Katharina Pistor
Biographic Data
| ID | 376129 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Katharina Pistor |
| GIVEN NAMES | Katharina |
| FAMILY NAME | Pistor |
| SIGNATURE | PISTOR K |
| AFFILIATIONS | New York Law School |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-1810-2403 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 28 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 68 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 25 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 3 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2002 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Coding the Legal Infrastructures of Capitalism—A Conversation with Katharina Pistor
In this episode of Planetary Choices, we had the pleasure of welcoming Katharina Pistor, Edward B. Parker Professor of Comparative Law at Columbia Law School and author of two books, The Code of Capital and The Law of Capitalism and How to Transform It. Katharina is an expert in the legal and social sciences and examines the ways in which law shapes global relations and how they, in turn, transform the law. Today, along with our host Hagen Schulz…
The Law of Capitalism and How to Transform It
A fascinating study of the legal underpinnings of capitalism, reasons why the system must be transformed, and actions we can take. Even though capitalism has been conventionally described as an economic system, it is actually a deeply entrenched legal regime. Law provides the material for coding simple objects, promises, and ideas as capital assets. It also provides the means for avoiding the legal constraints that societies have frequently impos…
Comment les droits de propriété contribuent-ils aux inégalités ? Le pouvoir du codage juridique
Le nouveau consensus de Washington
Les maîtres du code
Le codage juridique d'un nombre croissant d'actifs par les avocats d'affaires crée du capital et donc des inégalités. De plus, il sape le pouvoir des États, qui abdiquent une part de leur souveraineté juridique et monétaire. Est-il possible de reprendre le contrôle du droit
Rechtsvergleichung zwischen Rechts- und politischer Ökonomie: Am Beispiel des Unternehmensrechts
Kaum ein Rechtsgebiet hat in den letzten Jahrzehnten lebhafteres Interesse in der rechtsvergleichenden Forschung gefunden als das Unternehmensrecht, vor allem das Recht der öffentlich gehandelten Aktiengesellschaft. Der Dialog zwischen verschiedenen Rechtskreisen wurde dadurch erleichtert, dass man sich auf eine nichtrechtliche Sprache einigte - die der Transaktionskostenökonomie. Sie stellt eine einheitliche Messlatte zur Verfügung, an der das F…
Recht und Ökonomie im Spannungsfeld verschiedener Schulen: Eine Replik auf Hans-Bernd Schäfers Buchbesprechung
The 4th edition of the first volume of this work provides an update of the commentary on the preamble and articles 1 to 19 in case law and literature. The structure of the book has been retained and its content supplemented by more recent developments, such as the implications of Europeanisation and digitalisation as well as the Corona pandemic. As of the 4th edition, Frauke Brosius-Gersdorf has taken over the editorship of the commentary.
Die Codierung von Kapital: Eine rechtliche Analyse der Ursachen wirtschaftlicher Ungleichheit
Kapital ist kein Ding, sondern ein soziales Verhältnis. Das hat bereits Karl Marx erkannt. Es ist aber ein soziales Verhältnis besonderer Art, in dem die Staatsgewalt eine zentrale Rolle spielt. Eigentumsrechte, Kreditsicherungsrechte, Immaterialgüterrechte, sowie andere Rechtsinstitute vermitteln privaten Inhaber*innen Rechte, die sie gegenüber Dritten durchsetzen können. Die Durchsetzbarkeit erhöht den Wert des Anspruches und ermöglicht es, die…
Ideology and Institutions in the Evolution of Capital
In Capital and Ideology, Thomas Piketty poses the intriguing thesis that ideology, or ideas about how society should be governed, is a powerful determinant for how society will be governed-as long as we take advantage of historical switch points. In this review essay I challenge this thesis by pointing out that many powerful ideas have run aground because of countervailing institutional arrangements. Oftentimes, they are leftovers from earlier ti…
Law's Elasticity An Inquiry into the Relation of Law and Power in Finance
Law is a powerful commitment device. By entering into a binding contract, a contracting party can invoke the coercive law enforcement powers of states to compel another party to perform. Many, if not most, contracts are carried out without ever invoking these coercive powers; they operate in the shadow of the law. Less attention has been paid to the flip side of law's shadow: the possibility of relaxing or suspending the full force of the law, or…
Katharina Pistor’s The Code of Capital: How the Law Creates Wealth and Inequality
The Editorial Board of Social and Legal Studies is pleased to present this Dialogue & Debate which features Katharina Pistor’s fascinating new book, The Code of Capital. We thank our contributors – Marco Goldoni, Iagê Miola, Anna Chadwick, and Sol Picciotto – for their insightful engagements with the book. We also wish to express our particular gratitude to Katharina Pistor for agreeing to contribute a rejoinder to the Dialogue & Debate, and for …
Statehood in the digital age1
The value of law
The Code of Capital: How the Law Creates Wealth and Inequality
Capital's global rule
Moneys’ legal hierarchy
