In Lei and Li (2025), we compile an original prefecture-level dataset on China’s judicial recentralization reform. Researchers interested in using our measures of judicial recentralization constructed from local fiscal data may download the dataset [HERE]. The key reform variables are extracted directly from our replication files, which are publicly available on the Journal of Politics website.
We would appreciate it if users of this dataset acknowledge our data construction efforts by citing the following paper:
Lei, Zhenhuan, and Yishuang Li. 2025. “Making Local Courts Work: The Judicial Recentralization Reform and Local Protectionism in China.” The Journal of Politics 87(4): 1573–1586.