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Law and Finance: Common Law and Civil Law Countries Compared—An Empirical Critique

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  • MICHAEL GRAFF

Abstract

The ‘theory of law and finance’ argues that the common law system provides a better framework for financial development and economic growth than the civil law tradition. This paper identifies a number of problems that cast doubt on the soundness of the empirical basis of this literature. However, this analysis supports the idea that the legal tradition is a major factor in shaping corporate law. In particular, while there is not much evidence that common law countries protect financial investors better than civil law countries I find support for the assumption that financial investors are treated differently across legal families.

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  • Michael Graff, 2008. "Law and Finance: Common Law and Civil Law Countries Compared—An Empirical Critique," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 75(297), pages 60-83, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:econom:v:75:y:2008:i:297:p:60-83
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-0335.2007.00596.x
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    1. Thorsten Beck & Ross Levine, 2008. "Legal Institutions and Financial Development," Springer Books, in: Claude Ménard & Mary M. Shirley (ed.), Handbook of New Institutional Economics, chapter 11, pages 251-278, Springer.
    2. Mr. Giovanni Favara, 2003. "An Empirical Reassessment of the Relationship Between Finance and Growth," IMF Working Papers 2003/123, International Monetary Fund.
    3. von Thadden, Ernst-Ludwig & Perotti, Enrico, 2003. "The Political Economy of Bank and Equity Dominance," CEPR Discussion Papers 3914, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
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    1. Acheson, Graeme G. & Campbell, Gareth & Turner, John D., 2016. "Common law and the origin of shareholder protection," QUCEH Working Paper Series 2016-04, Queen's University Belfast, Queen's University Centre for Economic History.
    2. Babajide Fowowe, 2014. "Law and Finance Revisited: Evidence from African Countries," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 82(2), pages 193-208, June.
    3. Giofré, Maela, 2013. "Investor protection rights and foreign investment," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 506-526.
    4. David B. Audretsch & Erik E. Lehmann & Julian Schenkenhofer, 2021. "A Context-Choice Model of Niche Entrepreneurship," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 45(5), pages 1276-1303, September.
    5. D’Amico, Daniel J. & Williamson, Claudia, 2015. "Do legal origins affect cross-country incarceration rates?," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(3), pages 595-612.
    6. Bertrand, Jérémie & de Brebisson, Hélène & Burietz, Aurore, 2021. "Why choosing IFRS? Benefits of voluntary adoption by European private companies," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    7. Wolfgang Breuer & Bushra Ghufran & Astrid Juliane Salzmann, 2020. "Investors' time preferences and takeover performance," Post-Print hal-02508909, HAL.
    8. Knowles, Robin L & Pacheco Paredes, Angel Arturo, 2023. "International culture and audit deficiencies: Evidence from inspection reports of non-US companies listed in the US," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    9. Acheson, Graeme & Campbell, Gareth & Turner, John D., 2019. "Private Contracting, Law and Finance," QBS Working Paper Series 2019/05, Queen's University Belfast, Queen's Business School.
    10. Cihan Artunç & Mohamed Saleh, 2024. "The demand for extraterritoriality: Religious minorities in nineteenth‐century Egypt," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 77(3), pages 895-927, August.
    11. Aitzaz Ahsan Alias Sarang & Nicolas Aubert & Xavier Hollandts, 2021. "Board Gender Diversity and Corporate Cash Holdings," Finance, Presses universitaires de Grenoble, vol. 42(1), pages 7-49.
    12. Troilo, Michael & Walkup, Brian R. & Abe, Masato & Lee, Seulki, 2019. "Legal systems and the financing of working capital," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 641-656.
    13. Bruno Emmanuel Ongo Nkoa & Thierry Mamadou Asngar & Charles Christian Atangana Zambo & Donald Ferdinand Okere Atanga, 2023. "Does institutional quality accelerate the growth of financial markets in Africa?," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 3(4), pages 1-26, April.
    14. Breuer, Wolfgang & Ghufran, Bushra & Salzmann, Astrid Juliane, 2020. "Investors' time preferences and takeover performance," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    15. Closset, Frédéric & Urban, Daniel, 2019. "The balance of power between creditors and the firm: Evidence from German insolvency law," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 454-477.
    16. Nakabayashi, Masaki, 2019. "From family security to the welfare state: Path dependency of social security on the difference in legal origins," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 280-293.
    17. Wen, Jun & Zhang, Sen & Chang, Chun-Ping, 2022. "Legal origins and innovation: Global evidence," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    18. Dionysia Katelouzou & Mathias Siems, 2015. "Disappearing Paradigms in Shareholder Protection: Leximetric Evidence for 30 Countries, 1990-2013," Working Papers wp467, Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge.
    19. Erkan, Asligul & Fainshmidt, Stav & Judge, William Q., 2016. "Variance decomposition of the country, industry, firm, and firm-year effects on dividend policy," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(6), pages 1309-1320.
    20. Christian Keuschnigg & Evelyn Ribi, 2010. "Business Taxation, Corporate Finance and Economic Performance," University of St. Gallen Department of Economics working paper series 2010 2010-04, Department of Economics, University of St. Gallen.
    21. Glauco De Vita & Chengchun Li & Yun Luo, 2022. "Legal origin and financial development: A propensity score matching analysis," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(1), pages 535-553, January.

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