Comparing Legal and Alternative Institutions in Finance and Commerce

The extraordinary economic performance of China and India in recent decades raises questions about the conventional wisdom of using the legal system as the basis of commerce. Despite many well-known advantages, the legal system can be captured by interest groups and become a barrier to change. We argue that one way to solve this problem is not to use the law as the basis for commerce but instead to use alternative mechanisms outside the legal system. Our prior work on China and India suggests that these alternative mechanisms can be quite effective. In the context of a fast-growing economy such as China or India, there is an additional advantage that this type of system can adapt and change much more quickly than when the law is used. In particular, competition can ensure the most efficient mechanism prevails and this process does not require persuading the legislature and the electorate to revise the law when circumstances change