IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/agd/wpaper/11-011.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Why do French civil-law countries have higher levels of financial efficiency?

Author

Listed:
  • Asongu Simplice

    (Yaoundé/Cameroun)

Abstract

The dominance of English common-law countries in prospects for financial development in the legal-origins debate has been debunked by recent findings. Using exchange rate regimes and economic/monetary integration oriented hypotheses, this paper proposes an “inflation uncertainty theory” in providing theoretical justification and empirical validity as to why French civil-law countries have higher levels of financial allocation efficiency. Inflation uncertainty, typical of floating exchange rate regimes accounts for the allocation inefficiency of financial intermediary institutions in English common-law countries. As a policy implication, results support the benefits of fixed exchange rate regimes in financial intermediary allocation efficiency.

Suggested Citation

  • Asongu Simplice, 2011. "Why do French civil-law countries have higher levels of financial efficiency?," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 11/011, African Governance and Development Institute..
    • Handle: RePEc:agd:wpaper:11/011
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.afridev.org/RePEc/agd/agd-wpaper/Why-do-french-civil-law-countries-have-higher-levels-of-financial-efficiency.pdf
    File Function: Revised version, 2013
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. La Porta, Rafael & Lopez-de-Silanes, Florencio & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert, 1999. "The Quality of Government," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 15(1), pages 222-279, April.
    2. 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.
    3. Simplice A. Asongu, 2015. "Law,Finance, Economic Growth and Welfare: Why Does Legal Origin Matter?," Institutions and Economies (formerly known as International Journal of Institutions and Economies), Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of Malaya, vol. 7(2), pages 30-55, July.
    4. Foster, Edward, 1978. "The Variability of Inflation," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 60(3), pages 346-350, August.
    5. Johannes W. Fedderke & Julius A. Agbor & Nicola Viegi, 2010. "How Does Colonial Origin Matter for Economic Performance in sub-Saharan Africa?," Working Papers 176, Economic Research Southern Africa.
    6. Levine, Ross & Zervos, Sara, 1998. "Stock Markets, Banks, and Economic Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(3), pages 537-558, June.
    7. Jith Jayaratne & Philip E. Strahan, 1996. "The Finance-Growth Nexus: Evidence from Bank Branch Deregulation," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 111(3), pages 639-670.
    8. Hassan, M. Kabir & Sanchez, Benito & Yu, Jung-Suk, 2011. "Financial development and economic growth: New evidence from panel data," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 51(1), pages 88-104, February.
    9. Julius A. Agbor, 2011. "How Does Colonial Origin Matter for Economic Performance in Sub-Saharan Africa?," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2011-027, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    10. La Porta, Rafael & Lopez-de-Silanes, Florencio & Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert, 2000. "Investor protection and corporate governance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(1-2), pages 3-27.
    11. J.A. Agbor & J. W. Fedderke & N. Viegi, 2010. "How Does Colonial Origin Matter for Economic Performance in sub-Saharan Africa?," Working Papers 176, Economic Research Southern Africa.
    12. Evans, Martin & Wachtel, Paul, 1993. "Inflation Regimes and the," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 25(3), pages 475-511, August.
    13. Allen, Franklin & Qian, Jun & Qian, Meijun, 2005. "Law, finance, and economic growth in China," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(1), pages 57-116, July.
    14. Lawrence H. Summers, 1991. "Panel discussion: price stability ; How should long-term monetary policy be determined?," Proceedings, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, pages 625-631.
    15. Martin Evans & Paul Wachtel, 1993. "Inflation regimes and the sources of inflation uncertainty," Proceedings, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, pages 475-520.
    16. Lucas, Robert Jr., 1972. "Expectations and the neutrality of money," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 4(2), pages 103-124, April.
    17. 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.
    18. Robert G. King & Ross Levine, 1993. "Finance and Growth: Schumpeter Might Be Right," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 108(3), pages 717-737.
    19. Berkowitz, Daniel & Pistor, Katharina & Richard, Jean-Francois, 2003. "Economic development, legality, and the transplant effect," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(1), pages 165-195, February.
    20. Engle, Robert F, 1983. "Estimates of the Variance of U.S. Inflation Based upon the ARCH Model," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 15(3), pages 286-301, August.
    21. Rajan, Raghuram G & Zingales, Luigi, 1998. "Financial Dependence and Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(3), pages 559-586, June.
