This paper proposes and empirically validates four theories of why legal origin influences growth and welfare through finance. It is a natural extension of "Law and finance: why does legal origin matter?" by Thorsten Beck, Asli Demirgüç-Kunt and Ross Levine (2003). We find only partial support...

This article explores how the theory of, “responsive regulation,” might guide historical inquiry into the American origins of the global financial crisis. Part I of the article briefly lays out some key ideas of the, “responsive regulation,” literature, and sketches how advocates of this...

Many researchers have shown that differences in legal origin explain differences in financial development. Using historical comparisons and cross-country regressions for 30 countries observed for the period from 2005 to 2010, this study tried to assess if different legal origins impacted on the...

Intellectual Property Rights (“IPR”) can be regarded as an incentive for an inventor or an author, granted or recognized by a state. IPR are enforceable erga omnes within the boundaries of the state. Member States of the Paris Convention Union and other relevant conventions are expected to...

The relationship between corruption, particularly when systemic, and the rule of law is a circular one. On the one hand, corruption undermines the rule of law; on the other hand, a weak rule of law facilitates corruption. In a sort of parasitic relationship, corruption quickly attaches to the...

This article seeks to close a gap in the literature on the use of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) in the Middle East. In particular, it examines unprecedented developments in countries situated in the Persian Gulf where a range of innovative institutions outside the domestic court system...

With the establishment of the World Trade Organization in 1995, the dispute settlement mechanism for international trade was greatly prepared unlike the old GATT system. It has a very different pattern from that of original GATT system. In our case, international trade is a matter of the future...

Good Regulatory Practices encompassing the use of regulatory impact assessments, stakeholder engagement and ex post evaluation are a critical tool in the hands of governments to ensure that regulation achieves its objectives. Over the past several years, attention has grown for the trade costs...

“Extreme” weather has become the new normal. What were previously considered to be inexplicable and unpredictable “acts of God” can no longer reasonably be said to be so. They are acts of man. The established doctrine of contractual impracticability rests on the notion that a party may...

In recent years, the growing interest of academics and policymakers in governance has been reflected in the proliferation cross-country indices measuring various aspects of governance. In this paper we explain how a simple variant of an unobserved components model can be used to combine the...