Institutional Competition Between Common Law And Civil Law

This book addresses two countervailing challenges to theory and policy in law and economics. The first is the rise of legal origins theory, which denies the comparative law view of convergence between common law and civil law by the assertion of an economic superiority of common law. The second is the series of economic crises in the very financial markets on which that assertion was based. Both trends unsettled certainties about the rule of law and institutional economics. Meeting legal origins theory in its main areas of political science, sociology and economics, the book extends the interdisciplinary reach to neglected aspects of comparative law, legal history, dynamic econometric analysis and "quasi-natural experiments" with counterfactual evidence of different institutional regimes in divided countries. These combined methodological tools make tests of the economic impact of different legal origins much more reliable. This is shown for developed and newly industrialized countries as well as developing, transforming and emerging countries with or without financial center advantage, affected or not by financial crises. The Asian financial crises and the American subprime crisis have been, or could have been resolved using the resources of common law or civil law. These cases and data on access to justice in Africa, Asia and Latin America reveal the problem of substantive law remaining "law on the books" without efficient procedural rules and judicial structures. The single most striking common law-civil law divide is that lawyer-dominated common law procedure is slower and costlier than judge-managed civil law procedure. Countries as diverse as the Netherlands, Japan, and China show functional interaction between culture and law in legal reforms. Such interaction can reduce the occurrence of legal disputes as well as facilitate their resolution. It can use economic crises as catalysts for legal reforms or rely on regional integration, and it should replace the discredited method of legal "transplants" by sustained dialogue between legal advisors and all actors involved in legal reforms.

Almost everyone will gain something of value from reading this book. For those who work in the new institutional economics, Pejovich provides a thoughtful treatment of how common-law and civil-law systems affect personal freedoms and rule of law. The book s larger market, however, will comprise educated lay readers, who will gain a deeper appreciation of the foundations of capitalism in the developed world and of the dynamics of interrelated institutional and economic change. Lee J. Alston, The Independent Review . . . a well written, easily read book which casts light on many aspects of law and on questions which are or should be debated in our law schools. . . well laid out and presented. . . Its subject matter makes it essential reading for all those studying comparative law and of course law and economics and even for those studying legislation. It would be more than useful for those engaged in property law, the law of contract and administrative and public law. In other words it would be useful and challenging reading for just about all law teachers and students as well as practitioners who wish to think about the basics of what they are doing. Its easy combination of history, comparative technique, legal fundamentals and economics with no maths would even make it an excellent reader for LAWS 101. Bernard Robertson, New Zealand Law Journal Professor Pejovich has written an impressive lot on comparative economic systems, institutions, policies and broader social aspects of economic development. . . His long work in the field quite predictably made him able to present his views and findings in an ever clearer, more orderly and more profoundly argued way. . . This is one of the rare books in which the author is well aware of what he is talking about and makes sure that the same goes for his readers. Ljubomir Madzar Professor Pejovich has ranged expertly across such seemingly disparate areas as legal systems, culture, economics and public choice theory to give us a thoroughly convincing roadmap for a nation s economic success. The rule of law, enforcement of private contracts, private property rights and an independent judiciary are the basic building blocks. But the common law system, as compared to the civil law system emanating from the European continent, also gets a lot of the credit. This is an erudite, yet happily readable work that takes a lot of the mystery out of differential economic performance among nations. Henry G. Manne, George Mason University School of Law, US Written by one of the pioneers of modern property rights economics this book provides a most insightful, well readable and engaged discussion of the institutional foundations of the Western free enterprise system and the reason for its success, with a special emphasis on the differences between common law and civil law institutions. Readers will especially appreciate the many instructive examples and court cases that serve to illustrate the general argument. Viktor J. Vanberg, Universitaet Freiburg, Germany This is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand why Western capitalism has outperformed all other economic systems. Professor Pejovich explains how the institutions of capitalism, especially those based on common law, make for excellence, even in comparison with Western civil law countries. He presents a compelling theory of how systems evolve through the interactions of formal and informal institutions, an analysis that has deep significance for economic reform proposals throughout the world. John H. Moore, Grove City College, US There are many books on the virtues of capitalism and capitalism as a moral system. Steve Pejovich avoids that mistake. Capitalism, for him, is a system based on human behavior. It survives because it meets the needs that individuals face and provides opportunities that individuals are able to accept. Unlike the utopian visions that have competed against capitalism, it does not impose the vision of a

This second edition of Law and Economics for Civil Law Systems substantially updates a unique work that presents the core ideas of law and economics for audiences primarily familiar with civil law systems.

The aim of the book is to highlight the law and economics issues confronting civil law countries.

This book brings together the most authoritative articles on Law and Economics and the interaction between the two disciplines as well as the use of economic tools to analyse legal problems. Aimed at students experiencing the subject for the first time, the selections are interlaced with a wealth of features including explanatory introductions and exercises. Key features of the reader include: - The accessibility of the material: the articles should be understandable to those with only a limited background in economics and law. - The book’s focus on the most important and basic – foundational – issues in law and economics. - An exposition of the opposition between the different legal systems that exist in the world including common law, civil law and public law. - Debates viewed from the perspective of the scholars from a range of backgrounds are presented as well as all the key figures in economics and in law. The book should prove to be an essential resource to all students studying this burgeoning field and represents an exciting introduction to one of the key disciplines which has grown up in the social sciences in recent times.

Business Law and Economics for Civil Law Systems highlights the relevance of economic analysis of business law from a civilian perspective. It integrates a comparative approach (common law and civil law) to economic analysis using tools and illustrations to assist in conducting critical economic analysis of rules in the field of business law. This book is a valuable contribution to the reflection on the place and meaning of value creation and accountability as goals for business law. It will be of great value to academics interested in business law, competition law, comparative law and legal theory, students studying law, business and economics, and to policy makers and regulators.

An International Court of Civil Justice would give victims of multinationals a day in court while offering corporate defendants a cheaper, fairer litigation alternative.

The efficacy of various political institutions is the subject of intense debate between proponents of broad legislative standards enforced through litigation and those who prefer regulation by administrative agencies. This book explores the trade-offs between litigation and regulation, the circumstances in which one approach may outperform the other, and the principles that affect the choice between addressing particular economic activities with one system or the other. Combining theoretical analysis with empirical investigation in a range of industries, including public health, financial markets, medical care, and workplace safety, Regulation versus Litigation sheds light on the costs and benefits of two important instruments of economic policy.