    22. 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.
    23. Logue, Dennis E & Willett, Thomas D, 1976. "A Note on the Relation between the Rate and Variability of Inflation," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 43(17), pages 151-158, May.
    24. Summers, Lawrence, 1991. "How Should Long-Term Monetary Policy Be Determined? Panel Discussion," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 23(3), pages 625-631, August.
    25. Simplice A., Asongu, 2011. "Law, Finance and Investment: does legal origin matter?," MPRA Paper 34698, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    26. Arthur M. Okun, 1971. "The Mirage of Steady Inflation," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 2(2), pages 485-498.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Simplice A. Asongu, 2012. "Law and Finance in Africa," Brussels Economic Review, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles, vol. 55(4), pages 385-408.
    2. Simplice A. Asongu, 2015. "Law,Finance, Economic Growth and Welfare: Why Does Legal Origin Matter?," Institutions and Economies (formerly known as International Journal of Institutions and Economies), Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of Malaya, vol. 7(2), pages 30-55, July.
    3. Simplice A. Asongu, 2016. "Law and Investment in Africa," Institutions and Economies (formerly known as International Journal of Institutions and Economies), Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of Malaya, vol. 8(2), pages 95-124, April.
    4. Asongu Simplice, 2011. "Law, Economic Growth and Human Development: Evidence from Africa," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 11/010, African Governance and Development Institute..
    5. Simplice Asongu, 2014. "Law, Finance and Investment: Does Legal Origin Matter in Africa?," The Review of Black Political Economy, Springer;National Economic Association, vol. 41(2), pages 145-175, June.
    6. Simplice A., Asongu, 2011. "Law, economic growth and human development," MPRA Paper 34082, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Simplice A., Asongu, 2011. "Law, Finance and Investment: does legal origin matter?," MPRA Paper 34698, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. 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.
    9. Allen, Franklin & Qian, Jun & Qian, Meijun, 2005. "Law, finance, and economic growth in China," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(1), pages 57-116, July.
    10. Allen, Franklin & Chakrabarti, Rajesh & De, Sankar & Qian, Jun “QJ” & Qian, Meijun, 2012. "Financing firms in India," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 409-445.
    11. Christopher Ragan, 1998. "On the Believable Benefits of Low Inflation," Staff Working Papers 98-15, Bank of Canada.
    12. Morganti, Patrizio & Garofalo, Giuseppe, 2019. "Reassessing the law, finance, and growth nexus after the recent Great recession," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 229-250.
    13. Beck, Thorsten & Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Levine, Ross, 2003. "Law, endowments, and finance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(2), pages 137-181, November.
    14. Asongu Simplice, 2011. "Democracy and Stock Market Performance in African Countries," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 11/021, African Governance and Development Institute..
    15. 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.
    16. Bekaert, Geert & Harvey, Campbell R. & Lundblad, Christian, 2005. "Does financial liberalization spur growth?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(1), pages 3-55, July.
    17. Simplice A, Asongu, 2012. "New indicators for the mobile banking nexus," MPRA Paper 38575, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Trunin, Pavel (Трунин, Павел), 2015. "Analysis of the Level of Development of the Financial System in the Russian Federation [Анализ Уровня Развития Финансовой Системы В Российской Федерации]," Published Papers mn38, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration.
    19. Demirguc-Kunt, Asli, 2006. "Finance and economic development : policy choices for developing countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3955, The World Bank.
    20. Ergungor, O. Emre, 2008. "Financial system structure and economic growth: Structure matters," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 292-305.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Banking; allocation efficiency; exchange rate; inflation; economic integration;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D61 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Allocative Efficiency; Cost-Benefit Analysis
    • G20 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - General
    • K00 - Law and Economics - - General - - - General (including Data Sources and Description)
    • P50 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Comparative Economic Systems - - - General
    • R10 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - General

    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:agd:wpaper:11/011. 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: Asongu Simplice (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/agdiycm.html .

    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.