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Shareholder, Creditor and Worker Protection: Time Series Evidence about the Differences between French, German, Idian, UK and US Law

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  • Mathias Siems

Abstract

This paper uses a new quantitative methodology ("numerical comparative law", "leximetrics") in order to answer the questions whether there has been convergence, divergence or persistence of legal rules, and how this relates to the Common Law/Civil Law distinction. It is based on indices for shareholder, creditor, and worker protection which code the legal development of France, Germany, India, the UK and the US from 1970 to 2005. The main result is that one has to distinguish between different areas of law: the laws have converged in shareholder protection, they have diverged in worker protection and in creditor protection converging and diverging trends even out. These results do not depend on the the distinction between Civil Law and Common Law countries because there have been a number of instances where countries of different legal families have converged and countries of the same legal family have diverged.

Suggested Citation

  • Mathias Siems, 2009. "Shareholder, Creditor and Worker Protection: Time Series Evidence about the Differences between French, German, Idian, UK and US Law," Working Papers wp381, Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge.
    • Handle: RePEc:cbr:cbrwps:wp381
    Note: PRO-2
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    File URL: https://www.cbr.cam.ac.uk/fileadmin/user_upload/centre-for-business-research/downloads/working-papers/wp381.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. John Armour & Simon Deakin & Priya Lele & Mathias Siems, 2009. "How Do Legal Rules Evolve? Evidence from a cross-country Comparison of Shareholder, Creditor and Worker Protection," Working Papers wp382, Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge.
    2. Klaus Heine & Wolfgang Kerber, 2002. "European Corporate Laws, Regulatory Competition and Path Dependence," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 13(1), pages 47-71, January.
    3. Simon DEAKIN & Priya LELE & Mathias SIEMS, 2007. "The evolution of labour law: Calibrating and comparing regulatory regimes," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 146(3-4), pages 133-162, September.
    4. Simon Deakin & Prabirjit Sarkar, 2008. "Assessing the Long-Run Economic Impact of Labour Law Systems: A theoretical Reappraisal and Analysis of New Time Series Data," Working Papers wp367, Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge.
    5. John Armour & Simon Deakin & Prabirjit Sarkar & Mathias Siems & Ajit Singh, 2007. "Shareholder Protection and Stock Market Development: An Empirical Test of the Legal Origins Hypothesis," Working Papers wp358, Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge.
    6. Mathias M Siems, 2006. "Legal origins: reconciling law and finance and comparative law," Working Papers wp321, Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge.
    7. Mathias Siems & Priya Lele, 2006. "Shareholder Protection: A Leximetric Approach," Working Papers wp324, Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge.
    8. Simon Deakin, 2006. "Legal diversity and regulatory competition: which model for Europe?," Working Papers wp323, Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge.
    9. Mathias M. Siems, 2006. "Shareholder Protection Across Countries – Is the EU on the Right Track?," ifo DICE Report, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 4(3), pages 39-43, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    More about this item

    Keywords

    shareholder protection; creditor protection; worker protection; comparative law; legal convergence; numerical comparative law; leximetrics;

    JEL classification:

    • G30 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - General
    • K00 - Law and Economics - - General - - - General (including Data Sources and Description)
    • K12 - Law and Economics - - Basic Areas of Law - - - Contract Law
    • K31 - Law and Economics - - Other Substantive Areas of Law - - - Labor Law
    • N20 - Economic History - - Financial Markets and Institutions - - - General, International, or Comparative
    • N40 - Economic History - - Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation - - - General, International, or Comparative
    • P50 - Economic Systems - - Comparative Economic Systems - - - General

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