Congratulations to Professor Ying Xia and Professor Ying Zhu!

Congratulations to Prof. Ying Xia and Prof. Ying Zhu on their promotion to Associate Professor! 

Prof. Xia is an interdisciplinary scholar whose work focuses on environmental governance and developmental studies, taking a socio-legal approach. She is a leading contributor to the rapidly growing field of environmental governance in China. To read more about Prof. Xia's research and publications, click here.

Prof. Zhu is a distinguished legal scholar specialising in trade and investment, in particular sanctions, compliance, and other cutting-edge fields, working closely with policy-makers at both the national and international levels. To read more about Prof. Zhu's research and publications, click here.

Prof. Ying Xia and Prof. Ying Zhu are valuable members of our Faculty, and this promotion is a well-deserved recognition of their contributions.

Julian Nowag on Global Antitrust and Sustainability: Law, Economics, Enforcement (Oxford University Press)

Global Antitrust and Sustainability: Law, Economics, Enforcement
Julian Nowag
Oxford University Press
Published online: September 2025

Abstract: Sustainability is a topic that is also gaining in importance for antitrust and competition authorities. The book investigates how competition law and competition authorities around the world deal with sustainability. It covers, economics, law, and enforcement matters. The book also sets out the basics of the concept of sustainability that are necessary for competition lawyers to work with such matters. It explores what economics has to say about the relationship between sustainability and competition. In the legal part, the book covers numerous jurisdictions ranging from developed to developing countries and the work of established and newer agencies. It investigates how competition law enforcement can foster sustainability and also discusses the legal tools available to ensure that competition law enforcement does not unnecessarily hinder sustainability activities by private actors. In a separate chapter, process matters and enforcement tools are considered, in particular those that are available to competition agencies to foster sustainability.

Xiaoping Wu and John Liu on Constraints in the Economic Analysis of Law in China (AJLE)

"Constraints in the Economic Analysis of Law in China"
Xiaoping Wu (SJD candidate) and John Liu
Asian Journal of Law and Economics
Published online: May 2025

Abstract: Since its introduction to China in the 1980s, the field of law and economics has undergone significant development, with a growing emphasis on empirical research. However, the integration of economic analysis into the current legal study framework has been constrained by insufficient supply and limited demand for this knowledge. This study provides a detailed analysis of the challenges hindering the advancement of law and economics in China. It categorizes research in this field into three main areas: case analysis of legal issues, quantitative analysis of the law, and empirical studies on the economic impact of law and regulations. The study examines the progress made in each category of research and identifies the key obstacles that need to be addressed.

Suhong Yang on Legitimacy of International and Hybrid Criminal Tribunals: Political, Normative, Economic, and Sociological Perspectives (Denver Journal of International Law & Policy)

"Legitimacy of International and Hybrid Criminal Tribunals: Political, Normative, Economic, and Sociological Perspectives"
Suhong Yang (Global Academic Fellow)
Denver Journal of International Law & Policy, Issue 53:1, pp. 1 - 50
Published in March 2025

Abstract: This article examines the legitimacy of international and hybrid criminal tribunals that try atrocities crimes in post-conflict situations. It addresses legitimacy from political, normative, economic, and sociological perspectives. Political legitimacy focuses on the creation of authority. Normative legitimacy emphasizes the criteria for justifications, considering justice, independence, fairness, legality, and effectiveness as metrics. Economic legitimacy explores the cost, i.e., time and money, to address cases, as delayed or expensive justice suffers. Sociological legitimacy reflects the acceptance of the institution by the public, focusing on audiences’ perceptions of legitimacy. Multi-layered audiences make determinations about an institution’s legitimacy based on their cognitions, which may relate to their culture, identity, and knowledge. Eventually, the least legitimacy requirement asks for (1) a proper authority of creation, (2) well-defined justice the court pursues,  (3) process with fairness, (4) independent, unbiased, and competent adjudicators, and (5) a certain degree of public trust especially among the affected populations.

New book by Angela Zhang: High Wire - How China Regulates Big Tech and Governs Its Economy (Oxford University Press)

High Wire - How China Regulates Big Tech and Governs Its Economy
Angela Zhang
Oxford University Press
Published in April 2024
432 pp.

Description: In High Wire, Angela Huyue Zhang provides a comprehensive and sophisticated overview of how China regulates its enormous tech sector. By closely scrutinizing the incentives and interactions among the key players, Zhang introduces a dynamic pyramid model to analyze the structure, process, and outcome of China's unique regulatory system. She showcases the shrewd self-regulatory tactics employed by Chinese tech titans to survive and thrive in an institutional environment plagued by endemic fraud and corruption. She also reveals how the Chinese State has given a helping hand to digital platforms by offering them indispensable judicial support.

