: 
Global Law Working Papers
2005 Series
GLWP 10/05
Author
Raphaël DeConinck
Global Research Fellow (2004-2005)
Title
"Judges and Development"
Abstract
This paper studies the relationship between the judiciary and economic growth. The main contributions of the paper are the following. First, it documents a positive correlation between the number of judges per capita and economic growth using evidence from a panel of countries. Second, it suggests that the number of judges is not merely the result of economic development but actually impacts growth. This result is derived from the implementation of an instrumental variable approach that controls for the reverse causality between development and legal institutions. Third, this paper indicates that the effect of the number of judges on growth is stronger in countries where judicial decisions are a source of law and, especially, during economic transitions.
Contact the Author
rdeconinck@gmail.com
