Notaries as “public good” intermediaries: analysis of their functions using OECD PMR and the World Bank B-Ready indicators

Abstract

The exploration of OECD PMR and World Bank data, allowed to understand the impact of regulation on the notarial activity as well as the notarial performances (property transfer and company incorporation) compared to countries not adopting notaries. The last edition of the PMR indicator, as in the past OECD report, shows a trend of negative correlation between level of regulation and cost paid by the consumer for the property transfer. A higher level of regulation therefore tendo to produce better results for consumers precisely because the notary is part of the administration of justice and his services represent a "public good". As regards the comparison of scores between countries that adopt the notary and others that adopt other systems, the analysis of the B-Ready data shows better performances of the countries with notaries both for real estate transfers and for company incorporation.

These findings invite a broader reconsideration of how regulation is conceptualized and measured in the context of legal services. From an economic standpoint, the civil law notariat is not a regulatory anomaly, but a functionally efficient institutional design that internalizes market failures, such as information asymmetry, contractual incompleteness, and enforcement risk, at the very heart of transactional life. The data presented throughout the paper demonstrate that regulation does not necessarily entail inefficiency. On the contrary, well-calibrated regulatory frameworks—such as those governing notaries—may reduce total transaction costs by providing legal certainty ex ante, thereby lowering litigation, renegotiation, and enforcement costs ex post. Therefore, this paper calls for a redefinition of what constitutes “efficient regulation” in the legal sector. It advocates for evaluation tools that take into account not only market openness but also the institutional role of legal professionals in delivering public value through trust, risk reduction, and systemic coherence. Such a shift is not merely technical; it is foundational for ensuring that regulatory reform enhances both market performance and legal robustness.