A country's legal origin—whether British, French, German, or Scandinavian—helps explain the development of its financial institutions today. Legal systems differ in their ability to facilitate private exchanges and to adapt to support new financial and commercial transactions. A country...

Recommended readings (Machine generated): Vol I: 1. Jeremy Greenwood and Boyan Jovanovic (1990), 'Financial Development, Growth, and the Distribution of Income', Journal of Political Economy, 98 (5), October, 1076-107 -- 2. Valerie R. Bencivenga and Bruce D. Smith (1991), 'Financial...