Is There a Relationship Between Shareholder Protection and Stock Market Development?
Does the quality of legal and other institutions make a difference to economic development and growth? In their very well-known studies of the relation between law and finance, Andrei Shleifer and his collaborators (in particular Rafael La Porta and Simeon Djankov) found evidence to support this claim. Their econometric analysis showed that higher levels of shareholder and creditor protection were correlated with increased financial development. This work became highly influential among researchers and policy-makers. Since the mid-1990s, the widespread belief has been that strengthening share-holder and creditor rights will lead to improved financial outcomes. This view became a mainstay of global policy initiatives, including...
