Religious leaders and rule of law

In this paper, we provide systematic evidence of how historical religious institutions affect the rule law. a difference-in-differences framework, show that districts in Pakistan where presence is higher, law worse. This deterioration economically significant, persistent, and likely explained by leaders gaining political office. We explain these findings with model leverage their high legitimacy to run for office subvert Courts. test find no supporting several competing explanations: rise secular wealthy landowners, dynastic changes voter attitudes are unable account patterns data. Our estimates indicate expropriate rents through legal system amounting about 0.06 percent GDP every year.