The widespreadunderstandingthat the ECJ'searly fundamental rights jurisprudence in Internationale Handelsgesellschaft (1970) and other cases was developed in response to judgments of theGerman and Italian Constitutional Courts has recently been questioned.Delledonne and Fabbriniclaimboth that...

In this paper we use novel historical data on economics and social rights from the constitutions of 201 countries and an instrument variable strategy to answer two important questions. First, do economic and social rights provisions in constitutions reduce poverty? Second, does the strength of...