Search results

To explain SEC Division of Corporation Finance Staff Legal Bulletin No. 14H (SLB 14H), which provides interpretive advice on how the Staff will treat shareholder proposals under the “directly conflicts” and “ordinary business” exclusions under Rule 14a-8.

Explains Rule 14-8 concerning the inclusion of shareholder proposals in a company’s proxy materials, Rule 14a-8(i)(9) on substantive bases for exclusion of shareholder proposals, guidance from SLB 14H on shareholder proposals that do and do not directly conflict with company proposals, Staff guidance prior to SLB 14H, the “ordinary business” exclusion under Rule 14a-8(i)(7), and how SEC staff guidance differs from the majority opinion in Trinity Wall Street v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. on the ordinary business exclusion.

The SEC Staff’s new standard for conflicting proposals is likely to make it more difficult for companies to exclude a shareholder proposal that is different from a management proposal if the two proposals are not “mutually exclusive”. Staff guidance also states that companies may not exclude proposals focusing on a significant policy issue under the ordinary business exclusion if “the proposals would transcend the day-to-day business matters and raise policy issues so significant that it would be appropriate for a shareholder vote”.

Expert guidance from experienced securities and financial services lawyers.

Investigates the differences in protocols between arbitral tribunals and courts, with particular emphasis on US, Greek and English law. Gives examples of each country and its way of using the law in specific circumstances, and shows the variations therein. Sums up that arbitration is much the better way to gok as it avoids delays and expenses, plus the vexation/frustration of normal litigation. Concludes that the US and Greek constitutions and common law tradition in England appear to allow involved parties to choose their own judge, who can thus be an arbitrator. Discusses e‐commerce and speculates on this for the future.

The Equal Pay Act 1970 (which came into operation on 29 December 1975) provides for an “equality clause” to be written into all contracts of employment. S.1(2) (a) of the 1970 Act (which has been amended by the Sex Discrimination Act 1975) provides:

Purpose – The purpose of this chapter is to highlight the current limitations in compensating the civilian victims of armed conflicts and to examine the possibility of extending this practice.

Methodology/approach – The first half of the chapter employs legal and political analysis of the current framework of international law and the practice of the United States. The latter half of the chapter examines the literature on theory of liability in economics and philosophy.

Findings – The framework of international law, which does not require compensation for the victims of lawful attacks, is increasingly at odds with the current trend in which military force is used by a powerful state against a much weaker state on the grounds that the local population would benefit from the operation. The system developed by the United States is the most extensive and can form a model for other states and international institutions. Keating's analysis of enterprise liability can be applied to compensation of victims in military operations that are deemed to be beneficial to the population. Economic analysis, on contrary, suggests that compensation of civilian victims has minimal effect on the level of risks.

Originality/value – This chapter makes a unique contribution by applying theory of liability to a situation that widely diverges from the context in which the theory has developed. It critically examines the current practice and proposes a morally preferable and economically sustainable alternative model.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between ethnic diversity, social exclusion and institutional quality of Pakistan. Pakistan is enlisted among those countries that are suffering from bad institutional quality, which may be due to the less economic growth along with multifarious ethnic problems, higher misery and social exclusion. This study is an attempt of how ethnic diversity and social exclusion are encompassed to affect the institutional quality.

This study covers time series data from 1970 to 2015 and uses autoregressive distributed lags modeling approach to explore the underlying nexus among variables.

The finding of this study reveals that ethnic diversity and social exclusion are the enormous obstacles and deteriorate the institutional quality of Pakistan. In case of Pakistan, ethnic diversity is playing a fundamental role in the deterioration of institutional quality. Ethnic diversity has adverse effect on institutional quality which leads to hamper the economic prosperity; therefore, it has to be managed in efficient way by establishing a dense social network needed for growth promotion. This study also shows that socially excluded people are more involved in breaking the institutional rules (formal and informal) because they are not treated equal in society in all of aspects.

This study suggests that governments should play a vital role in creating secure and peaceful society through strong institutional quality and shaping the economic life of a country in a variety of ways such as to promote society toward more cohesiveness.

This study fills a significant gap in the literature as there is limited research on ethnic diversity and social exclusion in relation with institutional quality of Pakistan.

