The modernization of economic life entails increasingly complicated interactions among individuals and organizations at national and international levels. Furthermore, the mix of deregulation and the privatization of state enterprises undertaken in many developing countries, coupled with an intensified international trade of complex goods and services, has increased the need for legal frameworks with clear rules for economic interaction. For example, the increased permeability of national frontiers to international trade and ideas is of such magnitude that it has forced national authorities to consider the adoption of best international practices for protecting intellectual property rights.

This suggests a greater impact of laws on economic interactions and vice versa. Therefore, officials need to design, interpret, and enforce legal rules in a consistent, coherent, and predictable manner to enhance ...