Enforcement and Effectiveness of Consumer Law


Book Description

The book focusses on the enforcement of consumer law in order to identify commonalities and best practices across nations. It is composed of twenty-eight contributions from national rapporteurs to the IACL Congress in Montevideo in 2016 and the introductory comparative general report. The national contributors are drawn from across the globe, with representation from Africa (1), Asia (5), Europe (15), Oceania (2) and the Americas (5). The general report proposes a general introduction to the question of enforcement and effectiveness of consumer law. It then proceeds to identify the variety of ways in which national legislatures approach this question and the diversity of mechanisms put in place to address it. The general report uses examples drawn from the reports to illustrate common approaches and to identify more original or distinct unique approaches, taking into account the reported strengths and weaknesses of each. The general report consistently points readers to particular national reports on specific issues, inviting readers to consult these individual contributions for more details. The national contributions deal with the following areas: the national legal framework for consumer protection, the general design of the enforcement mechanism, the number and characteristics of consumer complaints and disputes, the use of courts and specialized agencies for the enforcement of consumer law, the role of consumer organizations and of private regulation in the enforcement of consumer law, the place of collective redress mechanism and of alternative dispute resolution modes, the sanctions for breaches of consumer law and the nature of external relations or cooperation with other countries or international organizations. These enriching national and international perspectives offer a comprehensive overview of the current state of consumer law around the globe.




Ambition numérique


Book Description

The "Ambition numérique" ("digital ambition") report is the conclusion of an open debate with the French citizens in order to prepare the government's digital strategy. The report formulates 70 proposals divided in four parts : fairness and freedom in a common digital environment; a new form of public action: openness, innovation, participation; fostering French growth for an innovation-driven economy; solidarity, fairness, empowerment: the challenges of a digital society. During five months (october 2014 - february 2015), the Conseil National du Numérique (French Digital Council) animated a wide consultation on the "digital ambition" of France, in order to collect proposals and plans for action to make of the digital an asset as much for economy as for society. This mission, assigned to the CNNum by the French Prime Minister in september 2014 and followed by Axelle Lemaire, Secretary of State assigned to the Digital, and Thierry Mandon, Secretary of State to the Reform of the State and to Simplification, is an unprecedented experimentation of public policy building. The platform www.contribuez.cnnumerique.fr conceived with the association Démocratie Ouverte permitted to each citizen, public or private organisation to contribute to the proposed consultations. At the end of those consultation phases, the CNNUM published syntheses open to comments for each consultation, tracing back the great controversies that emerged while staying as neutral as possible and studying the proposed plans for action. During the concertation, 4 "journées contributives" ("contributive days") have been organized on each of the themes - respectively in Lille, Strasbourg, Bordeaux and Nantes - in presence of local actors. During those days, thematic workshops permitted to deepen the proposals seen on the online platform, and to confront them to participants' feedback. In parallel, "contributive pitches" gave the opportunity to entrepreneurs, studens, members of civil society, law professionals, etc. to present their innovations and to propose their ideas to "update France". A concertation on the network, mobilizing various actors: to stimulate the production of collective ideas, the CNNum developed, while being accompanied by the start-up Nod-A, a DIY resource kit, offering the possibility for actors to organize themselves workshops on the consultations of their choice. The CNNum has also brought their support on methodological and background subject grounds (from a distance or on the spot) to ensure a good appropriation of the tools and of the addressed problems. Organizers, on their side, engaged themselves to post their contributions on the platform at the end of those workshops. A regular followup of the concertation with the government: to ensure the coordination of the concertation's progresses with the government's work (preparation of the digital bill, elaboration of action plans), weekly points were held, gathering the CNNum and the ministerial cabinets of the Prime Minister, Axelle Lemaire and Thierry Mandon. Interministerial meetings were also organized to spread the concertation in administrations.




Cybersécurité des acteurs économiques - risques, réponses stratégiques et juridiques


Book Description

Le cyberespace est un univers d’information incontournable. Il est aussi un territoire source d’inquiétude pour tous les acteurs économiques de l’entreprise et de la finance. Il est aujourd’hui le théâtre d’un nombre grandissant de cybermenaces touchant notamment aux domaines des informations sensibles et des données personnelles. Pour se protéger, il est essentiel de mesurer l’ampleur de ces risques et d’en comprendre la nature. Il faut aussi pouvoir mettre en place des stratégies d’anticipation comme l’intelligence économique et la veille. Véritable « boîte à outils » contre les risques numériques, cet ouvrage présente également un ensemble de solutions juridiques spécifiques à la cybersécurité et au développement de tous les acteurs économiques concernés.




Revenue Statistics in Africa 2023


Book Description

Revenue Statistics in Africa 2023 compiles comparable tax revenue and non-tax revenue statistics for 33 countries in Africa. It also includes a special feature on the VAT Digital Toolkit for Africa.




