Working Paper: NBER ID: w8890
Authors: Simeon Djankov; Rafael La Porta; Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes; Andrei Shleifer
Abstract: In cooperation with Lex Mundi member law firms in 109 countries, we measure and describe the exact procedures used by litigants and courts to evict a tenant for non-payment of rent and to collect a bounced check. We use these data to construct an index of procedural formalism of dispute resolution for each country. We find that such formalism is systematically greater in civil than in common law countries. Moreover, procedural formalism is associated with higher expected duration of judicial proceedings, more corruption, less consistency, less honesty, less fairness in judicial decisions, and inferior access to justice. These results suggest that legal transplantation may have led to an inefficiently high level of procedural formalism, particularly in developing countries.
Keywords: No keywords provided
JEL Codes: K10; K40; K41; K42; O10
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| procedural formalism (K40) | longer expected durations of judicial proceedings (K41) |
| procedural formalism (K40) | increased corruption (D73) |
| procedural formalism (K40) | reduced honesty (D91) |
| procedural formalism (K40) | diminished fairness in judicial decisions (D63) |
| procedural formalism (K40) | inferior access to justice (K41) |
| legal origin (K20) | procedural formalism (K40) |