Judicial Reform and Economic Development: A Survey of the Issues

Acknowledging the importance of sound judicial systems to good governance and economic growth, the World Bank and several other donor organizations have funded judicial reform projects in more than two dozen developing countries and transition economies during the past few years. Yet little is known about the actual effect of judicial reform on economic performance or even about what elements constitute a sound reform project. This article surveys a wide range of current studies on judicial reform and finds some surprising results.