Judicial Reform and Economic Development: A Survey of the Issues

Acknowledging the importance of sound judicial systems to good governance and economic growth, the World Bank and several other donor organizations have funded judicial reform projects in more than two dozen developing countries and transition economies during the past few years. Yet little is known about the actual effect of judicial reform on economic performance or even about what elements constitute a sound reform project. This article surveys a wide range of current studies on judicial reform and finds some surprising results. Judicial reform is part of a larger effort to make the legal systems in developing countries and transition economies more market friendly. This broader legal reform movement encompasses everything from writing or revising commercial codes, bankruptcy statutes, and company laws through overhauling regulatory agencies and teaching justice ministry officials how to draft legislation that fosters private investment.

[1]  Seymour J. Rubin.  Legal Imperialism: American Lawyers and Foreign Aid in Latin America. , 1982, American Journal of International Law.

[2]  P. Mauro.  Corruption and Growth , 1995 .

[3]  R. Posner.  Creating a Legal Framework for Economic Development , 1998 .

[4]  David M. Trubek.  Max Weber on Law and the Rise of Capitalism , 1972 .

[5]  R. Kranton,et al.  The hazards of piecemeal reform: british civil courts and the credit market in colonial India , 1999 .

[6]  W. Tom.  Antitrust law developments (third) , 1992 .

[7]  Dilip Mookherjee,et al.  CENTER FOR INSTITUTIONAL REFORM AND THE INFORMAL SECTOR , 2022 .

[8]  B. Pleskovic.  Annual World Bank Conference on Development Economics 1997 , 1999 .

[9]  J. Head.  The World Bank in a Changing World. Selected Essays , 1993, American Journal of International Law.

[10]  Gregory J. Massell.  Law as an Instrument of Revolutionary Change in a Traditional Milieu: The Case of Soviet Central Asia , 1968 .

[11]  Michael Johnston,et al.  Institutions and Economic Development : Judicial Reform in Latin America , 1996 .

[12]  Christopher K. Clague,et al.  Contract-Intensive Money: Contract Enforcement, Property Rights, and Economic Performance , 1999 .

[13]  G. Fletcher,et al.  Basic Concepts of Legal Thought , 1996 .

[14]  Paul R. Milgrom,et al.  The role of institutions in the revival of trade: the law merchant , 1990 .

[15]  Ian Simpson Ross,et al.  Account of the life and writings of Adam Smith. , 1861 .

[16]  Adam Fforde,et al.  From plan to market , 1996 .

[17]  E. Burg.  Law and development: a review of the literature & a critique of "scholars in self-estrangement" , 1977 .

[18]  M. Dakolias,et al.  Judicial Reform in Latin America and the Caribbean , 1995 .

[19]  O. Williamson.  The Institutions and Governance of Economic Development and Reform , 1994 .

[20]  Robert M. Sherwood,et al.  Judicial systems and economic performance , 1994 .

[21]  A. Hirschman.  The On-and-Off Connection between Political and Economic Progress , 1994 .

[22]  Kelley Oj.  Agency for International Development. , 1973 .

[23]  K. Hoff.  The economics of rural organization : theory, practice, and policy / ed by Karla Hoff … [et al] , 1993 .

[24]  D. North.  Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance: Economic performance , 1990 .

[25]  Robert C. Oberst,et al.  Weighing in on the Scales of Justice: Strategic Approaches for Donor-Supported Rule of Law Programs by Harry Blair, U.S. Agency for International Development , 1994 .

[26]  F. Ferrarotti,et al.  On Max Weber , 1991 .

[27]  Reinhard Bendix,et al.  Max Weber An intellectual portrait , 1960 .

[28]  T. Besley.  Nonmarket Institutions for Credit and Risk Sharing in Low-Income Countries , 1995 .

[29]  Ajay Chhibber,et al.  World development report 1997 : the state in a changing world , 1997 .

[30]  Stephen F. Knack,et al.  INSTITUTIONS AND ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE: CROSS‐COUNTRY TESTS USING ALTERNATIVE INSTITUTIONAL MEASURES , 1995 .

[31]  W. Ewald.  Comparative Jurisprudence (II): The Logic of Legal Transplants , 1995 .

[32]  J. Winn.  Relational Practices and the Marginalization of Law: Informal Financial Practices of Small Businesses in Taiwan , 1994 .

[33]  A. Greif.  Reputation and Coalitions in Medieval Trade: Evidence on the Maghribi Traders , 1989, The Journal of Economic History.

[34]  Bill Broyles.  Notes , 1907, The Classical Review.

[35]  Lindsey A. Greene,et al.  EHP.net: The General Accounting Office , 2000 .

[36]  A. Siamwalla.  The Thai Rural Credit System: Public Subsidies, Private Information, and Segmented Markets , 1990 .

[37]  D. Klein.  Reputation : studies in the voluntary elicitation of good conduct , 1997 .

[38]  Björn Badersten.  Francis Fukuyama: Trust – The Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity , 1996 .

[39]  A. Greif.  Contracting , Enforcement , and Efficiency : Economics Beyond the Law , 1997 .

[40]  M. Dakolias.  The Judicial Sector in Latin America and the Caribbean: Elements of Reform , 1996 .

[41]  Julio Faundez.  Good government and law : legal and institutional reform in developing countries , 1997 .

[42]  M. Fafchamps.  The enforcement of commercial contracts in Ghana , 1996 .

[43]  P. McAuslan,et al.  Law, governance and the development of the market: practical problems and possible solutions , 1997 .

[44]  Robert C. Ellickson,et al.  Order Without Law: How Neighbors Settle Disputes , 1991 .

[45]  Beatrice Weder,et al.  Political sources of growth: A critical note on measurement , 1995 .

[46]  Friedrich A. von Hayek,et al.  The Constitution of Liberty , 1961 .

[47]  J. Merryman.  Comparative law and social change: on the origins, style, decline & revival of the law and development movement , 1977 .

[48]  Ajay Chhibber,et al.  The state in a changing world , 1997 .

[49]  Daniel B. KLElN.  Promise Keeping in the Great Society: A Model of Credit Information Sharing , 1992 .

[50]  Bruce L. Benson,et al.  The Spontaneous Evolution of Commercial Law , 1989 .