Through a robust analysis of the tumultuous 2020-2022 tech crackdown, Zhang explores the model's profound impact on three vital pillars of Chinese platform regulation, including antitrust, data, and labor enforcement. As Zhang demonstrates, the tech crackdown has led to the private sector's retreat and the state's advancement in the tech industry. These regulatory shifts have also steered investors from consumer tech businesses toward hardcore technologies that are essential for China's bid to overtake the United States in innovation.

More than just a study of China, Zhang offers a global perspective by comparing China's regulatory landscape with rapidly moving developments in the United States and the European Union. This comparative analysis reveals the shared regulatory challenges all face and sheds light on the future direction of Chinese tech regulation. Finally, she peers into the future of China's tech governance, specifically focusing on the burgeoning realm of generative artificial intelligence.

Providing an unparalleled deep dive into China's rapidly evolving digital economy, High Wire is a must-read for those interested in how the manifold ways in which China regulates and governs its economy.

Professor Angela Zhang’s “High Wire” Book Talk Series: Please click here for details.
Book Trailer: Please click here to view on YouTube.

Ying Zhu Awarded 3rd prize of the 9th Qian Duan-sheng Award for Legal Research Achievement

Congratulations to Ying Zhu (朱颖), whose article “Do clarified indirect expropriation clauses in international investment treaties preserve environmental regulatory space?” was awarded the 3rd prize of the 9th Qian Duan-sheng Award for Legal Research Achievement. The article was published in the HARVARD INTERNATIONAL LAW JOURNAL, volume 60, issue 2, pp. 377-416, published in August 2019.

    Background on the prize: The biennial Qian Duan-sheng Award for Legal Research Achievement is a national award for legal research established by China University of Political Science and Law in memory of Dr. Qian Duan-sheng (1900-1990) for his remarkable contribution in advancing the law studies in China. The award was established in 2006 which aims to promote the development of law studies and the establishment of rule of law in China. The Award Committee is composed by leading Law experts in China. With significant global academic and social influences, the Qian Duan-sheng Award for Legal Research Achievement is one of the most important awards in Chinese law academia. For more information on the award, click here (in Chinese).

Miron Mushkat & Roda Mushkat on Reconfiguring the Linkage Between Corruption and Economic Development in China: Legitimate Concerns Not Alleviated (Southern California Interdisciplinary Law Journal)

"Reconfiguring the Linkage Between Corruption and Economic Development in China: Legitimate Concerns Not Alleviated"

Miron Mushkat & Roda Mushkat
Southern California Interdisciplinary Law Journal, Issue 32, pp. 75-111
Published in 2022

Abstract: Grappling with the intricacies of corrupt practices in the postpositivist age has become an increasingly challenging proposition. Multiple perspectives, normative as well as positivist, have been brought to bear on this phenomenon that was once thought to be straightforward. Socio-legal scholars inspired by the law-and economics paradigm have largely adhered to the positivist blueprint but have been divided between those who regard corruption as unequivocally inimical to the health of the economy (“sanders”) and those who view it as a force selectively fueling economic dynamism (“greasers”). The reform-era Chinese hybrid economy has emerged as the laboratory where these conflicting ideas vie for scientific superiority. Some pathbreaking research has been undertaken, mostly leaning toward the “optimistic” side. This Article shows that it has fallen short of significantly enhancing that functionally sanguine position and that the weight of evidence continues to support the stance espoused by “negatively” inclined scholars.

HKU Law Welcomes Dr Ying Zhu, Assistant Professor

HKU Law Welcomes Dr Ying Zhu 朱颖, Assistant Professor in the Department of Law.  Dr Zhu’s research focuses on the interaction between international economic law and sustainable development. Her academic interests include international investment law, international trade law and environmental law. She has published articles on Harvard International Law Journal, New York University Journal of International Law and Politics, Columbia Journal of Environmental law, Natural Resources Journal and Nordic Journal of Commercial Law.

     Prior to joining the HKU, Dr Zhu was an assistant professor at Renmin University of China Law School, where she was the Deputy Secretary-General of the Institute of International Commercial Dispute Prevention and Settlement. Dr Zhu was a senior assistant to the president of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). She has served as a legal expert in the Chinese delegation of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law Working Group III (Investor-State Dispute Settlement Reform).

