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Journal of Finance Vol. 58 No. 6 2003

Financial Development, Property Rights, and Growth

Stijn Claessens1; Luc Laeven2

1 University of Amsterdam · 2 World Bank

Abstract

In countries with more secure property rights, firms might allocate resources better and consequentially grow faster as the returns on different types of assets are more protected against competitors' actions. Using data on sectoral value added for a large number of countries, we find evidence consistent with better property rights leading to higher growth through improved asset allocation. Quantitatively, the growth effect is as large as that of improved access to financing due to greater financial development. Our results are robust using various samples and specifications, including controlling for growth opportunities.

DOI
10.1046/j.1540-6261.2003.00610.x
Volume
58
Issue
6
Pages
2401-2436
Language
en
Sources
openalex openalex crossref bibtex:phds-export.bib

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