This chapter discusses the way in which money is legally constructed and hierarchically structured. In financial markets, participants trade different forms of money, some of which is state-issued and some privately issued. A form of money is closer to the “apex” of the system the closer it is to entities that can issue liquid means or determine acceptable forms of payment, such as central banks and governments. During financial crises, market pa…
Legal institutionalism: Capitalism and the constitutive role of law
Social scientists have paid insufficient attention to the role of law in constituting the economic institutions of capitalism. Part of this neglect emanates for inadequate conceptions of the nature of law itself. Spontaneous conceptions of law and property rights that downplay the role of the state are criticized here, because they typically assume relatively small numbers of agents and underplay the complexity and uncertainty in developed capita…
Multijuralism: Manifestations, Causes, and Consequences
Governing Access to Essential Resources
Essential resources do more than satisfy people’s needs. They ensure a dignified existence. Since the competition for essential resources, particularly fresh water and arable land, is increasing and standard legal institutions, such as property rights and national border controls, are strangling access to resources for some while delivering prosperity to others, many are searching for ways to ensure their fair distribution. This book argues that …
Regulatory capabilities: A normative framework for assessing the distributional effects of regulation
This paper develops the normative concept of “regulatory capabilities.” It asserts that nobody – individuals, groups, or entities – should be subjected to a regulatory regime without some freedom to determine its nature. Self‐determination in this context means the ability to accept or reject a regulatory regime imposed by others or to develop viable alternative approaches. We use the term “regulatory capabilities” to capture the importance of en…
A legal theory of finance
Law & Capitalism: What Corporate Crises Reveal about Legal Systems and Economic Development around the World
Trade, Law, and Product Complexity
How does the quality of national institutions that enforce the rule of law influence international trade? Anderson and Marcouiller argue that bad institutions located in the importer's country deter international trade because they enable economic predators to steal and extort rents at the importer's border. We complement this research and show how good institutions located in the exporter's country enhance international trade, in particular, tra…
Unternehmensgruppen in mittel- und osteuropäischen Ländern: Entstehung, Verhalten und Steuerung aus rechtlicher und ökonomischer Sicht
Während Unternehmensgruppen in Westeuropa Gegenstand intensiver, auch rechtsvergleichender Forschung und lebhafter rechtspolitischer Diskussionen sind, lassen sich Kenntnisse über Unternehmensgruppen in mittel- und osteuropäischen Ländern häufig nur mit beträchtlichem Aufwand und bisher nur für einzelne Länder gewinnen. Wie entstehen und verhalten sich Unternehmensgruppen in diesen Transformationsländern? Führende Wissenschaftler aus Mittel-, Ost…
Economic development, legality, and the transplant effect
The Transplant Effect
Journal Article The Transplant Effect Get access Daniel Berkowitz, Daniel Berkowitz 1Daniel Berkowitz is Associate Professor, Department of Economics, University of Pittsburgh and Davidson Institute, University of Michigan Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Katharina Pistor, Katharina Pistor 2Katharina Pistor is Associate Professor of Law, Columbia Law School, Columbia University Search for other works by thi…
Regulatory capabilities: A normative framework for assessing the distributional effects of regulation
This paper develops the normative concept of “regulatory capabilities.” It asserts that nobody – individuals, groups, or entities – should be subjected to a regulatory regime without some freedom to determine its nature. Self‐determination in this context means the ability to accept or reject a regulatory regime imposed by others or to develop viable alternative approaches. We use the term “regulatory capabilities” to capture the importance of en…
Statehood in the digital age1
The value of law
The Standardization of Law and Its Effect on Developing Economies
Journal Article The Standardization of Law and Its Effect on Developing Economies Get access Katharina Pistor Katharina Pistor 1Kathahina Pistor is Associate Professor of Law, Columbia Law School. I would like to thank the participants of the G24 Technical Group Meeting in Lima, 2-4 March 2000, as well as for participants at the MacArthur Transnational Economic Security Workshop for comments and suggestions. Financial support from the United Nati…
Katharina Pistor’s The Code of Capital: How the Law Creates Wealth and Inequality
The Editorial Board of Social and Legal Studies is pleased to present this Dialogue & Debate which features Katharina Pistor’s fascinating new book, The Code of Capital. We thank our contributors – Marco Goldoni, Iagê Miola, Anna Chadwick, and Sol Picciotto – for their insightful engagements with the book. We also wish to express our particular gratitude to Katharina Pistor for agreeing to contribute a rejoinder to the Dialogue & Debate, and for …
Capital's global rule
The Demand for Constitutional Law
The Demand for Constitutional Law
The Standardization of Law and Its Effect on Developing Economies