     Dr Zhu holds LL.M. and J.S.D. degrees from Yale Law School, and a LL.B. degree from China University of Political Science and Law. She received the Howard M. Holtzmann Fund in International Arbitration and Dispute Resolution and the Oscar M. Ruebhausen Fund at Yale Law School. Her doctoral dissertation “Too Much of Two Good Things: Reconciling the Tension between Investment Protection and Environmental Protection in International Law” won the William T. Ketcham Jr. Prize of the Yale Law School (awarded annually to the best student paper in the field of private international law).

Selected Publications
1. “A Bottom-up Dilemma: International Investment Law and Environmental Governance,” in Vol. 48 Columbia Journal of Environmental Law (forthcoming);

2. “Do Clarified Indirect Expropriation Clauses in International Investment Treaties Preserve Environmental Regulatory Space?,” in Vol. 60.2 Harvard International Law Journal, 377-416 (2019);

3. “Environmental Discrimination in International Investment Law,” in Vol. 51 New York University Journal of International Law and Politics, 385-433 (2019);

4. “Fair and Equitable Treatment of Foreign Investors in an Era of Sustainable Development,” in Vol. 58.2 Natural Resources Journal, 319-363 (2018);

5. “Corporate Social Responsibility and International Investment Law: Tension and Reconciliation,” in Vol. 2017/1 Nordic Journal of Commercial Law, 90-119 (2017).

Teaching
LLAW3153 China Investment Law
LLAW6186 China Trade Law

New Book by Eric Ip: Behavioral Public Choice Economics and the Law (Springer)

Behavioral Public Choice Economics and the Law
Eric C Ip
Springer
Published in October 2022
71 pp

Abstract: This book provides an accessible introduction to the emerging field of behavioral public choice economics and the law. This field studies how public officials, lawmakers, and judges fall prey to their own biases and heuristics, and how constitutions and judicial doctrines can be structured to mitigate these cognitive shortcomings. Written lucidly in plain language, this book is invaluable to all students, scholars, and general readers interested in behavioral economics, law and economics, and political economy. Click here to download the book (open access).

Ryan Whalen et al on How Many Latours Is Too Many? Measuring Brand Name Congestion in Bordeaux Wine (J of Wine Economics)

"How Many Latours Is Too Many? Measuring Brand Name Congestion in Bordeaux Wine"

Christopher Buccafusco, Jonathan S. Masur and Ryan Whalen

Journal of Wine Economics 

Published on 18 February 2022

Abstract: Firms rely on brand names to market goods to consumers, and consumers rely on brand names to locate goods that satisfy their preferences. If multiple firms are using the same or similar names, consumers may be confused about which product to buy, and firms may not obtain the benefits of their investments in quality. Recently, both firms and scholars in a number of industries have expressed concern about brand name congestion—too many firms clustering around too few terms. This paper applies computational linguistic analysis to chateau names in the Bordeaux wine region to study the degree of brand congestion within a mature, traditional, and high-value market. We find that Bordeaux producers have highly similar names to one another, far more than in comparable wine regions such as California and Alsace. More than a quarter of all Bordeaux producers have a name that is identical or nearly so to at least one other producer, and many terms are claimed by dozens of different producers. Interestingly, however, we find that the most famous and renowned producers have names that tend to be more distinctive than their less famous brethren. 

New Book by Jin Sheng (PhD 2010, AIIFL Honorary Fellow) : Alternative Development Finance and Parallel Development Strategies in the Asia-Pacific: Racing for Development Hegemony? (Edward Elgar Publishing)

Alternative Development Finance and Parallel Development Strategies in the Asia-Pacific: Racing for Development Hegemony?
Asian Commercial, Financial and Economic Law and Policy series
Jin Sheng (PhD 2010, AIIFL Honorary Fellow) 

Edward Elgar Publishing

Published on 15 June 2021

Book Description: This insightful book examines the impact of two competing visions of Asian-Pacific economic growth paths and development governance. It discusses law, development and finance in the context of the Indo-Pacific Strategy versus the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), whilst also comparing parallel development financing systems.

