Rawley Z. Heimer
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Legal institutions and financial development

How courts and contract enforcement shape credit markets and long-run economic development, studied through the assignment of state versus tribal courts on Native American reservations.

Related terms: contract enforcement, Public Law 280, tribal courts, state courts, financial development, small-business lending, financial inclusion, economic growth.

Published papers

  1. Growing Up Without Finance

    With James R. Brown and J. Anthony Cookson. Journal of Financial Economics.

    People who grow up without local banks enter credit markets later and, as adults, have lower credit scores and more delinquent accounts.

  2. Law and Finance Matter: Lessons from Externally Imposed Courts

    With James R. Brown and J. Anthony Cookson. Review of Financial Studies.

    Reservations assigned to state courts, which enforce contracts more predictably, have stronger credit markets and higher incomes.

  3. Courting Economic Development

    With James R. Brown and J. Anthony Cookson. World Bank Economic Review.

    Reservations under state courts grew faster over the long run than similar reservations whose tribal courts enforced contracts less predictably.

Other research topics