Law and Long-Term Economic Change

by Ma, Debin; Van Zanden, Jan Luiten

• ISBN13: 9780804772730
• ISBN10: 0804772738
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-06-17
• Publisher: Stanford Economics & Finance

Summary

Recently, a growing body of work on "law and finance" and "legal origins" has highlighted the role of formal legal institutions in shaping financial institutions. However, these writings have focused largely on Europe, neglecting important non-Western traditions that prevail in a large part of the world. Law and Long-Term Economic Changebrings together a group of leading scholars from economics, economic history, law, and area studies to develop a unique, global and, long-term perspective on the linkage between law and economic change. Covering the regions of Western Europe, East and South Asia, and the Middle East, the chapters explore major themes regarding the nature and evolution of different legal regimes; their relationship with the state or organized religion; the definition and interpretation of ownership and property rights; the functioning of courts, and other mechanisms for dispute resolution and contract enforcement; and the complex dynamics of legal transplantations through processes such as colonization. The text makes clear that the development of legal traditions and institutions--as embodiments of cultural values and norms--exerts a strong effect on long-term economic change. And it demonstrates that a good understanding of legal origins around the world enriches any debate about Great Divergence in the early modern era, as well as development and underdevelopment in 19th-20th century Eurasia.

Table of Contents

List of Figures	p. vii
List of Tables	p. ix
Contributors	p. xi
Law and Long-Term Economic Change: An Editorial Introduction	p. 1
The Evolution of Law: Political Foundations of Private Law in Medieval Europe and Japan	p. 19
Law and Economy in Traditional China: A ôLegal Originö Perspective on the Great Divergence	p. 46
Property Rights, Land, and Law in Imperial China	p. 68
Contracts, Property, and Litigation: Intermediation and Adjudication in the Huizhou Region (Anhui) in Sixteenth-Century China	p. 91
Law and Economic Change in India, 1600-1900	p. 115
Land and Law in Colonial India	p. 138
The Political Economy of Law and Economic Development in Islamic History	p. 158
Islamic Legal Institutions of Contracts and Courts: A Comparative Perspective	p. 178
Bankruptcy Laws: East versus West	p. 198
Debt Litigation in Medieval Holland, 1200-1350	p. 221
The Resolution of Commercial Conflicts in Bruges, Antwerp, and Amsterdam (1250-1650)	p. 244
The Portuguese Judicial System in the Nineteenth Century: Rules, Risks, and Judges	p. 277
The Evolution of Self- and State Regulation of the London Stock Exchange, 1688-1878	p. 300
British Legal Institutions and Transaction Costs in the Early Transport Revolution	p. 323
Index	p. 343
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