Contracts Do Matter: Robust Evidence of an Optimal Level of Legal Formalism in Developing Countries
研究了制度如何影响家庭财富，发现法律形式主义与家庭财富呈二次曲线关系，存在最优水平，且产权影响小于文献通常发现。
This paper asks: ‘how do institutions impact household wealth?’ This question is the micro level analogue to the macro question: ‘how do institutions impact economic growth?’ Institutions are exogenous to household decisions, allowing for quasi-experimental analysis of this micro question. Results shed light on a continuing puzzle: contracting institutions have typically been found to be insignificant empirically. Estimates show a strong quadratic effect of legal formalism on household wealth. Household analysis also shows smaller impacts of property rights than found in the literature. Results are robust to inclusion of controls for other institutions, geography, economic indicators, historical factors and democracy.