Economic Development, Legality, and the Transplant Effect

We analyze the determinants of effective legal institutions (legality) using data from 49 countries. We show<p> that the way the law was initially transplanted and received is a more important determinant than the supply<p> of law from a particular legal family. Countries that have developed legal orders internally, adapted the<p> transplanted law, and/or had a population that was already familiar with basic principles of the transplanted<p> law have more effective legality than countries that received foreign law without any similar pre-dispositions.<p> The transplanting process has a strong indirect effect on economic development via its impact on legality.