Business Law and Guest Lectures Flashcards
What is the definition of business?
An economic activity carried out professionally and organised by an entrepreneur (sole trader or collective organisation) with a view to a profit
What are the three definitions of law?
- A set of rules that society will apply and enforce
- That which a judge will decide concerning matters properly brought before them (Legal realism)
- A set of commands by a constituted political authority (Legal positivism)
What is the difference between legal realism and positivism?
Legal realism refers to law in terms of judicial decisions while legal positivism is in terms of statutory enactments
What is the difference between hard laws and soft laws?
Hard laws are top down and defined by a parliament/government while soft laws are bottom up and concerned with guidelines and norms, e.g market practices
What is the difference between private and public law
Private law concerns an individual’s relationship with another individual (E.g marriage) while public law concerns individual’s relationship with society (E.g applying for a bank account)
What are three areas of law that concern both private and public law practices?
Antitrust law - Promotes healthy competition and prevents anticompetitive business practices
Securities law - Protects investors by ensuring a fair and transparent market
Labour law - Ensures the safety of workes
What is the difference between civil law systems/countries and common law systems/countries?
Civil law attempts to establish a comprehensive body of legal rules in systematic codes and statutes, e.g France and Germany
Common law solves disputes on a case-by-case basis where decisions are based on previous judicial decisions
What is stare decisis?
Stare decisis regards common law systems and means that courts are obligated to follow the jurisdictial decisions made upon the same type of cases
What are the ESG factors?
The ESG factors are Environmental, Social and Governance and regard how companies perform and govern their economic and social factors
What are some drivers for companies to act with respect to ESG?
- Regulations and laws
- Monetary compensation
- Trends
What are some key factors to account for when implementing ESG?
If a company has no economic sustainability their ESG practices do not matter and performance should always be prioritized before practice
What is a Benefit company?
A Benefit company (sometimes called a B corp) is formed for the purpose of creating a positive impact on society and government
What are the benefits of having a startup?
There are primarily monetary benefits through tax- & interest-free loans, but also immigration benefits
What are the requirements for a start-up to keep their title and benefits?
- They cannot make too much money
- Profits need to be reinvested
- Needs to be a new company
- Needs either a minimum of R&D buget, qualified personell or IP rights
For start-ups, what is crowdfunding?
The process of gathering small investments from several individuals who believe in the idea/product
