Component 2 (Meso): Qualitative Comparative Analysis (QCA)

This chapter contains the meso component (Qualitative Comparative Analysis, QCA). It discusses the QCA research model, the QCA methodology, and the analysis of the QCA results.QCA is used to analyse both quantitative and qualitative data, thus enabling causal inferences. However, QCA is not a statistical technique that focuses on the likelihood of the relations among variables. Instead, it is a method based on Boolean logic, rooted in set theory, and founded on the notions of sufficiency, the necessity of conditions, and conjunctural causation.QCA results indicate, among others, that for high competitiveness, high EPI suffices if Concordats with the Vatican are low and if the Roman Catholic and Orthodox population is low. No State Religion positively affects competitiveness. Having Concordats with the Vatican negatively influences competitiveness. Additionally, factors like German, English, and Scandinavian legal origin help to increase competitiveness.Oppositely, QCA results for high corruption indicate that Concordats in combination with Roman Catholic religion adherence increase corruption. Orthodox religion has a similar negative effect. Most countries with high corruption are of French legal origin and have high Concordats. This trend is robust.Colombia and Switzerland (the two extreme cases) exhibited several consistent QCA results. The other two cases (Cuba and Uruguay) only revealed one or two consistent outcomes.

Component 1 (Macro): Quantitative (Regression) Analysis

This chapter corresponds to the macro-quantitative component. It discusses how competitiveness and corruption were modelled, how the methods were applied in the correlation analysis and which empirical results were achieved.Regression analysis is used to test the relationship between variables of some prominent prosperity/corruption theories. This part does not seek to prove causation, but instead empirically explores whether competitiveness/transparency are related to indicators such as state religion or a population’s religious affiliation.Consistent results of the models on competitiveness (GCI) are: (1) a positive influence of EPI on GCI; (2) a positive influence of a German legal origin (or German language) on GCI; (3) a negative influence of an Orthodox population on GCI; and (4) a negative influence of a Roman Catholic population (or Roman Catholic State Religion) on GCI. These results are also consistent with the predictions in the theory chapters (Chaps. 10.1007/978-3-030-78498-0_6–10.1007/978-3-030-78498-0_11).The corruption model applied here tests the interrelations between GDP, political liberties (democracy proxy), and language and ethnic fractionalisation. The results of the models on corruption are entirely compatible with theory. The results confirm my hypothesis that transparency levels are directly (i.e. positively) related to the proportion of Protestants in countries in Europe and the Americas.

Does Legal Origin Matter for Arms Control Treaty Ratification?

This chapter examines whether the legal origin of a country influences the likelihood of ratification of multilateral international treaties concerning arms control. We theorize that ratification of an arms control treaty signals a country’s intention to avoid arms races and wars. We know only little about the variation in the ratification of such agreements. One possible element that may explain this variation is the legal origin or tradition of a country. Since treaties are legally binding agreements between two or more states and/or international governmental organizations, they cannot be adapted to local needs and circumstances. Treaties are therefore generally an uneasy fit with the gradual, organic evolution of law that is essential in the common-law system. By contrast, the civil-law tradition neatly distinguishes between legally binding obligations and non-binding guidelines or directives. Consequently, civil-law countries are expected to be more likely to ratify treaties than common-law countries. The empirical results clearly confirm this expectation. In particular, civil-law countries have ratified about nine percent more treaties than common-law countries.

The Leniency of Personal Bankruptcy Regulations in the EU Countries

Discussions on personal bankruptcy regulations are usually focused on the controversial effects of leniency on society, economy, financial markets, entrepreneurship, and labour supply. However, the methodology of measuring leniency has been limited to one-time legislative changes or some elements of the US personal bankruptcy system. In contrast, we create a composite index of personal bankruptcy legislations. We calculate the composite index for 25 EU countries and the US as a benchmark, validate the results, and rank the countries according to the leniency of their personal bankruptcy systems. We analyse the index scores by region, law origin, and the age of the regime. We conclude that the systems show high heterogeneity and cannot be clustered by region or legal origin assumed based on former studies. However, there is a strong association between leniency and the age of legislation. Results indicate that personal bankruptcy policies in the EU are usually launched as creditor-friendly and are later shifted to a more lenient direction.

The Effects of Legal Origin and Corporate Governance on Financial Firms’ Sustainability Performance

This paper examines the determinants of sustainability performance in the financial industry at the firm, country and legal origin levels. Through the analysis of the ESG score in a sample of 64 countries with 982 financial firms during the period between 2002 and 2018, we find that legal origin is a significant explanatory variable. In particular, our findings indicate that companies based in civil-law countries show higher values of ESG performance than their counterparts in common-law countries, suggesting the prevalence of the stakeholder theory in explaining the willingness of financial firms to engage in sustainability practices. Moreover, and following the assumptions of the “good governance” view, we also assess the joint the effect of corporate governance and legal origin ESG scores, finding that corporate governance structures emerge as a substitution mechanism of sustainability enhancement for financial firms based in common-law countries.

