In this paper, we show that too strong investor protection may harm small firms and, thus, entrepreneurial initiatives. This situation is particularly relevant in crowdinvesting, which refers to a recent financial innovation originating on the Internet. In general, securities regulation offers...

In the last dozen years, economists have produced a considerable body of research suggesting that the historical origin of a country’s laws is highly correlated with a broad range of its legal rules and regulations, as well as with economic outcomes. Much of this research has dealt with rules...

Sketched in the aftermath of the financial crisis of 1929, US capital markets law was in large parts an example to the relatively young European capital markets law. After another financial crisis which showed the fragility of the financial markets in recent times, this article seeks to sketch...