“Using sophisticated mathematical models, a group of four economists has proven that a country’s legal history greatly affects its economy. At least they think they’ve proven it. How their sweeping theory has roiled the legal academy.

According to research published by a group of scholars beginning in 1998, countries that come from a French civil law tradition struggle to create effective financial markets, while countries with a British common law tradition succeed far more frequently. While the scholars conducting the research are economists rather than lawyers, their theory has jolted the legal academy, leading to the creation of a new academic specialty called ‘law and finance’ and turning the authors of the theory into the most cited economists in the world over the past decade.” (Legal Affairs)