The hazards of piecemeal reform: british civil courts and the credit market in colonial India
نویسندگان
چکیده
The colonial experience of developing countries provides valuable evidence regarding the impact of legal and institutional innovations on economic growth. However, there has been little effort by economists to study colonial policies to gain theoretical insights into the process of institutional reform. This paper considers the introduction of civil courts in colonial India and its impact on agricultural credit markets in the Bombay Deccan. Drawing on historical records and a formal analysis of the credit market, the paper finds that the reform led to increased competition among lenders. Ex ante, we expect that this would have raised farmers’ welfare. But increased competition also reduced lenders’ incentives to subsidize farmers’ investments in times of crisis, leaving them more vulnerable in bad times. q 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. JEL classification: N2; O16; O17
منابع مشابه
Texts and Politics: Postcolonial Revaluations of two British Classics
The major argument of this essay is that Kipling treats the colonial subject as the "other," and Forster proves to be almost as pro-Empire as writers like Kipling. Nevertheless, A Passage to India is eloquent in rejecting British values and introducing Indian voices. This novel records a shift in attitude in terms of exposing the bitter realities about and attitudes of British imperialists. Des...
متن کاملA historical Review of British Role in Iran-Iraqi Dispute on the Shatt-al-Arab Waterway
Relations between the third world countries in different parts of Asia and Africa during the 19th and 20th centuries, to a great extent, were influenced by the presence and policies of colonial powers. Thus, for a better understanding of roots of disputes and issues existing between these countries concerning frontiers, disputed Islands, political and prejudicial tensions, we need to study pas...
متن کاملCourts and Banks: Effects of Judicial Enforcement on Credit Markets
The cost of enforcing contracts is a key determinant of market performance. We document this point with reference to the credit market. We start by presenting a model of opportunistic debtors and inefficient courts. According to the model, improvements in judicial efficiency reduce credit rationing and increase lending, while have an ambiguous effect on interest rates, depending on banking comp...
متن کاملOptimal replenishment and credit policy in supply chain inventory model under two levels of trade credit with time- and credit-sensitive demand involving default risk
Traditional supply chain inventory modes with trade credit usually only assumed that the up-stream suppliers offered the down-stream retailers a fixed credit period. However, in practice the retailers will also provide a credit period to customers to promote the market competition. In this paper, we formulate an optimal supply chain inventory model under two levels of trade credit policy with d...
متن کاملThe Legacy of Colonialism: Law and Women's Rights in India
The relationship between nineteenth century England and colonial India was complex in terms of negotiating the different constituencies that claimed an interest in the economic and moral development of the colonies. After India became subject to the sovereignty of the English Monarchy in 1858, its future became indelibly linked with that of England’s, yet India’s own unique history and culture ...
متن کامل