The last two decades have witnessed the growth of new forms of entrepreneurial cooperation such as dynamic networks like virtual enterprises and enterprise pools. These business forms are often hybrid, having elements of both contract-based organizations and corporate forms, in particular partnership. This book examines the relative utility of contract and partnership law in fostering and maintaining these emerging business models, focusing on dynamic networks. The book analyses how dynamic networks are organized and set up through, very often, collaborative contracts and how the behaviour of their member firms is regulated. Good faith and fair dealing as a behavioural criterion in contractual and partnership relations, is an important theme of this work. The background and preconditions for the emergence and growth of such business forms is also investigated. The book contains case studies of such networks from different countries in particular Germany, Austria, Switzerland, England and Norway. It examines relevant legal rules in a number of jurisdictions such as England, Norway, Germany, Italy, France and the US. This detailed book will appeal to postgraduate students and academics in the fields of contract law, comparative law, partnership law and business/commercial law. Academics in other disciplines such as economics, sociology and business management will also find much to interest them in this study.

This book draws together themes in business model developments in relation to decentralised business models (DBMs), sometimes referred to as the ‘sharing’ economy, to systematically analyse the challenges to corporate and organisational law and governance. DBMs include business networks, the global supply chain, public–private partnerships, the platform economy and blockchain-based enterprises. The law of organisational forms and governance has been slow in responding to changes, and reliance has been placed on innovations in contract law to support the business model developments. The authors argue that the law of organisations and governance can respond to changes in the phenomenon of decentralised business models driven by transformative technology and new socio-economic dynamics. They argue that principles underlying the law of organisations and governance, such as corporate governance, are crucial to constituting, facilitating and enabling reciprocality, mutuality, governance and redress in relation to these business models, the wealth-creation of which subscribes to neither a firm nor market system, is neither hierarchical nor totally decentralised, and incorporates socio-economic elements that are often enmeshed with incentives and relations. Of interest to academics, policymakers and legal practitioners, this book offers proposals for new thinking in the law of organisation and governance to advance the possibilities of a new socio-economic future.

This book analyses innovations of structuring corporate groups and regulatory limitations of group transparency and proposes Systems Thinking as solution.

Business networks are an important economic phenomenon of increasing practical importance throughout Europe. This volume examines business networks from an interdisciplinary perspective, with many contributions dealing with a certain form of business network, the so-called cooperative or non-hierarchical. With regard to this specific form of cooperation the volume presents new economic findings, proposes a definition and discusses the governance structure of those networks.Moreover, this book explores whether the research results can also be applied to hierarchical, centralized business networks. With medium-sized companies and all the more with large companies, business networks also pose the question of the compatibility with anti-trust law. This collection dedicates three contributions to this important question. They are complemented by chapters on liability of the network and its members towards third parties and contributions discussing duties of loyalty and the interpretation of agreements. Drawing on new research from Italy, Spain, Germany and Norway, this work illustrates the European legal perspective on business networks.

This note explores the interactions between new technologies with key areas of commercial law and potential legal changes to respond to new developments in technology and businesses. Inspired by the Bali Fintech Agenda, this note argues that country authorities need to closely examine the adequacy of their legal frameworks to accommodate the use of new technologies and implement necessary legal reform so as to reap the benefits of fintech while mitigating risks. Given the cross-border nature of new technologies, international cooperation among all relevant stakeholders is critical. The note is structured as follows: Section II describes the relations between technology, business, and law, Section III discusses the nature and functions of commercial law; Section IV provides a brief overview of developments in fintech; Section V examines the interaction between technology and commercial law; and Section VI concludes with a preliminary agenda for legal reform to accommodate the use of new technologies.

In Government Cloud Procurement, Kevin McGillivray explores the question of whether governments can adopt cloud computing services and still meet their legal requirements and other obligations to citizens. The book focuses on the interplay between the technical properties of cloud computing services and the complex legal requirements applicable to cloud adoption and use. The legal issues evaluated include data privacy law (GDPR and the US regime), jurisdictional issues, contracts, and transnational private law approaches to addressing legal requirements. McGillivray also addresses the unique position of governments when they outsource core aspects of their information and communications technology to cloud service providers. His analysis is supported by extensive research examining actual cloud contracts obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests. With the demand for cloud computing on the rise, this study fills a gap in legal literature and offers guidance to organizations considering cloud computing.

This book explores current issues regarding the regulation of various economic sectors, theoretically and empirically, discussing both neoclassical and behavioural economics approaches to regulation. Regulation has become one of the main determinants of modern economies, and virtually every sector is subject to general laws and regulations as well as specific rules and standards. A traditional argument to justify regulatory interventions is the promotion of public interests. Fixing markets that lack competition, balancing information asymmetries, internalising externalities, mitigating systemic risks, and protecting consumers from irrational behaviour are frequently invoked to complement the invisible hand of the market with the visible hand of the state.However, regulations can lead to unintended consequences, and serve the interests of powerful private interest groups rather than the public interest and social welfare. In addition, new insights from behavioural economics question the traditional regulatory approaches, most prominently in attitudes towards consumers. Furthermore, digitalisation and technological innovation in general present new challenges in terms of both the type of regulation and the regulatory process.Part I of this book discusses various theoretical approaches to the economic analysis of regulations, while Part II looks at specific applications of the law and economics of regulation.