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The Quality of the Legal System and Labor Market Performance around the World

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  • Horst Feldmann

    (University of Bath)

Abstract

Using data on 75 countries for six years in the period 1995 to 2003, this paper analyzes empirically whether and to what extent the quality of the legal system affects the performance of the labor market. According to the regression results, a legal system characterized by a dependent judiciary, biased courts, a lack of intellectual property protection and a lack of integrity increases unemployment and lowers the employment level. The magnitude of the effect seems to be substantial, particularly among young people.

Suggested Citation

  • Horst Feldmann, 2009. "The Quality of the Legal System and Labor Market Performance around the World," Department of Economics Working Papers 12/09, University of Bath, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:eid:wpaper:15966
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    Cited by:

    1. Araujo, Luis Fernando Oliveira de & Ponczek, Vladimir Pinheiro, 2012. "Informal wages in an economy with active labor courts," Textos para discussão 294, FGV EESP - Escola de Economia de São Paulo, Fundação Getulio Vargas (Brazil).
    2. Luis Araujo & Vladimir Ponczek & André Portela Souza, 2016. "Informality in an economy with active labour courts," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(30), pages 2868-2882, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    unemployment; employment; rule of law; legal system;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
    • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand
    • J64 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Mobility, Unemployment, Vacancies, and Immigrant Workers - - - Unemployment: Models, Duration, Incidence, and Job Search
    • K00 - Law and Economics - - General - - - General (including Data Sources and Description)
    • K40 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - General

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