Legal Origins: Reconciling Law & Finance and Comparative Law

Mathias M. Siems

Abstract

Law and finance scholars have increasingly relied upon comparative law in the last few years. The work of these scholars has considered, in empirical terms, the effect that legal rules and their enforcement have on financial development in different countries. These studies have routinely adopted the traditional distinction between civil law and common law countries. Whether this revival of legal families (or legal origins) is a useful way forward is, however, a matter of debate. The author challenges the methodology these studies adopt and argues instead for reliance on characteristic features of national legal systems, as distinct from systemic origins, as a basis for analysis.