Information Obligations and Disinformation of Consumers


Book Description

This book focuses on recent developments in consumer law, specifically addressing mandatory disclosures and the topical problem of information overload. It provides a comparative analysis based on national reports from countries with common law and civil law traditions in Asia, America and Europe, and presents the reports in the form of chapters that have been drafted on the basis of a questionnaire, and which use the same structure as the questionnaire to allow them to be easily compared. The book starts with an analysis of the basic assumptions underlying the current consumer protection models and examines whether and how consumer models adapt to the new market conditions. The second part addresses the information obligations themselves, first highlighting the differences in the reported countries before narrowing the analysis down to countries with a general pre-contractual information duty, particularly the transparency requirements that often come with such a duty. The next part examines recent developments in the law on food labelling, commercial practices and unfair contract terms in order to identify whether similar traits can be found in European and non-European jurisdictions. The fourth part of the book focuses on specific information obligations in the financial services and e-commerce sectors, discussing the fact that legislators are experimenting with different forms of summary disclosures in these sectors. The final part provides a critical appraisal of the recent developments in consumer information obligations, addressing the question of whether the multiple criticisms from behavioural sciences necessitate abandonment or refinement of current consumer information models in favour of new, more adequate forms of consumer protection, and providing suggestions.




Afrique numérique


Book Description

Tous les pays africains ont besoin d'avantage d'emplois de qualité pour leurs populations croissantes. Le rapport « Afrique numérique : Transformation technologique pour l’emploi » montre qu'une utilisation plus large, par les entreprises et les ménages, des technologies numériques génératrices de productivité est impérative afin de générer de tels emplois, y compris pour les personnes peu qualifiées. Dans le même temps, cette démarche peut soutenir non seulement l'objectif à court terme de reprise économique postpandémique des pays, mais aussi leur vision d'une transformation économique assortie d’une croissance plus inclusive. Cependant, ces résultats ne seront pas automatiques. La disponibilité de l'internet mobile a augmenté sur l’ensemble du continent ces dernières années, mais l'écart d'utilisation est le plus élevé au monde. Les zones disposant d'au moins un service internet mobile 3G couvrent désormais 84 % en moyenne de la population des pays d'Afrique subsaharienne, mais seulement 22 % utilisent ces services. Et l'entreprise africaine moyenne accuse un certain retard en matière d'utilisation de smartphones et d’ordinateurs, ainsi que de technologies numériques plus sophistiquées qui contribuent à obtenir de nouveaux gains de productivité. Deux problèmes expliquent cet écart d'utilisation : l'absence d'abordabilité de ces nouvelles technologies et la de les utiliser. Pour les 40 % d'Africains qui vivent en dessous du seuil de pauvreté extrême, les forfaits de données mobiles coûteraient à eux seuls un tiers de leurs revenus, en plus du prix des appareils d'accès, des applications et de l'électricité. Les forfaits de données pour les petites et moyennes entreprises sont également plus chers que dans d'autres régions. De plus, la qualité des services internet †“ de même que la fourniture d'applications attrayantes et adaptées aux compétences qui favorisent l'entrepreneuriat et augmentent les revenus †“ présente des lacunes qui freinent la volonté des entreprises et populations de les utiliser. Pour les pays qui utilisent déjà ces technologies, les retombées du développement sont importantes. De nouvelles études empiriques réalisées pour le présent rapport s'ajoutent aux données sans cesse croissantes qui démontrent que la disponibilité de l'internet mobile augmente directement la productivité des entreprises, accroît le nombre des emplois, et réduit la pauvreté à travers l'Afrique. Pour que ces bénéfices ainsi que d'autres avantages se concrétisent plus largement, les pays africains doivent mettre en oeuvre des politiques complémentaires et synergiques afin de renforcer à la fois la capacité de payer des consommateurs et leur volonté d'utiliser les technologies numériques. Ces interventions doivent accorder la priorité à une utilisation productive en vue de générer un grand nombre d'emplois inclusifs dans une région sur le point de bénéficier d'une main-d'oeuvre massive et jeune, laquelle est appelée à devenir la plus importante du monde d'ici la fin du siècle.





Book Description




Fictitious Capital


Book Description

How finance is a mechanism of social and political domination The 2007–08 credit crisis and the long recession that followed brutally exposed the economic and social costs of financialization. Understanding what lay behind these events, the rise of “fictitious capital” and its opaque logic, is crucial to grasping the social and political conditions under which we live. Yet, for most people, the operations of the financial system remain shrouded in mystery. In this lucid and compelling book, economist Cédric Durand offers a concise and critical introduction to the world of finance, unveiling the truth behind the credit crunch. Fictitious Capital moves beyond moralizing tales about greedy bankers, short-sighted experts and compromised regulators to look at the big picture. Using comparative data covering the last four decades, Durand examines the relationship between trends such as the rise in private and public debt and the proliferation of financial products; norms such as our habitual assumptions about the production of value and financial stability; and the relationship of all this to political power. Fictitious Capital offers a stark warning about the direction that the international economy is taking. Durand argues that the accelerated expansion of financial operations is a sign of the declining power of the economies of the Global North. The City, Wall Street and other centres of the power of money, he suggests, may already be caked with the frosts of winter.




The Political Economy of Predation


Book Description

This book analyses conflict theory through one type of conflict in particular: manhunting, or predation.




Information Rules


Book Description

As one of the first books to distill the economics of information and networks into practical business strategies, this is a guide to the winning moves that can help business leaders--from writers, lawyers and finance professional to executives in the entertainment, publishing and hardware and software industries-- navigate successfully through the information economy.