IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jmgtgv/v24y2020i4d10.1007_s10997-019-09500-1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Legal origin, financial development, and innovation: evidence from large public and private firms in the U.S. and Europe

Author

Listed:
  • Lorenzo Caprio

    (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore)

  • Silvia Rigamonti

    (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore)

  • Andrea Signori

    (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore)

Abstract

This paper investigates the interplay between legal origin, financial market development, and the growth and innovation patterns of the population of large firms in U.S. and Europe. We document that common law countries (namely U.S., U.K., and Ireland) are characterized by a higher degree of stock market development and an increased propensity of firms to be publicly traded relative to Continental Europe. We also find that firms based in common law countries are more innovative, consistent with the view that market-based systems are more capable of financing intangible assets than bank-based systems. Also, these systems are effective at accelerating firm growth, as large firms in common law countries are sensibly younger and went public earlier than their Continental European peers, and this is particularly true for innovative firms.

Suggested Citation

  • Lorenzo Caprio & Silvia Rigamonti & Andrea Signori, 2020. "Legal origin, financial development, and innovation: evidence from large public and private firms in the U.S. and Europe," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 24(4), pages 905-925, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jmgtgv:v:24:y:2020:i:4:d:10.1007_s10997-019-09500-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s10997-019-09500-1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10997-019-09500-1
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10997-019-09500-1?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fishlow, Albert, 1985. "Lessons from the past: capital markets during the 19th century and the interwar period," International Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 39(3), pages 383-439, July.
    2. Andrei Shleifer & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Rafael La Porta, 2008. "The Economic Consequences of Legal Origins," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 46(2), pages 285-332, June.
    3. Bruce D. Smith & John H. Boyd, 1998. "The evolution of debt and equity markets in economic development," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 12(3), pages 519-560.
    4. Wurgler, Jeffrey, 2000. "Financial markets and the allocation of capital," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(1-2), pages 187-214.
    5. Ross Levine, 1997. "Financial Development and Economic Growth: Views and Agenda," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 35(2), pages 688-726, June.
    6. Rajan, Raghuram G. & Zingales, Luigi, 2003. "The great reversals: the politics of financial development in the twentieth century," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 5-50, July.
    7. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1998. "Law and Finance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 106(6), pages 1113-1155, December.
    8. Jay R. Ritter, 2003. "Differences between European and American IPO Markets," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 9(4), pages 421-434, December.
    9. Castellacci, Fulvio, 2008. "Technological paradigms, regimes and trajectories: Manufacturing and service industries in a new taxonomy of sectoral patterns of innovation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(6-7), pages 978-994, July.
    10. Bart van Ark & Mary O'Mahoney & Marcel P. Timmer, 2008. "The Productivity Gap between Europe and the United States: Trends and Causes," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 22(1), pages 25-44, Winter.
    11. James R. Brown & Gustav Martinsson & Bruce C. Petersen, 2013. "Law, Stock Markets, and Innovation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 68(4), pages 1517-1549, August.
    12. Beck, Thorsten & Levine, Ross, 2002. "Industry growth and capital allocation:*1: does having a market- or bank-based system matter?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 147-180, May.
    13. Nelson, Richard R & Wright, Gavin, 1992. "The Rise and Fall of American Technological Leadership: The Postwar Era in Historical Perspective," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 30(4), pages 1931-1964, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Stolbov, Mikhail & Shchepeleva, Maria, 2020. "What predicts the legal status of cryptocurrencies?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 273-291.
    2. Wen, Jun & Zhang, Sen & Chang, Chun-Ping, 2022. "Legal origins and innovation: Global evidence," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Morck, Randall & Deniz Yavuz, M. & Yeung, Bernard, 2011. "Banking system control, capital allocation, and economy performance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(2), pages 264-283, May.
    2. Beck, Thorsten & Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Levine, Ross, 2003. "Law, endowments, and finance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(2), pages 137-181, November.
    3. Beck, Thorsten & Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Levine, Ross, 2003. "Law and finance: why does legal origin matter?," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 653-675, December.
    4. Levine, Ross, 2005. "Finance and Growth: Theory and Evidence," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 12, pages 865-934, Elsevier.
    5. Thorsten Beck & Ross Levine, 2008. "Legal Institutions and Financial Development," Springer Books, in: Claude Ménard & Mary M. Shirley (ed.), Handbook of New Institutional Economics, chapter 11, pages 251-278, Springer.
    6. Levine, Ross, 2002. "Bank-Based or Market-Based Financial Systems: Which Is Better?," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 11(4), pages 398-428, October.
    7. Chowdhury, Reza H. & Maung, Min, 2012. "Financial market development and the effectiveness of R&D investment: Evidence from developed and emerging countries," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 258-272.
    8. Suk-Joong Kim & Eliza Wu, 2018. "Sovereign Credit Ratings, Capital Flows and Financial Sector Development in Emerging Markets," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Information Spillovers and Market Integration in International Finance Empirical Analyses, chapter 13, pages 431-466, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    9. Thorsten Beck & Asli Demirguc-Kunt, 2005. "Law and Firms' Access to Finance," American Law and Economics Review, American Law and Economics Association, vol. 7(1), pages 211-252.
    10. Agrawal, Ashwini K., 2013. "The impact of investor protection law on corporate policy and performance: Evidence from the blue sky laws," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(2), pages 417-435.
    11. Bhattacharyya, Sambit, 2013. "Political origins of financial structure," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(4), pages 979-994.
    12. Galindo, Arturo & Schiantarelli, Fabio, 2002. "Credit Constraints in Latin America: An Overview of the Micro Evidence," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 1438, Inter-American Development Bank.
    13. Bill Francis & Eric Ofori, 2015. "Political regimes and stock market development," Eurasian Economic Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 5(1), pages 111-137, June.
    14. James B. Ang, 2008. "A Survey Of Recent Developments In The Literature Of Finance And Growth," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(3), pages 536-576, July.
    15. James R. Brown & Gustav Martinsson & Bruce C. Petersen, 2013. "Law, Stock Markets, and Innovation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 68(4), pages 1517-1549, August.
    16. Carlin, Wendy & Mayer, Colin, 2003. "Finance, investment, and growth," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 191-226, July.
    17. Randall Morck & Bernard Yeung, 2017. "East Asian Financial and Economic Development," NBER Working Papers 23845, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Ang, James B., 2013. "Are modern financial systems shaped by state antiquity?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(11), pages 4038-4058.
    19. Beck, Thorsten & Levine, Ross, 2002. "Industry growth and capital allocation:*1: does having a market- or bank-based system matter?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 147-180, May.
    20. Hazwan Haini, 2020. "Examining the relationship between finance, institutions and economic growth: evidence from the ASEAN economies," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 53(4), pages 519-542, November.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Legal origin; Financial development; Listing status; Innovation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • G33 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Bankruptcy; Liquidation
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:jmgtgv:v:24:y:2020:i:4:d:10.1007_s10997-019-09500-1. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.