Recent Decline in Chinese Economic Caseload: Exploration of a Surprising Puzzle

China Quarterly, Vol. 190, June 2007

23 Pages Posted: 12 Aug 2009

See all articles by Xin He

Xin He

City University of Hong Kong (CityU); University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Law, Visiting

Date Written: August 11, 2009

Abstract

This article explores why the economic caseloads in China have declined in recent years. Based on data collected at the national, provincial, and local levels, it evaluates four possible explanations - structural changes in dispute resolution, economic development, social transformation, and dysfunctional courts. It suggests that all four hypotheses are plausible to a certain extent, but none of them could provide a single, straightforward, and adequate solution to this puzzle. Structural changes in dispute resolution are unlikely to offer a plausible explanation. The cause for decline must then lie either in the total volume of the disputes generated in the society or in the unwillingness of potential litigants to use the courts. It seems that economic development, social transformation, and court dysfunction all have a role to play, but the degree of each factor’s impact varies across time and region. The hypotheses of economic development and social transformation seem to be more plausible in explaining the rise of the caseloads. With obvious limitations, social transformation and especially court dysfunction are more helpful in explaining the fall. The difficulty of locating an overarching explanation in a way suggests that China’s case might have imposed a challenge on the relationship between caseload change and socio-economic conditions which has conventionally regarded as a settled issue.

Suggested Citation

He, Xin and He, Xin, Recent Decline in Chinese Economic Caseload: Exploration of a Surprising Puzzle (August 11, 2009). China Quarterly, Vol. 190, June 2007, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1447132

Xin He (Contact Author)

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Law, Visiting

504 E. Pennsylvania Avenue
Champaign, IL 61820
United States

City University of Hong Kong (CityU) ( email )

83 Tat Chee Avenue
Kowloon
Hong Kong