Jarrell (J Law Econ 21:269–295, 1978) found that electricity prices fell more slowly in states that adopted state regulation before 1917, suggesting that regulators were “captured” by the interests of the regulated electric utilities. An alternative explanation is that state regulation more credibly protected specialized utility assets from regulatory opportunism than did the municipal franchis...

OBJECTIVES This study explored and measured the presence, content and growth of municipal no-smoking by-laws and examined factors related to differences in by-law breadth and comprehensiveness. METHODS By-laws from each jurisdiction across Ontario were collected and scored relative to their breadth and restrictiveness using the Asbridge-O'Grady Index. Kruskal-Wallis analysis of variance was u...

This article discusses the organisational and institutional model of municipal company in the provision of urban infrastructure services in Portugal. The law recently enacted which defined the legal regime for the local business sector, as well as the growing awareness that the new public management models represent great advantages in comparison with the bureaucratic ones that characterise the...

EU Landfill Directive (1999/31/EC) requires the gradual reduction of biodegradable municipal waste going to landfills. In this context, three mechanical-biological treatments (MBT) plants were designed and installed progressively in Barcelona Metropolitan Area (Catalonia, NE Spain) during 2000s. These facilities were intended to solve the problem of municipal wastes generated in this region (Ta...

General principles of law are a primary mechanism for “gap-filling” in international criminal law. However, their interpretation by tribunals has been fitful, contradictory, and misguided. Given that general principles have been used to settle crucial legal issues that affect the rights of the accused, the confusion concerning their application threatens the legitimacy of international criminal...