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Access to Justice and Entrepreneurship: Evidence from Brazil's Special Civil Tribunals

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  • Guilherme Lichand
  • Rodrigo R. Soares

Abstract

Entrepreneurship is usually identified as an important determinant of aggregate productivity and long-term growth. The determinants of entrepreneurship, nevertheless, are not entirely understood. A recent literature has linked entrepreneurship to the development of the justice system. This paper contributes to this literature by evaluating the role of access to justice in determining the incidence of entrepreneurship. We explore the creation of special civil tribunals in the Brazilian state of São Paulo during the 1990s. Special civil tribunals increased the geographic presence of the justice system, simplified judicial procedures, and increased the speed of adjudication of disputes. Using census data and an instrumental variables strategy, we find that implementation of special civil tribunals led to increased entrepreneurship among individuals with higher levels of education. Results do not seem to be related either to other changes in public goods provision at the local level or to preexisting trends.

Suggested Citation

  • Guilherme Lichand & Rodrigo R. Soares, 2014. "Access to Justice and Entrepreneurship: Evidence from Brazil's Special Civil Tribunals," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 57(2), pages 459-499.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucp:jlawec:doi:10.1086/675087
    DOI: 10.1086/675087
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    2. Daniela Collazos & Leopoldo Fergusson & Miguel La Rota & Daniel Mejía & Daniel Ortega, 2020. "CSI in the tropics: Experimental evidence of improved public service delivery through coordination," Documentos de Trabajo 18215, The Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association (LACEA).
    3. Florence Kondylis & Mattea Stein, 2023. "The Speed of Justice," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 105(3), pages 596-613, May.
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    5. Yu Guanghua, 2019. "Open Access Order and Interconnected Institutions in Brazil: A Challenge," The Law and Development Review, De Gruyter, vol. 12(1), pages 1-40, January.
    6. Matthieu Chemin, 2020. "Judicial Efficiency and Firm Productivity: Evidence from a World Database of Judicial Reforms," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 102(1), pages 49-64, March.
    7. Chemin, Matthieu, 2021. "Can judiciaries constrain executive power? Evidence from judicial reforms," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    8. Dandan Zhu & Xinping Tao & Meibo Huang, 2023. "Law Reinforcement, Production Pattern and Enterprise Environmental Performance: Evidence from Environmental Courts in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-20, March.
    9. Barros, Henrique M., 2021. "Neither at the cutting edge nor in a patent-friendly environment: Appropriating the returns from innovation in a less developed economy," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(1).
    10. Greta Falavigna & Roberto Ippoliti, 2022. "Financial constraints, investments, and environmental strategies: An empirical analysis of judicial barriers," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 2002-2018, July.
    11. Chemin, Matthieu & Chen, Daniel L. & Di Maro, Vincenzo & Kimalu, Paul & Mokaya, Momanyi & Ramos-Maqueda, Manuel, 2022. "Data Science for Justice: The Short-Term Effects of a Randomized Judicial Reform in Kenya," TSE Working Papers 22-1391, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
    12. Roberto Ippoliti, 2015. "La riforma della geografia giudiziaria: efficienza tecnica e domanda di giustizia," ECONOMIA PUBBLICA, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2015(2), pages 91-124.
    13. Fauvrelle Thiago A. & Tony C Almeida Alessio, 2018. "Determinants of Judicial Efficiency Change: Evidence from Brazil," Review of Law & Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 14(1), pages 1-36, March.
    14. Decarolis, Francesco & Mattera, Gianpiero & Menon, Carlo, 2020. "Delays at the Border: Court Efficiency and Delays in Public Contracts," CEPR Discussion Papers 14856, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    15. He, Weimin & Wang, Bin, 2024. "Environmental jurisdiction and energy efficiency: Evidence from China's establishment of environmental courts," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    16. Ash, Elliott & Asher, Sam & Bhowmick, Aditi & Bhupatiraju, Sandeep & Chen, Daniel L. & Devi, Tatanya & Goessmann, Christoph & Novosad, Paul & Siddiqi, Bilal, 2022. "Measuring Gender and Religious Bias in the Indian Judiciary," TSE Working Papers 22-1395, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
    17. Li, Wen & Peng, Qing, 2023. "Digital courts and corporate investment in sustainability: Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    18. Ramos Maqueda,Manuel & Chen,Daniel Li, 2021. "The Role of Justice in Development : The Data Revolution," Policy Research Working Paper Series 9720, The World Bank.
    19. Andre Assumpcao & Julio Trecenti, 2020. "Judicial Favoritism of Politicians: Evidence from Small Claims Court," Papers 2001.00889, arXiv.org, revised Jan 2020.
    20. Kong, Dongmin & Qin, Ni & Xiang, Junyi, 2021. "Minimum wage and entrepreneurship: Evidence from China," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 189(C), pages 320-336.
    21. Aberra, Adam & Chemin, Matthieu, 2021. "Does legal representation increase investment? Evidence from a field experiment in Kenya," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    22. Miguel García-Posada & Juan Mora-Sanguinetti, 2015. "Does (average) size matter? Court enforcement, business demography and firm growth," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 44(3), pages 639-669, March.
    23. Greta Falavigna & Roberto Ippoliti, 2021. "Legal environment and corporate finance: evidence from the Italian manufacturing industry," Journal of Economic Structures, Springer;Pan-Pacific Association of Input-Output Studies (PAPAIOS), vol. 10(1), pages 1-16, December.
    24. Chemin, Matthieu & Kimalu, Paul & Newman-Bachand, Simon, 2024. "Courts, Crime and Economic Performance: Evidence from a Judicial Reform in Kenya," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 231(C).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • K1 - Law and Economics - - Basic Areas of Law
    • K41 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Litigation Process
    • K42 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - Illegal Behavior and the Enforcement of Law
    • H41 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Public Goods
    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • O17 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements
    • O54 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Latin America; Caribbean

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