Journal Article The Standardization of Law and Its Effect on Developing Economies Get access Katharina Pistor Katharina Pistor 1Kathahina Pistor is Associate Professor of Law, Columbia Law School. I would like to thank the participants of the G24 Technical Group Meeting in Lima, 2-4 March 2000, as well as for participants at the MacArthur Transnational Economic Security Workshop for comments and suggestions. Financial support from the United Nati…
Unternehmensgruppen in mittel- und osteuropäischen Ländern: Entstehung, Verhalten und Steuerung aus rechtlicher und ökonomischer Sicht
Während Unternehmensgruppen in Westeuropa Gegenstand intensiver, auch rechtsvergleichender Forschung und lebhafter rechtspolitischer Diskussionen sind, lassen sich Kenntnisse über Unternehmensgruppen in mittel- und osteuropäischen Ländern häufig nur mit beträchtlichem Aufwand und bisher nur für einzelne Länder gewinnen. Wie entstehen und verhalten sich Unternehmensgruppen in diesen Transformationsländern? Führende Wissenschaftler aus Mittel-, Ost…
Economic development, legality, and the transplant effect
The Transplant Effect
Journal Article The Transplant Effect Get access Daniel Berkowitz, Daniel Berkowitz 1Daniel Berkowitz is Associate Professor, Department of Economics, University of Pittsburgh and Davidson Institute, University of Michigan Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Katharina Pistor, Katharina Pistor 2Katharina Pistor is Associate Professor of Law, Columbia Law School, Columbia University Search for other works by thi…
Trade, Law, and Product Complexity
How does the quality of national institutions that enforce the rule of law influence international trade? Anderson and Marcouiller argue that bad institutions located in the importer's country deter international trade because they enable economic predators to steal and extort rents at the importer's border. We complement this research and show how good institutions located in the exporter's country enhance international trade, in particular, tra…
Law & Capitalism: What Corporate Crises Reveal about Legal Systems and Economic Development around the World
A legal theory of finance
Governing Access to Essential Resources
Essential resources do more than satisfy people’s needs. They ensure a dignified existence. Since the competition for essential resources, particularly fresh water and arable land, is increasing and standard legal institutions, such as property rights and national border controls, are strangling access to resources for some while delivering prosperity to others, many are searching for ways to ensure their fair distribution. This book argues that …
Regulatory capabilities: A normative framework for assessing the distributional effects of regulation
This paper develops the normative concept of “regulatory capabilities.” It asserts that nobody – individuals, groups, or entities – should be subjected to a regulatory regime without some freedom to determine its nature. Self‐determination in this context means the ability to accept or reject a regulatory regime imposed by others or to develop viable alternative approaches. We use the term “regulatory capabilities” to capture the importance of en…
Moneys’ legal hierarchy
This chapter discusses the way in which money is legally constructed and hierarchically structured. In financial markets, participants trade different forms of money, some of which is state-issued and some privately issued. A form of money is closer to the “apex” of the system the closer it is to entities that can issue liquid means or determine acceptable forms of payment, such as central banks and governments. During financial crises, market pa…
Legal institutionalism: Capitalism and the constitutive role of law
Social scientists have paid insufficient attention to the role of law in constituting the economic institutions of capitalism. Part of this neglect emanates for inadequate conceptions of the nature of law itself. Spontaneous conceptions of law and property rights that downplay the role of the state are criticized here, because they typically assume relatively small numbers of agents and underplay the complexity and uncertainty in developed capita…
Multijuralism: Manifestations, Causes, and Consequences
The Code of Capital: How the Law Creates Wealth and Inequality
Capital's global rule
Katharina Pistor’s The Code of Capital: How the Law Creates Wealth and Inequality
The Editorial Board of Social and Legal Studies is pleased to present this Dialogue & Debate which features Katharina Pistor’s fascinating new book, The Code of Capital. We thank our contributors – Marco Goldoni, Iagê Miola, Anna Chadwick, and Sol Picciotto – for their insightful engagements with the book. We also wish to express our particular gratitude to Katharina Pistor for agreeing to contribute a rejoinder to the Dialogue & Debate, and for …
Statehood in the digital age1
The value of law
Recht und Ökonomie im Spannungsfeld verschiedener Schulen: Eine Replik auf Hans-Bernd Schäfers Buchbesprechung
The 4th edition of the first volume of this work provides an update of the commentary on the preamble and articles 1 to 19 in case law and literature. The structure of the book has been retained and its content supplemented by more recent developments, such as the implications of Europeanisation and digitalisation as well as the Corona pandemic. As of the 4th edition, Frauke Brosius-Gersdorf has taken over the editorship of the commentary.
