Faculty of law blogs / UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD

Video: Deference to Delaware Corporate Law Precedents and Shareholder Wealth—An Empirical Analysis

Author(s)

Jens Dammann

Posted

Time to read

2 Minutes

Delaware is home to more than half of all public corporations, and its market share among initial public offerings is even higher. Not surprisingly, therefore, an extensive body of literature is dedicated to exploring the causes and consequences of Delaware's pre-eminence as a state of incorporation.

There exists, however, a second and largely ignored dimension in which Delaware has come to dominate US corporate law: the common law process. Courts in numerous other states now accord Delaware case law a previously unheard-of level of deference: many state judiciaries have declared explicitly that they will look to Delaware cases in deciding open legal questions.

In his paper, Jens Dammann undertakes an empirical analysis of Delaware's impact on the corporate common law of other states. Using a hand-collected dataset of state and federal cases, he gains a number of important insights. Watch the video to learn more:

 

 

Jens Dammann is the Ben H. and Kitty King Powell Chair in Business and Commercial Law at the University of Texas School of Law.

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