摘要：We exploit historical differences in foral law to consistently estimate the contribution of thequality of enforcement institutions to economic specialization across Spanish provinces inthe period 1999-2014. The distribution of economic activity in Spain as of today shows astrong pattern of geographical specialization. Regions less specialized in manufacturing(industry) and oriented to services sectors (Andalusia, Extremadura) in the south are comparedwith industrialized/manufacturing regions in the north such as the Basque Country, Navarreor Aragon. We construct province-level congestion rates across three different jurisdictions(civil, labor and administrative) from real judicial data measuring the performance of theSpanish judicial system over time, and estimate the effect of judicial efficacy on the share ofmanufacturing and services in the total output. Using a variety of estimation techniques, theevidence unveils strong and persistent effects of judicial efficacy on province-level economicspecialization with notable distributional differences. The provinces with a historical experienceof foral law are significantly more likely to have more efficient enforcement institutions at thepresent day. In turn, greater judicial efficacy facilitates specialization in high-productivitymanufacturing while greater judicial inefficacy encourages service-intensive specialization. Theeffect of judicial efficacy on economic specialization does not depend on confounders, holdsacross a number of specification checks and appears to be causal. Lastly, the threejurisdictions seem relevant to explain specialization, although the administrative jurisdictionappears to have a more pronounced impact than the labor or civil jurisdictions.
