I think Hernando de Soto would like this paper…
Click Here To Read The Economic Consequences of Legal Origins
Abstract (Via Shleifer@ Harvard)
In the last decade, economists have produced a considerable body of research suggesting that the historical origin of a country’s laws is highly correlated with a broad range of its legal rules and regulations, as well as with economic outcomes. We summarize this evidence and attempt a unified interpretation. We also address several objections to the empirical claim that legal origins matter. Finally, we assess the implications of this research for economic reform.
Excerpts (Via Shleifer @ Harvard)
Our interpretation of the meaning of legal origins has evolved considerably over time. But the bumps notwithstanding, the basic contribution appearsto us to still be standing, perhaps even taller than a decade ago. And that is the idea that legal origins—broadly interpreted as highly persistent systems of social control of economic life—have significant consequences for the legal and regulatory framework of the society, as well as for economic outcomes. The range of empirically documented legal, economic, and social spheres where legal origins have consequences has expanded over the past decade.
At the end of our overview, we believe that four propositions are correct, at least given the current state of our knowledge. First, legal rules and regulations differ systematically across countries, and these differences can be measured and quantified. Second, these differences in legal rules and regulations are accounted for to a significant extent by legal origins. Third, the basic historical divergence in the styles of legal traditions—the policyimplementing focus of civil law versus the market-supporting focus of common law— explains well why legal rules differ. Fourth, the measured differences in legal rules matter for economic and social outcomes.Click Here To Read The Economic Consequences of Legal Origins
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