Women in the Courtroom: Technology and Justice

• 成果类型: Article; Early Access
• 署名作者: Chen, Heng; Chen, Yuyu; Yang, Qingxu
• 署名单位: University of Hong Kong; Peking University
• 刊物名称: REVIEW OF ECONOMIC STUDIES
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0034-6527
• DOI: 10.1093/restud/rdaf066
• 发表日期: 2025
• 关键词: racial bias; gap; DISCRIMINATION; TRANSPARENCY; empowerment; incentives; IMPACT

摘要

Our study analyses 6 million civil judgments in China from 2014 to 2018, documenting gender disparities that disfavour female litigants. We investigate the impact of an open justice reform that mandated courts to broadcast legal proceedings live on a centralized online platform. By exploiting variations in its implementation across courts and over time and employing both difference-in-differences and Bartik IV approaches, we find that gender disparities in chances of winning decrease as broadcast intensity increases. Analysis of the textual content of judicial decisions provides further evidence that these changes in judicial outcomes stem from altered judge behaviours (i.e. attention and effort) under enhanced judicial transparency. Our results demonstrate how information technology shapes judges' conduct, underscoring its broader potential to improve accountability in public institutions.