Justices of the Peace: Legal Foundations of the Industrial Revolution

Tim Besley, Dan Bogart, Jonathan Chapman and Nuno Palma

No 20214, CEPR Discussion Papers from Centre for Economic Policy Research

Abstract: We show that state legal capacity contributed to economic development during the Industrial Revolution. The British parliament relied on local magistrates, known as Justices of the Peace (JPs), to enforce property rights, resolve disputes, and administer public services. Areas with greater legal capacity – more JPs – in 1700 experienced greater population growth and structural change over 140 years. More legal capacity also led to more human capital, fiscal capacity, and infrastructure development. Plausibly exogenous variation in the location of JPs supports a causal interpretation of the findings. These results illustrate the importance of street-level legal institutions for economic outcomes.

Keywords: Law and economics; Industrial revolution; British industrial revolution; Historical political economy; State capacity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H80 K40 N13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-05
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