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Legal Institutions, Credit Markets, and Economic Activity

Author

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  • James R. Brown
  • J Anthony Cookson
  • Rawley Heimer

Abstract

This paper provides novel evidence on the causal connections between legal institutions, credit markets, and real economic activity. Our analysis exploits an unexplored within-country setting?Native American reservations?together with quasi-experimental variation in legal contract enforcement wherein the US Congress externally assigned state courts to adjudicate contracts on a subset of reservations. According to area-specific data on small business credit, reservations assigned to state courts, which enforce contracts more predictably than tribal courts, have stronger credit markets. Moreover, the law-driven component of credit market development is associated with significantly higher levels of per capita income, with stronger effects in sectors that depend more on external financing. By using exogenous variation in legal institutions across relatively similar sovereign entities, our study offers compelling evidence that stronger contract enforcement and better-developed credit markets lead to significant improvements in broad economic outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • James R. Brown & J Anthony Cookson & Rawley Heimer, 2014. "Legal Institutions, Credit Markets, and Economic Activity," Working Papers (Old Series) 1434, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedcwp:1434
    DOI: 10.26509/frbc-wp-201434
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    Cited by:

    1. Dimitrova-Grajzl, Valentina & Grajzl, Peter & Guse, A. Joseph & Todd, Richard M., 2015. "Consumer credit on American Indian reservations," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 518-540.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    courts; law and finance; economic growth; external financing; contract enforcement.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • G31 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Capital Budgeting; Fixed Investment and Inventory Studies
    • K12 - Law and Economics - - Basic Areas of Law - - - Contract Law
    • N22 - Economic History - - Financial Markets and Institutions - - - U.S.; Canada: 1913-
    • O43 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Institutions and Growth

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