Die Codierung von Kapital: Eine rechtliche Analyse der Ursachen wirtschaftlicher Ungleichheit
Kapital ist kein Ding, sondern ein soziales Verhältnis. Das hat bereits Karl Marx erkannt. Es ist aber ein soziales Verhältnis besonderer Art, in dem die Staatsgewalt eine zentrale Rolle spielt. Eigentumsrechte, Kreditsicherungsrechte, Immaterialgüterrechte, sowie andere Rechtsinstitute vermitteln privaten Inhaber*innen Rechte, die sie gegenüber Dritten durchsetzen können. Die Durchsetzbarkeit erhöht den Wert des Anspruches und ermöglicht es, die…
Ideology and Institutions in the Evolution of Capital
In Capital and Ideology, Thomas Piketty poses the intriguing thesis that ideology, or ideas about how society should be governed, is a powerful determinant for how society will be governed-as long as we take advantage of historical switch points. In this review essay I challenge this thesis by pointing out that many powerful ideas have run aground because of countervailing institutional arrangements. Oftentimes, they are leftovers from earlier ti…
Law's Elasticity An Inquiry into the Relation of Law and Power in Finance
Law is a powerful commitment device. By entering into a binding contract, a contracting party can invoke the coercive law enforcement powers of states to compel another party to perform. Many, if not most, contracts are carried out without ever invoking these coercive powers; they operate in the shadow of the law. Less attention has been paid to the flip side of law's shadow: the possibility of relaxing or suspending the full force of the law, or…
Rechtsvergleichung zwischen Rechts- und politischer Ökonomie: Am Beispiel des Unternehmensrechts
Kaum ein Rechtsgebiet hat in den letzten Jahrzehnten lebhafteres Interesse in der rechtsvergleichenden Forschung gefunden als das Unternehmensrecht, vor allem das Recht der öffentlich gehandelten Aktiengesellschaft. Der Dialog zwischen verschiedenen Rechtskreisen wurde dadurch erleichtert, dass man sich auf eine nichtrechtliche Sprache einigte - die der Transaktionskostenökonomie. Sie stellt eine einheitliche Messlatte zur Verfügung, an der das F…
Les maîtres du code
Le codage juridique d'un nombre croissant d'actifs par les avocats d'affaires crée du capital et donc des inégalités. De plus, il sape le pouvoir des États, qui abdiquent une part de leur souveraineté juridique et monétaire. Est-il possible de reprendre le contrôle du droit
The Law of Capitalism and How to Transform It
A fascinating study of the legal underpinnings of capitalism, reasons why the system must be transformed, and actions we can take. Even though capitalism has been conventionally described as an economic system, it is actually a deeply entrenched legal regime. Law provides the material for coding simple objects, promises, and ideas as capital assets. It also provides the means for avoiding the legal constraints that societies have frequently impos…
Political science (20 works) · Law (14 works) · Economics (11 works) · Law and economics (11 works) · Sociology (9 works) · Law (6 works) · Law, Economics, and Judicial Systems (6 works) · Philosophy (6 works) · Political Economy and Marxism (5 works) · Business (4 works)