A series of China’s product safety scandals have recently aroused global concerns over the business ethics and corporate social responsibility (CSR) in China. General public believe that companies have a responsibility towards the society that goes beyond their obligation of maximizing profits. The aims of this research are to understand the development of CSR in China over the past few years and measure the effects of CSR on firm performance by examining the standalone CSR reports for the period 2008-2009. The latest data indicate that Chinese companies have been making progress in their CSR practices. The results of this study show that the prior financial performance is positively associated with CSR disclosure and the CSR disclosure has a significant and positive effect on the firm financial performance in the next year.

Resale Price Maintenance (RPM) is a contentious topic in economic policy. In effect, it allows manufacturers and suppliers to impose price fixing policies upon their distributors and retailers. While RPM was per se illegal as decided in Dr. Miles in 1911, various Supreme Court decisions afterwards weakened the ability of plaintiffs to hold companies liable for violating antitrust laws. As a result of the Leegin decision in 2007, Dr. Miles was overturned and RPM cases were to ruled to be found illegal on a rule of reason basis, further adding to the difficulty of the plaintiff's burden of proof. However, the economic analysis that the Supreme Court employed in reaching this decision failed to account for the full consequences and drawbacks under RPM, in addition to placing an undue emphasis on procompetitive assumptions supporting the use of RPM. Additionally, the Supreme Court may have overstepped its responsibilities and powers with respect to Congress. Nevertheless, the Leegin decision is not necessarily binding at the state level, whereas Congress still possesses the means to override the decision through subsequent legislation.

We seem to hold corporations to an impossible standard. We call for profit maximization, but at the same time want to place strict limits on the methods corporations may use to obtain them. In this thesis, I explore two popular theories of the corporation: stakeholder theory and shareholder theory. I examine the degree to which each theory explains the corporation as it exists today, as defined in the law and through its behavior, but also the theories‘ normative appeal. I conclude by positing what I find to be the best normative account of the corporation: a theory of how we should structure the corporation in the United States so it is the most morally-defensible.

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The North American Free Trade Agreement continues to be a controversial topic, and with the impending implementation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement, NAFTA has been a heavily discussed issue during the 2016 presidential campaign. Past research has critically assessed the extent to which NAFTA delivered on promises made by its lobbyists to improve economic welfare and stimulate growth in the North American markets, via trade and investment. These studies explain that NAFTA has helped to boost intra-regional trade and investment flows in North America, but has fallen short on any substantial improvements in welfare and deeper regional economic integration. However, researchers have found evidence for convergence among North American equity markets, and argue that this is generated by NAFTA. Using time series data from 1990 to 2007, this study builds on these conclusions to examine how NAFTA impacted equity markets in the North American region. I look at returns to each major stock index for Mexico, the U.S. and Canada, and find evidence that returns on these indexes improve in the post-NAFTA period for Mexico and the U.S., but not for Canada. Additionally, there is evidence to suggest that exports and FDI are the primary drivers for this improvement in stock returns.

The ability of outsiders to gain controlling interest in a firm has a large impact on managerial behavior. This threat has not been wielded in Indian corporations for the most part in spite of there being no direct regulatory hurdles in the execution of the same. This paper seeks to determine the reasons behind the lack of hostile takeover bids in India, as well as analyze the effect on corporate governance. The scrutiny of the Indian corporate sphere leads us to believe that corporate governance is in the process of being codified, but there are numerous motivations already in place to incentivize good managerial behavior, other than the threat of hostile takeover bids.

The purpose of this paper is two-fold. The first goal is to qualitatively explore what ethics is and how companies can create a lasting culture of ethics. I explore the meanings of ethics, corporate ethics, and the responsibilities that companies have to shareholders and the public. The second goal is to demonstrate how a culture of ethics can help to prevent product recalls by creating a control environment that catches potentially dangerous products before they leave the facility. This is achieved through an analysis of three case studies: 1) Johnson & Johnson’s response to the Chicago Tylenol Murders of 1982, 2) Peanut Corporation of America’s response to its peanut butter recalls in 2009, and 3) Toyota Motor Corp’s response to the recalls of 2009-2011. The paper concludes by discussing trends in product safety over the last forty years and explaining why business ethics are an economic imperative, not just in preventing product recalls but also in protecting consumers.

As globalization increases at a fast pace, more and more companies are diversifying their presence in foreign capital markets to gain access to capital. Today, strong corporate governance is an important element to a company’s long-term success. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, Cadbury Report and King Report from the US, UK and South Africa provide recommendations for good corporate governance. Corporate governance practices and guidelines vary greatly from country to country because of differences in economic, culture, and other factors. This study examines ten companies across different regions around the world analyzing each company’s board structure, committee structure and code of ethics. Results show that the prevalence of concentrated ownerships through family and group dynamics in Asian and Latin American companies convey the need for more independent directors in the board and committees to protect the interests of minority shareholders. European companies are leading the way in incorporating sustainability as part of corporate governance. As the world becomes more interdependent, successful corporate governance requires companies to adopt an inclusive approach to economic, social and environmental issues. Internalizing these issues as part of business strategy are essential for companies to be profitable, sustainable and respected in the future.

Ideally, land use policies correct for negative externalities. However, the barriers they impose on individuals and communities have serious implications. Existing studies on this topic focus on singular, specific areas because land regulation is determined at the local level and varies extensively across the nation. Furthermore, current housing literature focuses on the “norm” of single family housing. This ignores the changing attitudes toward different types of dwellings. My study examines local regulatory environments across the nation by using Gyourko et al. 2008’s Wharton Residential Land Use Regulation Index, which develops a comparative scale for the otherwise impossibly varied regulatory environments. I also use micro data from the American Community Survey to see individual housing choices. Then, with a custom-made dataset from these two sources, I use empirical regression analysis to study the effects of land use regulation on people’s housing decisions, specifically the choice between a single-family house and a multi-family apartment complex. My results show that more restrictive regulation makes a person more likely to rent their home as well as occupy a multi-family apartment complex as opposed to a single-family home.