Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/331816 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Series/Report no.: 
ILE Working Paper Series No. 90
Publisher: 
University of Hamburg, Institute of Law and Economics (ILE), Hamburg
Abstract: 
Constitutional compliance varies significantly across countries and over time. One might, therefore, expect that constitutional change is systematically used to bring constitutional rules in line with constitutional practice. We investigate whether constitutional change indeed induces better compliance by the government with the constitution. Using an event study design to analyze constitutional changes in 171 countries between 1951 and 2020, we find that new constitutions lead to durable improvements in constitutional compliance in democracies. The effect of constitutional change in nondemocracies, however, is small and short-lived.
Subjects: 
constitution making
constitutional change
constitutional compliance
de jure-de facto gap
event study
JEL: 
D02
H11
K10
K38
K42
P14
P26
P48
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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