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Justices of the Peace: Legal Foundations of the Industrial Revolution

Author

Listed:
  • Timothy Besley
  • Dan Bogart
  • Jonathan Chapman
  • Nuno Palma

Abstract

We show that state legal capacity contributed to economic development during the Industrial Revolution. The British parliament relied on local magistrates, known as Justices of the Peace (JPs), to enforce property rights, resolve disputes, and administer public services. Areas with greater legal capacity—more JPs—in 1700 experienced greater population growth and structural change over 140 years. More legal capacity also led to more human capital, fiscal capacity, and infrastructure development. Plausibly exogenous variation in the location of JPs supports a causal interpretation of the findings. These results illustrate the importance of street-level legal institutions for economic outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Timothy Besley & Dan Bogart & Jonathan Chapman & Nuno Palma, 2025. "Justices of the Peace: Legal Foundations of the Industrial Revolution," Lewis Lab Working Papers Series 0011, Arthur Lewis Lab, The University of Manchester.
    • Handle: RePEc:man:allwps:0011
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    File URL: https://documents.manchester.ac.uk/display.aspx?DocID=75941
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Legal Capacity; State Capacity; Industrial Revolution; Justices of the Peace; Historical Political Economy; Law and Economics; Britain;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H80 - Public Economics - - Miscellaneous Issues - - - General
    • K40 - Law and Economics - - Legal Procedure, the Legal System, and Illegal Behavior - - - General
    • N13 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - Europe: Pre-1913

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