Miron Mushkat & Roda Mushkat on Combatting Corruption in the “Era of Xi Jinping”: A Law and Economics Perspective (Hastings Int'l & Comp L Rev)

"Combatting Corruption in the “Era of Xi Jinping”: A Law and Economics Perspective"
Miron Mushkat & Roda Mushkat
Hastings International and Comparative Law Review
2019, Volume 43, No. 2

Abstract: Pervasive graft, widely observed throughout Chinese history but deprived of proper outlets and suppressed in the years following the Communist Revolution, resurfaced on massive scale when partial marketization of the economy was embraced in 1978 and beyond. The authorities had endeavored to alleviate the problem, but in an uneven and less than determined fashion. The battle against corruption has greatly intensified after Xi Jinping ascended to power in 2012. The multiyear antigraft campaign that has unfolded has been carried out in an iron-fisted and relentless fashion. It has yielded some tangible benefits, yet the negative side of the ledger is heavily loaded. Absent broad-based institutional reengineering, the ambitious and costly program’s long-term future may not be assured.

Roda Mushkat on Economics and International Law: Closer Alignment through Greater Analytical Diversity? (Chinese (Taiwan) Ybk Int'l L & Aff)

"Economics and International Law: Closer Alignment through Greater Analytical Diversity?"

Roda Mushkat

Chinese (Taiwan) Yearbook of International Law and Affairs, 2018 Issue 36,  pp. 1-55 

Abstract: The scope of International legal inquiry has expanded considerably in recent years, in terms of the analytical perspectives brought to bear on the issues addressed, rather than merely their nature and intricacy. Traditional-style approaches continue to feature prominently in the cognitive toolkit relied upon to frame and dissect problems, but no longer exclusively and in an unadulterated form. Novel conceptual insights have been incorporated from the social sciences, injecting a multidisciplinary, and even interdisciplinary, element into the system. Economics has increasingly come to the fore in this context, both directly and indirectly, initially in relation to State compliance with international law and latterly on a wider basis. The narrowly focused, neoclassical paradigm featuring an assiduous, omniscient, and self-centered agent—homo economicus—has given way to more nuanced and multifaceted schemes but, as demonstrated in this article, the process of shrinking gaps in the explanatory façade and weaving together the disparate interpretative threads may have considerably further to go. The evolution of economically inspired international legal theory is traced here with a view to showing how post-neoclassical contributions, supported with empirical illustrations based on Eastern realities, persistently overlooked in the Western-dominated academic literature, might fruitfully enrich this body of knowledge and align it more tightly with behavioral patterns observed across different geographies throughout modern history.

John Liu & Angela Zhang on Ownership and Political Control: Evidence from Charter Amendments (Int'l Rev L & Econ)

"Ownership and Political Control: Evidence from Charter Amendments"

Author links open overlay panelJohn Zhuang Liu and Angela Huyue Zhang

International Review of Law and Economics

published online in Sept 2019, Vol 60

Abstract: The latest debate about Chinese state owned enterprises (SOEs) revolves around whether there is a positive association between ownership and control, or whether all firms in China are similarly captured by the government. The recent Chinese Communist Party (Party)’s policy mandating all SOEs to amend their corporate charters to enhance the Party’s control has provided us with a rare opportunity to empirically investigate this question. We find that the state’s equity interest is positively correlated with an SOE’s responsiveness to the Party’s mandate, while the concentration level of nonstate owners and overseas listing are inversely related. These results show that ownership is important for the Party to exercise control over SOEs, but the Party also faces external constraints from other nonstate owners and overseas regulators and investors.

Eric Ip on Debiasing Regulators and the Behavioral Economics of US Administrative Law (CLWR)

"Debiasing regulators: The behavioral economics of US administrative law"

Eric Ip
Common Law World Review
October 2017, Vol. 46, Issue 3

Abstract: Behavioral economics has revolutionized American legal scholarship in many areas of law, but not in administrative law, the law that regulates the regulators. This article theorizes that the administrative law doctrines developed by the Supreme Court of the United States strikingly resemble a system of ‘debiasing’ devices developed to counteract bureaucratic and judicial behavioral failures in just the areas that they matter most. A strong, alternative, justification may thus exist for the enduring paradox of American administrative law that administrators should be prepared to have their substantive decisions scrutinized by ‘hard look’ reviewing courts, while judges should be ready to defer to agencies on questions of statutory interpretation.

Say Goo's Economic Efficiency Approach to Reforming Corporate Governance (Asian J L & Soc)

"An Economic Efficiency Approach to Reforming Corporate Governance: The Case of Multiple Stakeholder Boards"

Say Goo
Asian Journal of Law and Society
July 2017, published online, pp 1-18

Abstract: This paper points out the problems of the current law on directors’ duties that forces directors to ignore stakeholder interests, with the unintended consequences of misallocation of resources and the weaknesses of a traditional legal approach to law reform, and uses multiple stakeholder boards as an example to demonstrate how an economic efficiency approach to law reform, adopting economic principles, could avoid some of the unintended consequences of a legal approach to law reform and help design better rules that promote allocative efficiency for the benefit of society as a whole. It argues that international organizations should take the lead in promoting the use of stakeholder directors in the board of directors of multinational corporations that have a history of corporate abuses for corporate decisions that have an impact on all stakeholders.

