesting that growing regions are not constrained by state boundaries. We test the appropriateness of this assumption, and provide empirical grounds for benefits of pooling datasets. We find evidence in favor of pooling across state lines, with poolable counties sometimes being as far as 2,500 miles apart. An out-of-sample performance exercise suggests our proposed pooling framework out-performs a no-pooling alternative, and supports the hypothesis that economic losses should be expected as a result of not adopting our pooling framework. Our findings have strong empirical and policy implications for accurate modeling of yield distributions and vis-à-vis the rating of crop insurance products.