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What Determines Protection of Property Rights? An Analysis of Direct and Indirect Effects

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  • Meghana Ayyagari
  • Asli Demirgüç-Kunt
  • Vojislav Maksimovic

Abstract

Using cross-country data, we evaluate four conceptually distinct causal variables believed to shape property rights institutions: Legal Origin, Endowments, Ethnic Diversity, and Religion. Given the correlations between the explanatory variables, it is difficult to fashion empirical tests which are consistent in their treatment of the competing theories and to know which regressions to take seriously, giving rise to competing interpretations in the literature. We identify which of the variables are direct determinants of property rights protection and which are not, and subject the outcomes to a battery of robustness tests. We find that ethnic fractionalization is the dominant institutional predictor of property rights protection across the world. Despite the attention it has received in the literature, the impact of Legal Origin on protection of property rights appears fragile and dependent on the inclusion of transition economies in the sample. Copyright The Author, 2013. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com, Oxford University Press.

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  • Meghana Ayyagari & Asli Demirgüç-Kunt & Vojislav Maksimovic, 2013. "What Determines Protection of Property Rights? An Analysis of Direct and Indirect Effects," Journal of Financial Econometrics, Oxford University Press, vol. 11(4), pages 610-649, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:jfinec:v:11:y:2013:i:4:p:610-649
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    3. Durnev, Art & Fauver, Larry, 2008. "Stealing from Thieves: Firm Governance and Performance when States are Predatory," CEI Working Paper Series 2008-12, Center for Economic Institutions, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    4. Romeu, Andrés & Martinez-Sanchez, Francisco, 2015. "Technological Development and Software Piracy," UMUFAE Economics Working Papers 43702, DIGITUM. Universidad de Murcia.
    5. Junbing Xu & Zhongmei Wei & Haitang Yao, 2022. "Can international students help enhance China's urban innovation?," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(6), pages 2421-2433, September.
    6. Chien-Chi Chu & Sang-Bing Tsai & Yinghui Chen & Xiyang Li & Yuming Zhai & Quan Chen & Zeng Jing & Zeng-Zi Ju & Bin Li, 2017. "An Empirical Study on the Relationship between Investor Protection, Government Behavior, and Financial Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(12), pages 1-14, November.
    7. KOUADIO, Hugues, 2015. "Constraints of SME in West Africa: the case of Côte d'Ivoire after the crisis," MPRA Paper 79055, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Aurelien Quignon, 2022. "Market Regulation and Innovation: Direct and Indirect Effects," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 22(3), pages 429-456, December.
    9. Demirguc-Kunt, Asli, 2006. "Finance and economic development : policy choices for developing countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3955, The World Bank.
    10. GOMADO, Kwamivi Mawuli, 2018. "Diversité ethnique et déforestation dans les pays en développement: identification des principaux canaux [Ethnic diversity and deforestation in developing countries: identifying the transmission ch," MPRA Paper 89380, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Fu, Tong & Cai, Chao & Jian, Ze, 2020. "The illusion of “win–win” solution: Why environmental regulation in china promotes firm performance?," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 366-373.

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