| I investigate the institutional, historical, and socioeconomic determinants of the rule of law through comparative statistical analysis of 120 countries between 1996-2004. Additionally, I perform field experiments by surveying investors, elites and risk analysts before and after national elections in Argentina, Brazil and Mexico. These surveys explore the causal mechanisms behind the aggregate results by cataloging shifts in perceptions of governance while holding other institutional and economic variables constant. I then revise the aggregate model to reflect the insights gleaned from fieldwork and comprehensively explain the rule of law. |
