Summary China has experienced remarkable economic growth for three decades despite having a weak legal system and under-developed financial markets thought to be crucial for economic development. An assessment of the relationship among the legal and financial systems and economic growth reveals...

Summary In an economy characterized by financial repression, enhancing the legal system may hinder the development of some aspects of the financial sector, especially informal arrangements aiming at circumventing the repression. Using Chinese provincial data in the 1990s, we find that enhanced...