Legal origin?
Daniel M. Klerman|Paul G. Mahoney
Recent empirical work shows that countries whose legal systems are based on English common law differ systematically from those French civil law. Glaeser and Shleifer trace this divergence to England's adoption of the jury system France's Romano-canonical procedure in twelfth thirteenth centuries [Glaeser, Edward L., Shleifer, Andrei, 2002. Legal origins. Quarterly Journal Economics 117, 1193–1229]. They argue these choices implied greater centralization justice France than England. We examine historical evidence detail find there was no attempt decentralize litigation medieval England, fact, prior Revolution, more centralized England France. The different trial procedures, moreover, did not put two countries' sharply paths. Rather, diverged as result political made mid-seventeenth through early nineteenth centuries. Comparative 35 (2) (2007) 278–293.
Journal of Comparative Economics