A key problem in the Chinese legal system is that many laws, while good on paper, fail to have the desired effect in practice. Most existing studies and policy reports point towards weak enforcement and suggest stronger enforcement efforts and institutional reforms as solutions. This presentation addresses this question from the point of view of firms that are subjected to Chinese law. A case study in ten different law firms in China shows how even when there is limited law enforcement, there can still be a high perceived risk of breaking the law. It discusses how in the absence of law enforcement such risk can exist and what it means for alternative approaches to enhance compliance in China.

About the Speaker

Benjamin van Rooij is the John S. and Marilyn Long Chair Professor of U.S.-China Business and Law and academic director of the John S. and Marilyn Long U.S.-China Institute for Business and Law at University of California, Irvine. By affiliation he is Professor of Chinese Law and Regulation at the Faculty of Law at Amsterdam University and director of the Netherlands China Law Centre. Also he is honorary professor at Wuhan University School of Law and long-term visiting professor at Yunnan University School of Law. In 2010, he was visiting faculty at New York University School of Law as a member of the Hauser Global Faculty.