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Demand for litigation in the absence of traditions of rule of law: an example of Ottoman and Habsburg legacies in Romania

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  • Martin Mendelski
  • Alexander Libman

Abstract

The paper investigates the impact of historical legacies of the Habsburg and Ottoman Empires on demand for litigation in contemporary Romania in criminal cases. It finds that nowadays a key difference between these two historical zones is that in the Habsburg counties demand for litigation increases if the income goes up; in the Ottoman counties, however, the demand remains constant. Furthermore, the demand for litigation in poor counties is smaller in Habsburg than in Ottoman counties. We provide several explanations to this phenomenon and compare it to the anecdotal evidence of culture of judicial appeals in other countries. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2014

Suggested Citation

  • Martin Mendelski & Alexander Libman, 2014. "Demand for litigation in the absence of traditions of rule of law: an example of Ottoman and Habsburg legacies in Romania," Constitutional Political Economy, Springer, vol. 25(2), pages 177-206, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:copoec:v:25:y:2014:i:2:p:177-206
    DOI: 10.1007/s10602-014-9158-y
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    Cited by:

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    3. Garoupa, Nuno & Grajzl, Peter, 2020. "Spurred by legal tradition or contextual politics? Lessons about judicial dissent from Slovenia and Croatia," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    4. Uberti, Luca J., 2018. "Corruption in transition economies: Socialist, Ottoman or structural?," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 42(4), pages 533-555.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Law and economics; Legal history; Historical legacies; Judicial performance; Contextual factors; Demand for litigation; Habsburg legacy; Ottoman legacy; K41; N43; P26;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • K41 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Litigation Process
    • N43 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • P26 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist and Transition Economies - - - Property Rights

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