This insightful collection of classic papers explores the effects of various legal institutions and policies on economic development. The editors include analysis of the historical, current, and future conditions of numerous legal traditions and strategies, both nationally and globally. The volume will enhance understanding of how legal policies influence economic growth. It will also contribute to the selection and advancement of those legal policies most likely to improve overall economic development and social welfare.

Sustained growth depends on innovation, whether it's cutting-edge software from Silicon Valley, an improved assembly line in Sichuan, or a new export market for Swaziland's leather. Developing a new idea requires money, which poses a problem of trust. The innovator must trust the investor with his idea and the investor must trust the innovator with her money. Robert Cooter and Hans-Bernd Schafer call this the "double trust dilemma of development." Nowhere is this problem more acute than in poorer nations, where the failure to solve it results in stagnant economies.

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