Does Judicial Efficiency Lower the Cost of Credit?

Laeven, Luc ; Majnoni, Giovanni

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: JUDICIAL PROCESS;    BANKING SYSTEMS;    CROSS-COUNTRY EXPERIENCE;    INTEREST RATE STRUCTURES;    AGGREGATE VARIABILITY;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-3159
RP-ID  :  WPS3159

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

The authors investigate the effect ofjudicial efficiency on banks' lending spreads for alarge cross section of countries. They measure bank interestrate spreads for 106 countries at an aggregate level, andfor 32 countries at the level of individual banks. Theauthors find that-after controlling for a number of othercountry characteristics-judicial efficiency, in addition toinflation, is the main driver of interest rate spreadsacross countries. This suggests that in addition toimproving the overall macroeconomic climate in a country,judicial reforms, through a better enforcement of legalcontracts, are critical to lowering the cost of financialintermediation for households and firms.