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Is current institutional quality linked to legal origins and disease endowments? Evidence from Africa

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  • Emenalo, Chukwunonye O.
  • Gagliardi, Francesca

Abstract

This paper empirically assesses if and to what extent cross-country differences in institutions inherited from the past affect current institutional quality in Africa. Specifically, the work evaluates if legal origins and disease endowments explain cross-country differences in the quality of contemporary institutions that are widely considered to be important for financial system development and other economic outcomes, such as those related to creditor rights protection and the credit information infrastructure, as well as the judicial, legal property and insolvency systems. Empirical tests are carried out on a sample of 46 African former European colonies with data on current institutional quality from 2004 to 2013. The findings reveal that the legal origins hypothesis receives strong support in the data: historical factors, rooted in legal origins, have long-lasting effects on current institutional quality in the African context. Mixed evidence is instead found for the endowment view.

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  • Emenalo, Chukwunonye O. & Gagliardi, Francesca, 2020. "Is current institutional quality linked to legal origins and disease endowments? Evidence from Africa," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:riibaf:v:52:y:2020:i:c:s0275531918309851
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ribaf.2019.101065
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    2. Enoch Kwaw-Nimeson & Ze Tian, 2023. "Institutional Quality, Foreign Direct Investment, and Regional Integration: Empirical Evidence From CEN-SAD," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(1), pages 21582440221, January.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Africa; Institutions; Law and finance; Legal origins; Disease endowments;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G20 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - General
    • K20 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - General
    • O16 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Financial Markets; Saving and Capital Investment; Corporate Finance and Governance
    • O55 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Africa

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