New Scholarship from Bryane Michael (AIIFL Fellow)

1. The Optimal Design of the Qianhai Special Economic Zone

This paper discusses changes to Qianhai's and Hong Kong's regulations necessary to make Qianhai a pre-eminent financial centre. We conduct econometric analyses which show that regulatory reform could increase innovative companies' profits by a factor of 10 over the long-term.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers2.cfm?abstract_id=2907608

2. Hong Kong's Corporate Governance Rules, Lessons from the Panama Papers and Hong Kong's effect on Changing China's Corporate Governance

This paper describes the changes to Hong Kong's law needed to improve profitable corporate governance reform at home and on the Mainland. We show that the adoption of these standards could increase market valuations by 7%. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2914865

3. The Problems and Prospects for an IGAD Development Bank

The IGAD region, covering most of East Africa, represents a challenging area for investment in the best of times. The paper argues for a new design for multi-lateral development financial institutions -- one which focuses on securitisation and less sovereign involvement.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2790661

4. A Theory of Compliance Regulation

This paper looks at the way financial institutions should organise their compliance functions. We create a database of legal complexity of banking regulations around the world and show that increased regulation may promote banking productivity.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers2.cfm?abstract_id=2563981

5. Regulations Determine an M&A Centre's Success

Legal complexity can actually help a financial centre attract more M&A business from places like China. This paper shows the extent to which international law firms and financial advisors have benefited (or not) from their jurisdictions' legal rules.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers2.cfm?abstract_id=2607348

6. SCMP's Letter of the Law

Abstract legal theory can be used in the real world. Roughly each month, I look at the deep legal principles driving law enforcement and business in Hong Kong.

http://www.scmp.com/author/bryane-michael

7. Law and Economics Video Series

Are you too lazy to read academic papers? This YouTube Channel presents the main ideas from legal theory and practice in Hong Kong -- in a graphic and common language way.

https://www.youtube.com/user/lawandeconomics1

8. The Law and Economics Podcast

Too busy to watch a video? Why not subscribe to the podcast version? As new videos about legal theory and practice appear, this podcast makes the content available to anyone with a iPod.

https://soundcloud.com/infographicinstant

Jianlin Chen on Optimal Property Rights for Emerging Natural Resources (UMJ Law Reform)

"Optimal Property Rights for Emerging Natural Resources: A Case Study on Owning Atmospheric Moisture"

Jianlin Chen

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Fall 2016, Vol. 50, No. 1, pp 47-105

Abstract: This Article critically examines the design of property rights for emerging natural resources—naturally occurring substances that humans have only recently come to be able to exploit viably—through a case study of how the fifty states allocate ownership in, and regulate the use of, atmospheric moisture, an issue that has emerged in the context of weather modification (particularly cloud seeding). Building on the surprising finding that legislative declarations of state ownership have not resulted in greater regulatory control or other substantial restrictions on private use, this Article highlights a dimension of property rights design that has yet to receive concerted scholarly attention: the relative ease of future transitions— transitions both in ownership and in control mechanisms. This Article explains how state property facilitates easier and more holistic transitions and argues that state property can be an optimal allocation of emerging natural resources, because uncertainty surrounding the viability of present uses of the resource suggests that property rights arrangements may need to be changed in the foreseeable future. More broadly, the case study reveals how state property—properly stripped of its undeserved associations with socialism—still has an important role to play in property rights literature.  Click here to download the full article.

New Issue: SSRN Legal Studies Research Paper Series (HKU)

Vol. 5, No. 10: 7 December 2015

Table of Contents

1. Beyond Gatekeeping: The Normative Responsibility of Internet Intermediaries 

Marcelo Thompson, The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law 

2. Google Book Search, Transformative Use, and Commercial Intermediation: An Economic Perspective 

Kelvin H. Kwok, The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law 

3. The Evolution of Fintech: A New Post-Crisis Paradigm? 

Douglas W. Arner, University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law 

Janos Nathan Barberis, The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law 

Ross P. Buckley, University of New South Wales (UNSW) - Faculty of Law 

4. