Law and Corporate Finance

by Frank B. Cross, Robert A. Prentice

In this thorough and enlightening book, the authors examine the role of law in developing the large financial markets necessary for national economic success. They discuss the basic foundational law of contracts, property and tort, corporate law, and securities law, providing both a broad theoretical and empirical case for its value in financial markets. The book begins with an historical analysis of the law's development, reviewing the legal governance of corporate finance with an emphasis on the development of US securities law in the twentieth century. Also provided is an extensive empirical analysis of the law's effect. A unique benefit of the book is its integration of all the relevant aspects, rather than examining them in isolation. Chapters cover the role of law in corporate finance, behavioral and empirical analyses, as well as current controversies in law and corporate finance. Ultimately, the book is a defense of the economic value of the law in the United States and throughout the world. Students and scholars of business and law will find much of interest in the authors' comprehensive study of the rule of law in today's financial markets.

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Frank Bernard Cross was the Herbert D. Kelleher Centennial Professor of Business Law at The University of Texas at Austin Law School, where his research centers on judicial decision-making, the economics of law and litigation, and traditional policy and doctrinal issues in administrative law. He has written several books as well as pieces for the Yale Law Journal, Columbia Law Review, University of Chicago Law Review, New York University Law Review, Texas Law Review, Virginia Law Review, Cornell Law Review, Georgetown Law Journal, Northwestern Law Review, and UCLA Law Review. A former president of the Academy of Legal Studies in Business, Professor Cross received his B.A. from the University of Kansas and J.D. from Harvard Law School.