Court Funding and Judicial Corruption in China

Few empirical studies have established a relationship between court funding and judicial corruption in China. It is widely assumed that inadequate court funding erodes justice through denying access to the “have-nots”, giving courts an incentive to delay cases and jeopardizing judicial autonomy. I test this theory using qualitative interviews in seven Chinese provinces and a quantitative analysis of two original data sets of Chinese counties and cities. I demonstrate that underfunded courts are more likely to be perceived as corrupt, and further propose direct measures of court funding and perceived judicial fairness.