Courts and Banks: Effects of Judicial Enforcement on Credit Markets
通过模型和意大利省级面板数据，发现司法效率提升能减少信贷约束、增加贷款，但对利率的影响取决于银行竞争和改革类型。
The cost of enforcing contracts is a key determinant of market performance. We document this point with reference to the credit market in a model of opportunistic debtors and inefficient courts. According to the model, improvements in judicial efficiency should reduce credit constraints and increase lending, with an ambiguous effect on interest rates that depends on banking competition and on the type of judicial reform. These predictions are supported by panel data on Italian provinces. In provinces with longer trials or large backlogs of pending trials, credit is less widely available.