Culture, Openness, and Finance

Dice Center Working Paper No. 2001-02

46 Pages Posted: 22 Mar 2001

See all articles by Rohan Williamson

Rohan Williamson

Georgetown University - McDonough School of Business

René M. Stulz

Ohio State University (OSU) - Department of Finance; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: March 2001

Abstract

Religions have little to say about shareholders but have much to say about creditors. We find that the origin of a country's legal system is more important than its religion and language in explaining shareholder rights. However, a country's principal religion helps predict the cross-sectional variation in creditor rights better than a country's openness to international trade, its language, its income per capita, or the origin of its legal system. Catholic countries protect the rights of creditors less than other countries, and long-term debt is less important in these countries. A country's openness to international trade mitigates the influence of religion on creditor rights. Religion and language are also important predictors of how countries enforce rights.

JEL Classification: G15, G30, G38

Suggested Citation

Williamson, Rohan G. and Stulz, Rene M., Culture, Openness, and Finance (March 2001). Dice Center Working Paper No. 2001-02, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=263507 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.263507

Rohan G. Williamson

Georgetown University - McDonough School of Business ( email )

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Washington, DC 20057
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Rene M. Stulz (Contact Author)

Ohio State University (OSU) - Department of Finance ( email )

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United States

HOME PAGE: http://www.cob.ohio-state.edu/fin/faculty/stulz

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI)

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Belgium

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