Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/30141 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2009
Series/Report no.: 
MAGKS Joint Discussion Paper Series in Economics No. 2009,38
Publisher: 
Philipps-University Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Marburg
Abstract: 
I argue that the rule of law consists of many dimensions and that much information is lost when variables proxying for these dimensions are simply aggregated. I draw on the most important innovations from various legal traditions to propose a concept of the rule of law likely to find general support. To make the concept measurable, an ideal approach is contrasted with a pragmatic one. The pragmatic approach consists of eight different dimensions. I show that the bivariate correlations between them are usually very low, evidence that more fine-grained indicators of the rule of law, rather than a single hard-to-interpret one, are necessary for its measurement. The paper presents a list of desirable variables that could improve the measurement of various aspects of the rule of law.
Subjects: 
Rule of Law
Institutions
Governance
Measurement
Formal vs. Informal Institutions
JEL: 
B41
C81
C82
H11
K00
O17
O43
O57
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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