Private Law in China and Taiwan
Legal and Economic Analyses

Comparing four key branches of private law in China and Taiwan, this collaborative and novel book demystifies the 'China puzzle'.

Yun-chien Chang (Edited by), Wei Shen (Edited by), Wen-yeu Wang (Edited by)

9781107154247, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 10 November 2016

360 pages, 13 b/w illus.
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.1 cm, 0.65 kg

Past research and literature suggest that legal institutions drive economic development. Yet China has grown for decades without the fundamental legal infrastructure that was once considered necessary. This is called the 'China puzzle' or the 'China myth'. By carefully comparing the four key branches of private law in China and Taiwan - a jurisdiction that grew with modest legal institutions and shares similar legal and non-legal culture - this collaborative and novel book demystifies the 'China puzzle'. Top scholars in the field use an economics-focused analytical approach to explain how and why the laws have taken such paths over the past four decades. Comparing property, contract, tort, and corporate laws in China and Taiwan, these authors delve deeply into key doctrines to provide a meaningful account of the evolution of private law in these two jurisdictions.

Introduction Yun-chien Chang
Part I. Foundation: 1. Concentrated and distributed law: observations on legal evolution from China and Taiwan Saul Levmore
2. Economic of harmonization and legal convergence Bruno Deffains
Part II. Application: 3. The evolution of contract law in China: convergence in law but divergence in enforcement? Jing Leng and Wei Shen
4. The evolution of contract law in Taiwan: lost in transaction? Wen-Yeu Wang
5. The evolution of the law of torts in China: the growth of a liability system Wei Zhang
6. The evolution of the law of torts in Taiwan: a doctrinal-economic interpretation Tze-Shiou Chien
7. The evolution of property law in China: stick by stick Shitong Qiao
8. The evolution of property law in Taiwan: an unconventional interest group story Yun-chien Chang
9. The evolution of company law in China: mission possible to reform SOEs? Ruoying Chen
10. The evolution of company law in Taiwan: a focus on the blockholder-centric model Ching-Ping Shao.

Subject Areas: Legal system: general [LNA], Comparative law [LAM], Systems of law [LAF]