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The Choice in the Lawmaking Process: Legal Transplants vs. Indigenous Law

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  • Grajzl Peter

    (Washington and Lee University Central European University)

  • Dimitrova-Grajzl Valentina

    (Washington and Lee University Central European University)

Abstract

We develop a model of lawmaking to study the efficiency implications of, and variation in, jurisdictions' choices between promulgation of indigenously developed laws and legal transplants. Our framework emphasizes the sequential nature of lawmaking, the ubiquity of uncertainty, considerations about ex-ante promulgation versus ex-post adjustment costs, and the importance of the political context of legal reform. In discerning the patterns of inefficiencies in both transplantation and indigenous lawmaking, we elucidate the role of heterogeneity of interests and adaptability of a legal system. We also find that domestic corruption per se need not justify transplantation of foreign legal models. Our results support the view that local conditions are a crucial determinant of the appropriate path of institutional reform.

Suggested Citation

  • Grajzl Peter & Dimitrova-Grajzl Valentina, 2009. "The Choice in the Lawmaking Process: Legal Transplants vs. Indigenous Law," Review of Law & Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 5(1), pages 615-660, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:rlecon:v:5:y:2009:i:1:n:26
    DOI: 10.2202/1555-5879.1402
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    Cited by:

    1. Brousseau, Eric & Garrouste, Pierre & Raynaud, Emmanuel, 2011. "Institutional changes: Alternative theories and consequences for institutional design," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 79(1-2), pages 3-19, June.
    2. Murrell, Peter, 2017. "Design and evolution in institutional development: The insignificance of the English Bill of Rights," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 36-55.
    3. Grajzl, Peter & Baniak, Andrzej, 2018. "Private enforcement, corruption, and antitrust design," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 284-307.
    4. Seidler, Valentin, 2018. "Copying informal institutions: the role of British colonial officers during the decolonization of British Africa," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 14(2), pages 289-312, April.
    5. Kelejian, Harry H. & Murrell, Peter & Shepotylo, Oleksandr, 2013. "Spatial spillovers in the development of institutions," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 297-315.
    6. Couyoumdjian, Juan Pablo, 2012. "Are institutional transplants viable? An examination in light of the proposals by Jeremy Bentham," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 8(4), pages 489-509, December.

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