General Description
Welcome to the Social Science Research Network ("SSRN"). SSRN is produced and owned by Social Science Electronic Publishing, Inc. (together with its affiliates or subsidiaries, "SSEP"). The mission of the SSRN is to provide the services detailed in the SSRN FAQ (collectively the "Services"). These Terms of Use contain ground rules for your use of the Services (the "Terms"). By accessing, using, or contributing to the Services, and in consideration for the Services provided to you, you agree to abide by the Terms.

SSEP may change the Terms from time to time, at SSEP's sole discretion. Your continued use of this website following the posting of such changes will constitute your assent to all such changes. Please periodically visit this section of the site to review the current version of the Terms. These Terms supersede any verbal changes and can only be modified by written agreement signed by an officer of SSEP.

Account Registration
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Password and Security
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Content
Personal Use Only
The Services are provided solely for personal, non-commercial use. You may not take any material from this website and reformat, repost, or redisplay it for commercial purpose. You may not reformat, repost, or redisplay any material from this website for non-commercial purposes provided however that (i) you may redisplay the title, author and/or abstract for an individual document included in the SSRN eLibrary, together with a link to that document's public abstract page on SSRN; (ii) you may exercise any additional rights granted directly by the author or other valid copyright holder, and (iii) you may cite or quote individual SSRN usage statistics, rankings, citations, and similar information with acknowledgment of the source, date, and URL for this information. These exceptions for noncommercial use apply only to specific documents and use of specific SSRN-provided statistics and other information. They do not convey any rights to reproduce or otherwise make use of all or a significant part of the SSRN eLibrary or SSRN-provided information, or all or a significant part of a category of the SSRN eLibrary or SSRN-provided information.

Contributed Content
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Copyright and Trade Marks
Any person who provides any material for inclusion on SSRN is responsible for ensuring that this material does not violate other parties' copyright or other proprietary rights and does not otherwise violate law or applicable SSRN policy. As part of its general right to remove material, SSEP reserves the right in its sole discretion to delete or make inaccessible files that do or may contain material that violates law, or applicable SSRN policy, or the rights of third parties.

License to SSEP
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SSEP Ownership and Rights
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Termination
SSEP reserves the right to terminate your SSRN Account or restrict access to your SSRN Account, or to delete any content posted through your SSRN Account, with or without notice, for any or for no reason.

Community Participation Browsing
You understand that the abstracts made available via the Website are the work of individual authors and do not necessarily represent the view of SSEP. SSEP assumes no responsibility for the accuracy, suitability, or completeness of any content provided.

Linking
You understand that SSRN has not and cannot review all material made available through websites linked or linking to any part of this site. You also understand that no such linking implies in any way that the SSRN endorses or is affiliated with any third-party website. You agree that the SSRN bears no responsibility or liability for any content accessed or harm caused from any third-party website.

User Representations and Warranties
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Indemnities
You acknowledge and agree to indemnify and hold SSEP, their affiliates, officers, employees and agents, harmless, including costs and attorneys' fees, from any claim or demand made by any third party due to or arising out of your use of SSRN or the Services, your violation of these Terms, or the infringement by you or made under your account, of any intellectual property or other right of any person or entity.

Copyright Complaints
If you are a copyright owner and you believe that your copyrighted materials have been used in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please see our DMCA Notice Policy [2].

General Terms

Modifications
SSEP reserves the right to change, at any time, at our sole discretion, the Terms under which these Services are offered. You are responsible for regularly reviewing these Terms. Your continued use of the Services constitutes your agreement to all such Terms.

Termination of Service
SSEP disclaims all responsibility and liability for the availability, timeliness, security or reliability of the Services or any software provided through the Services. SSEP reserves the right to modify, suspend, or discontinue the Services or access to the Services without any notice at any time and without any liability to you.

Extent of Terms
The Terms apply to use of and contribution to SSRN and any account provided therefore. SSEP may operate additional projects or services that require separate or additional terms. Such different terms are made available through the individual project or service and are not addressed further herein.

No Waiver of Terms
Failure of SSEP to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these Terms shall not be deemed a waiver of such right or provision in that or any other instance.

Governing Law and Entire Agreement
These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of New York, without regard to the rules of conflict of law that may cause the laws of another jurisdiction to apply. You agree to the sole and exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the federal or state courts of the State of New York in the event of any dispute of any kind arising from or relating to the Site, or your use or review of it. The Terms constitute the entire agreement between the parties with respect to the subject matter hereof and supersedes and replaces all prior or contemporaneous understandings or agreements, written or oral, regarding such subject matter. If for any reason a court of competent jurisdiction finds any provision or portion of these Terms to be unenforceable, the remainder of the Terms will continue in full force and effect.

Abstract Usage Statistics and Automated Querying
SSEP strives to maintain the integrity of the SSRN download counts and other usage statistics as a measure of readership and other use of the SSRN site by authors and readers. It is a violation of SSEP policy for an author or other person to directly or indirectly use SSRN with a view to affecting SSRN downloads and other usage statistics, or to encourage others to do so. As part of its general right to refuse or terminate service and remove or edit site content, SSEP reserves the right in its sole discretion to limit access, remove content, and adjust usage statistics to respond to any activity that appears likely to have such an effect.

DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY and LIMITATION OF LIABILITIES
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Updated 2-11-2011