The Economics of Harmonisation: Implications for Reform of Commercial Law and Regulation in New Zealand
This paper provides an economic assessment of the costs and benefits of harmonising New Zealand's commercial laws and regulations with those in Australia or with an OECD norm. It argues that unless the definition of harmonisation is limited to mutual recognition the economics literature surveyed does not support a general presumption in favour of harmonisation of commercial laws.The absence of any presumption in favour of harmonisation is based on the infeasibility of full harmonisation while New Zealand maintains political independence and on the overall requirement for an assessment of the efficiency of any law in the context of the New Zealand economy
Regulatory competition or regulatory harmonization? A silly question?
The debate over 'competition versus harmonization' in regulatory policy often confuses the pertinent alternatives. This comment argues that neither pure regulatory competition nor complete regulatory harmonization is desirable or feasible where important international cross-border effects of regulation arise. Instead, a considerable degree of cooperation is almost always needed, yet non-homogeneity of regulatory policies is almost always desirable as well. This proposition holds virtually regardless of the subject matter of regulation.
Liquidity, Stock Markets, and Market Makers
0 One of the great features of that legal creature we call the corporation is how readily it facilitates transferring ownership in a business. Perhaps the most impressive consequence of that feature has been the development of organized stock markets, in which people can transfer their ownership in corporations without any direct negotiation or contact with the buyer or seller on the other side of the transaction.