China's economic transition and the new legal origins literature

Recent years have seen the emergence of a new body of scholarship addressing relationships between national legal systems and various aspects of economic performance and governance. Using sophisticated statistical techniques, this new "legal origins" literature seeks to establish relationships between formal legal categories, such as the Common law/Civil law dichotomy, and national economic and political outcomes. As a seemingly self-conscious attempt to bring about a paradigm shift in the study of law, politics, and economic development, this literature deserves close scrutiny. This paper examines the new literature from two perspectives; first, through the lens of jurisprudence and comparative legal history, and second, through the lens of China's experience with legal reform and economic development. Based on this examination, the paper argues that the literature's ultimate scientific value may be undermined by its reliance on overly formalistic variables, and that its scientific veneer overlays a familiar set of political values and policy prescriptions. Finally, with respect to the challenges facing China it is not clear that the literature offers great new insights. (C) 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.