The current SSRN top tens for corporate, corporate governance, and securities law are after the jump.

Top 10 most-downloaded corporate law papers announced during the 60 day period ended November 29, 2006 (current ranking - previous ranking (number of downloads)):

1 - 1 (371) Corporate Governance and the New Hedge Fund Activism: An Empirical Analysis by Thomas W. Briggs.

2 - 2 (280) Who Writes the Rules for Hostile Takeovers, and Why? The Peculiar Divergence of US and UK Takeover Regulation by John Armour & David A. Skeel.

3 - 4 (166) Options Backdating, Tax Shelters, and Corporate Culture by Victor Fleischer.

4 - 10 (97) Economic View on Corporate Law in Europe by Christoph Van der Elst.

5 - 6 (91) The Policy Foundations of Delaware Corporate Law by Lawrence A. Hamermesh.

6 - 9 (70) The Legal Penalties for Financial Misrepresentation by Jonathan M. Karpoff, D. Scott Lee & Gerald S. Martin.

7 - 8 (66) EU Company Law Convergence Possibilities after Centros by Paul Rose.

8 - NR (43) Optimal Executive Compensation vs. Managerial Power: A Review of Lucian Bebchuk and Jesse Fried’s Pay without Performance: The Unfulfilled Promise of Executive Compensation by Michael S. Weisbach.

9 - NR (36) Underwriters’ Civil Liability for IPO’s: An Economic Analysis by Noam Sher.

10 - NR (27) Corporate Architecture and Limited Liability by Oscar Couwenberg.

Top 10 most-downloaded corporate governance law papers announced during the 60 day period ended November 29, 2006 (current ranking - previous ranking (number of downloads)):

1 - 2 (371) Corporate Governance and the New Hedge Fund Activism: An Empirical Analysis by Thomas W. Briggs.

2 - 3 (280) Who Writes the Rules for Hostile Takeovers, and Why? The Peculiar Divergence of US and UK Takeover Regulation by John Armour & David A. Skeel.

3 - 4 (229) The Social Construction of Sarbanes-Oxley by Donald C. Langevoort.

4 - 8 (166) Options Backdating, Tax Shelters, and Corporate Culture by Victor Fleischer.

5 - NR (122) Institutional Shareholder Activism in China: Law and Practice by Chao Xi.

6 - NR (108) Corporate Governance Codes and Their Implementation by Eddy Wymeersch.

7 - NR (107) Southwest Airlines: Hedging and Shareholder Value by Michael R. Ingrassia & Victor Fleischer.

8 - NR (99) The Economics of Conflicts of Interest in Financial Institutions by Hamid Mehran & René M. Stulz.

9 - NR (91) The Policy Foundations of Delaware Corporate Law by Lawrence A. Hamermesh.

10 - NR (88) The Public Responsibility of Structured Finance Lawyers by Steven L. Schwarcz.

Top 10 most-downloaded securities law papers announced during the 60 day period ended November 29, 2006 (current ranking - previous ranking (total number of downloads)):

1 - 2 (371) Corporate Governance and the New Hedge Fund Activism: An Empirical Analysis by Thomas W. Briggs.

2 - 3 (280) Who Writes the Rules for Hostile Takeovers, and Why? The Peculiar Divergence of US and UK Takeover Regulation by John Armour & David A. Skeel.

3 - 4 (229) The Social Construction of Sarbanes-Oxley by Donald C. Langevoort.

4 - 8 (198) The Economic Impact of Backdating of Executive Stock Options by M.P. Narayanan, Cindy A. Schipani & Hasan Nejat Seyhun.

5 - 7 (169) Institutional Activism through Litigation: An Empirical Analysis of Public Pension Fund Participation in Securities Class Actions by Michael A. Perino.

6 - 9 (166) Options Backdating, Tax Shelters, and Corporate Culture by Victor Fleischer.

7 - NR (108) To Make or to Buy: In-House Lawyering and Value Creation by Steven L. Schwarcz.

8 - NR (99) The Economics of Conflicts of Interest in Financial Institutions by Hamid Mehran & René M. Stulz.

9 - 10 (88) The Public Responsibility of Structured Finance Lawyers by Steven L. Schwarcz.

10 - NR (70) The Legal Penalties for Financial Misrepresentation by Jonathan M. Karpoff, D. Scott Lee & Gerald S. Martin.