How to measure the rule of law

Arbeitspapier

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.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: MAGKS Joint Discussion Paper Series in Economics ; No. 2009,38

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Economic Methodology ; Methodology for Collecting, Estimating, and Organizing Microeconomic Data; Data Access ; Methodology for Collecting, Estimating, and Organizing Macroeconomic Data; Data Access ; Structure, Scope, and Performance of Government ; Law and Economics: General ; Formal and Informal Sectors; Shadow Economy; Institutional Arrangements ; Institutions and Growth ; Comparative Studies of Countries
• Subject: Rule of Law ; Institutions ; Governance ; Measurement ; Formal vs. Informal Institutions

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Voigt, Stefan
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Philipps-University Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics
• (where): Marburg
• (when): 2009

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/30141
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:44 AM CET