Legal Reform and Good Governance: Assessing Rights and Economic Development in Chile

Legal reforms throughout Latin America have increased the transparency of the criminal justice process and improved defendants' rights. Many scholars conjecture that such reforms also improve “good governance” and by extension economic development. Paradoxically, despite such assertions, there...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Law & policy 2012-07, Vol.34 (3), p.237-262
Main Author: TIEDE, LYDIA BRASHEAR
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Chile
Criminal justice
Criminal law
Economic activity
Economic development
Foreign direct investment
Governance
Latin America
Legal reform
Reforms
Regional economics
Studies
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Summary:Legal reforms throughout Latin America have increased the transparency of the criminal justice process and improved defendants' rights. Many scholars conjecture that such reforms also improve “good governance” and by extension economic development. Paradoxically, despite such assertions, there are few quantitative studies that examine the precise effect of such legal reforms. Using original data sets, the impact of Chile's criminal law reforms on the rights of criminals and economic development is tested. The results show that Chile's criminal law reform has enhanced defendants' rights by reducing the percent of individuals incarcerated. The reform has had a positive effect on regional economic activity, but little effect on foreign direct investment at the regional level.
ISSN:0265-8240
1467-9930
DOI:10.1111/j.1467-9930.2012.00363.x