Legal origins theory

Legal origins theory is a way of looking at the history of different countries and how the law in those countries affects the economic development of those countries today. It looks at which legal systems those countries used and how that system affected the development of their economies. Legal origins theory suggests that countries that use the same legal system will have similar economic outcomes in the future. The most common system studied is the English common law system. Countries that used this system are traditionally thought to have higher economic development and a stronger economic system then those that used another system like civil law.