Structural violence (SV) is related to the uneven distribution of resources which then leads to social exclusion and marginalisation of people. Johan Galtung (1969) also refers to it as social injustice and it is characterised by unequal access to education, health, water, food, shelter and other basic services. SV manifests itself through different forms of exclusion supported through both public and private institutions. Without support to address economic and educational opportunities, Zimbabwean youth continue to experience SV and high levels of social inequality (Chimucheka, 2012). Conflict transformation (CT) can help address SV since it provides processes and ways to build something desired thus altering the manifestation of the conflict (Waldman, 2009). CT involves action between parties that leads to both social change and justice (M. Evans, 2016). Social entrepreneurship (SE) can be used as a CT tool because it (i) identifies an unjust equilibrium that perpetuates exclusion and marginalisation, (ii) identifies opportunities and innovatively challenges the status quo to add social value and (iii) provides a better future for the marginalised communities through creating a new and stable alternative equilibrium (Baporikar, 2016). This chapter discusses the SV transformation model which the author tested to address the disparities faced by youth in an urban area in Zimbabwe. The action research, which took place between January and May 2017, was carried out in combination with capacity building, social support systems and community participation to address some of the SV indicators prevalent in the community. Whilst SE showed great potential in tackling SV in the community study, findings also reveal contestations between theory and practice. Some of the barriers identified in the field include the community’s failure to self-organise, lack of financial resources and buy-in from the local government. Future research could test the model in multiple settings and over longer periods to see its effectiveness.

This paper aims to study the use of photos in corporate sustainability reports (CSRs) as a means to gain legitimacy concerning Colombian post-conflict representations.

From a critical perspective based on legitimacy theory and political economy theory, and using visual semiotics and critical discourse analysis, this paper examines the use of photographs in sustainability reports as a mechanism to account for corporate actions regarding peace in Colombia. This paper relies on 121 pictures from 30 CSRs.

The analysis shows that companies are gaining legitimacy by referring to post-conflict through visual forms. Nonetheless, the structural conditions that caused the Colombian conflict are still present. Sustainability reporting that includes peace action representations becomes a control and subordination mechanism to reproduce existing power relations in the Colombian social order. Indeed, the generation of opportunities for civilians and ex-combatants, victims reparation, security and reconciliation remains unresolved structural issues. Hence, the use of corporate economic resources and their strategic visual representation in reports is just one business way of representing firms as aligned with government initiatives to obtain tax incentives.

This study is centered on Colombian CSRs for the period 2016-2017; however, 2017 reports by some companies have not yet been published. This study also explored the messages contained in the images that include people. Images that do not depict persons were not examined.

This study provides evidence on visual representations of corporate peace actions aimed at gaining corporate legitimacy. Furthermore, this research examines a unique scenario that promoted more significant corporate social participation, following the signing of the peace agreements between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia, Ejército del Pueblo).

The purpose of this study is to examine the lasting effect of reproductive behaviour on career cycles for women. Women are the main bearers of population reproduction and family division of labour and a source of innovation for social and economic construction. However, few studies have used a comprehensive theoretical framework to research why female employees suffer from employment exclusion (EE) after multiple births. Therefore, structured equation modelling is used to test the degree of fit between the theoretical model and the data, to verify whether the hypotheses are valid and then make an appropriate interpretation of the theoretical model.

The paper focusses on working mothers with two or more children and is based on questionnaire surveys, with 306 pieces of primary data obtained. This paper constructed the chained mediation model on the theoretical basis of the conservation of resources theory to examine and analyse the mechanisms of family–work conflict (FWC) and human capital depreciation (HCD) on EE.

Empirical results suggested that FWC has a significant positive impact on EE, while HCD does not. Chain mediation variables of family orientation (FO) and work engagement (WE) mediated the relationship between FWC and EE significantly, as well as between HCD and EE. Each antecedent positively predicted FO and, through FO, indirectly affected WE, then indirectly affected EE.

In the context of fertility policy adjustment and population structural imbalance, research from the perspective of females may better reflect reality and deepen understanding of EE to avoid it.

Frist, relevant studies mostly study the factors affect in women’s equal employment from the macro levels, and focus on qualitative research, and lack sufficient empirical analysis. Second, this study locates the research object in the group of working mothers with two or more children. The focus of the research objects makes the research conclusions help to improve the work dilemma of special groups. Third, this study has opened up the “black box” between employees’ individual resources and work attitudes and behavior tendencies. Fourth, this study expands the possible outcome variables of FWC.