Abstract

How does the rule of law influence economic development?  While scholars have developed unique insights to answer  this question, as of yet most studies provide limited answers due to the fact that scholars define rule of law in a limited way focusing only on a few aspects of this multifaceted concept.  Further, many studies are constrained by the particular countries and time periods chosen for analysis as well as the measurements used to serve as proxies for the rule of law in empirical studies.  This chapter suggests that in order to adequately discover the nexus between the rule of law and economic development, scholars must define this concept more expansively and work harder to ascertain causality.