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Taking the Measure of Law: The Case of the Doing Business Project

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 December 2018

Kevin E. Davis  and
Michael B. Kruse
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Abstract

This article analyzes a number of yearly reports from the World Bank's Doing Business project, an ambitious international effort to measure various aspects of law and development, analyze their interrelationship, develop benchmarks for assessment of legal systems, and suggest legal reforms. After describing the methodology used, we analyze the strengths and limitations of the project, both as a scholarly enterprise and as a set of proposals for legal reform. Our analysis highlights the challenges associated with measuring legal variables in the face of legal complexity and uncertainty, measuring development when the concept of development is contested, tracing causal connections between law and development, and using scholarly research as a basis for legal reform.

Type
Review Essay
Information
Law & Social Inquiry , Volume 32 , Issue 4 , Fall 2007 , pp. 1095 - 1119
Copyright
Copyright © American Bar Foundation, 2007 

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