The Notion of Efficiency in China's Civil Law Scholarship

Abstract

The pursuit of economic efficiency is the major driver for the birth of contemporary Chinese civil law. Contemporary civil law scholarship has demonstrated a serious concern for efficiency from the very beginning. However, many examples suggest that the notion of economic efficiency is often diluted or replaced by factors like civil law doctrinal scholasticism, moral notions, inertial thinking of the planned economy or the will of the leader. It has not been systematically attended to or expressed in a detailed and precise way in the contemporary civil law scholarship in China, rendering some economic judgments uneconomical. In the 21st century, it is necessary for the civil law studies to establish a clearer and more precise notion of efficiency, to conduct more direct and accurate evaluations on civil laws’ incentives on people’s behaviors and their socio-economic effects, so as to reduce the cost of social interactions and promote deeper cooperation and winwin outcome among individuals.

Keywords

• chinese civil law scholarship
• individual autonomy
• notion of efficiency
• notion of fairness
• the principle of proportionality