THE HISTORY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF CIVIL JUSTICE IN RUSSIA BEFORE THE ERA OF THE GREAT REFORMS

В настоящей статье рассматривается историко-правовое зарождение гражданского судопроизводства в России. Затрагивается важнейшая сфера научного исследования процессов формирования судебных органов и судейского сообщества в России в целом. Предельно точно указаны временные отрезки наиболее значимых и ключевых изменений происходивших в судопроизводстве в тот или иной исторический период Российского государства. А также акцентируется внимание на необходимости изучения данных явлений, так как они могут стать важной основной для дальнейшего развития гражданского судопроизводства в России. This article examines the historical and legal origin of civil proceedings in Russia. The most important area of scientific research of the processes of formation of judicial bodies and the judicial community in Russia as a whole is touched upon. The time periods of the most significant and key changes that took place in legal proceedings in a particular historical period of the Russian state are indicated with extreme precision. It also focuses on the need to study these phenomena, since they can become an important basis for the further development of civil proceedings in Russia.

Government choice between contract termination and contract expiration in re-municipalization: a case of historical recurrence?

Since the early 2000s, the terms ‘re-municipalization’ and ‘reverse privatization’ entered the lexicon as several examples emerged of governments taking ownership of assets and services that had previously been privatized or outsourced. Various methods are used to implement re-municipalization decisions and differences are observed across countries and sectors. The approaches most frequently adopted are re-municipalization through contract termination and contract expiration. We utilize a wide database of re-municipalizations worldwide to analyse the factors that influence governments’ choice between these two approaches. The results from our multivariate analysis find a pattern of historical recurrence in the characteristics of the current re-municipalization process. Points for practitioners Most governments wait for contracts to expire but the number of contract terminations is sizeable. Re-municipalization in larger cities, network sectors (particularly water) and implemented by municipal governments have a positive association with termination. Re-municipalization of energy utilities and conducted in countries of French legal origin is positively associated with contract expiration. Patterns of contemporary re-municipalization closely resemble those witnessed in the ‘Progressive Era’.

Investigating the Institutional Determinants of Financial Development: Empirical Evidence From SAARC Countries

A more regulated and better working financial sector contributes toward achieving monetary growth based on proficient resource allocation and reducing information asymmetries. Current trends in research highlight the significance of factors determining the financial sector’s development; therefore, this study explores the institutional drivers, which are indispensable for developing the financial industry in the South Asian Association of Regional Cooperation (SAARC) region. Specifically, it examines the impact of institutional factors, trade openness, real output, legal origin, and inflation on the financial sector’s development. By employing the panel data method of generalized method of moments (GMM), the study concluded that trade openness, institutional factors, legal origin, and real gross domestic product (GDP) have a positive and significant impact on financial depth. However, the inflation rate has been found to affect it negatively. Finally, the study presents policy recommendations based on empirical findings.

Differences in African banking systems: causes and consequences

This paper links banking system development to the colonial and legal history of African countries. Based on a sample of 40 African countries from 2000 to 2018, our empirical findings show a significant dependence of current financial institutions on the inherited legal origin and the colonization type. Findings also reveal that current financial legal institutions are not major determinants of banking system development, and that institutional development and governance quality are more important. A high share of government spending relative to GDP also positively affects banking system development in African countries.

STAGES OF FORMATION OF THE WORLD VICTIMOLOGICAL THOUGHT

The relevance of the article is due to the need to clarify the historical aspect, the genesis of victimology, as well as the content of its conceptual apparatus, the formulation of hypotheses and the improvement of its scientific tools. The concept of victimization is a reflection of essential means and relationships, phenomena and processes that are directly related to crime. The problematic aspects of the relatively complex nature of the conceptual apparatus of victimology have been identified, as a result of which a large number of concepts of non-legal origin in criminology are fraught with the danger of destroying the mechanism of legal assessments and conclusions on crime, its causes, the identity of the offender and the victim, and prevention measures. Elucidation of the historical aspect, genesis of victimology, as well as the content of its conceptual apparatus, is a dynamic process of reconciling hypotheses and positions, thoughts and views of criminologists, victimologists, lawyers, sociologists and psychologists, the results of which form the doctrinal basis of victimology. The stated positions are an attempt to somewhat streamline the diversity of scientific approaches to the content of individual elements of the subject of victimology, which, in turn, forms the motivation for further discussion of representatives of domestic and foreign criminological schools. Justification of the genesis and content of the conceptual apparatus of victimology, its individual theoretical provisions is an integral part of the development of the concept of combating crime and has not only scientific, but also important practical importance. Consequently, the tasks of victimology include the study of not only those who was the victim, but also those who have never acquired the status of a direct victim of the crime. The purpose of such studies are to identify a complex of certain properties capable of imported in criminal manifestations, which allows to carry out the victimological forecast for both individual and mass levels. The study of crime victims is necessary to solve many problems, especially related to the organization of their physical protection.