Women, Business and the Law 2016

How do 173 countries across the globe, including the United States, compare in terms of legal barriers to women's employment and business activity?  The latest Women, Business and the Law report by the World Bank Group provides national comparisons over a wide range of related areas, from restrictions on women in establishing credit, making contracts, and holding certain jobs, to parental leave laws and the criminalization of domestic violence. Released this month, "Women, Business and the Law 2016: Getting to Equal" is an excellent source for comparative law research in business, economic development, and women and the law. Both the full report and a summary of key findings are available here.

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Pom Wonderful Wins

It’s not every day that the U.S. Supreme Court releases an opinion that may increase business competition while also protecting consumers from misleading product labels.  Nor is it every day that this Court issues an opinion joined by every judge taking part in the decision, although it deals with business practices and consumer protection.  But last Thursday, when the Court decided Pom Wonderful LLC v. Coca-Cola Co., was one of those days.

POM Wonderful LLC, which produces and sells a pomegranate-blueberry juice blend, had sued Coca-Cola Company under the Lanham Act (15 U.S.C. Section 1125), claiming that Coca Cola's labeling of its competing Minute Maid juice blend product deceived consumers into believing the product contained primarily pomegranate and blueberry juice.  Its prominent display of "POMEGRANATE BLUEBERRY" on two separate lines on the front label, while the product actually contained 99.4% apple and grape juices and only 0.3% pomegranate juice and 0.2 % blueberry juice, had injured POM Wonderful in this competitive sales market.  Pom Wonderful sought both damages and injunctive relief. 

Coca Cola tried to counter with the argument that only the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. Sections 321(f) and 331)) and its beverage labeling regulations provided by the Food and Drug Administration control beverage labeling, and preclude such suits under the Lanham Act.  But the Supreme Court wasn't buying it.  This was not a preemption case about a state labeling law, the Court stated, but a case of two federal laws that "complement each other in the federal regulation of misleading labels."  Pom Wonderful's suit will now go forward in the lower courts.

SCOTUSblog's analysis of the decision is here. 

            

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Business Environment Snapshots

The World Bank has combined its own data with that of other publishers to produce Business Environment Snapshots, a free internet resource providing a measurement and analysis of the business climate in 183 countries (or,"economies"), with links to the text of selected business-related laws and regulations. In addition to key data, including each country's rankings on criteria such as political risk, corruption, and Institutional Investor's country credit ratings, each snapshot includes an "Analytical Work" section of World Bank reports on the country published in the last five years.

For law students interested in locating statutes and regulations from Asian, African, South and Central American, Middle Eastern, or Eastern European nations, this is a resource not to be overlooked. The "Legislation" section draws from, and links to, World Bank's Doing Business Law Library, a free collection of business-related legislation from official sources where available (in English and other languages), along with some unofficial English translations.    

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The Human Capital Report

This month saw the release of the Human Capital Report, ranking the major nations of the world on how well they are leveraging their human capital to achieve competitive, productive economies.  Produced by the World Economic Forum, an independent, nonpartisan international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging business and other world leaders, the Human Capital Report is free to explore and download here.  It ranks 122 major countries based on 51 indicators spread over four "pillars" of a productive economy:  health and wellness; education; workforce and employment; and the "enabling environment", including such factors as infrastructure and the legal framework. The United States is ranked 16th overall, getting high marks for the capability of our workforce but ranking a disappointing 43rd in the "health and wellness" category, brought down in part by our propensity to stress, obesity, and related illnesses.  Check out the individual country profiles and other useful data for research projects, personal interest, or business planning.    

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Schumpeter Blog Talks Business

Are you interested in business, management, finance and entrepreneurship?  Or do you need to get up to speed on the global corporate picture for that summer job?  A good place for well-chosen and succinct posts covering corporate and business news and trends is Schumpeter, the business and management blog of The Economist.  Named after Joseph Schumpeter, an influential economist praised at its launch as a "champion of innovation and entrepreneurship," the Schumpeter blog offers intelligent takes on major corporate giants, on company finance, failures, and public relations, and on technology, hot products, and industry-related issues of the day.  All posts are written by Economist correspondents from around the world, providing an on-the-scene as well as a global perspective on developments.  Non-subscribers to The Economist can register to view up to six articles per week.

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Business Source Premier

Most law students know that law journal articles are available on Lexis, Westlaw, and perhaps HeinOnline and some other legal databases. But where do you turn when you need scholarly and other journal articles from the world of business, economics, finance, marketing and advertising, human resources or communications? One of the best databases for for business and business-related interdisciplinary articles is Business Source Premier. Available to all Hofstra students and faculty, this database includes full text articles from more than 2200 journals, with coverage back to 1965.

To access Business Source Premier from the Law Library web site, click on "Commercial and Corporate Law" in the Online Resources Subject List. Then select "Business Databases (Axinn)." You will be redirected to the Hofstra portal. After logging into the network, select "Accounting/Business/Finance/Marketing" and click on Business Source Premier. If you need help searching business sources, ask one of my favorite reference librarians.
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Investopedia

Investopedia is a good starting point for research on finance and company information. The online dictionary will help you understand business and financial terminology (like asset swap or mirror fund) and the tutorials help you get background on specific topics.



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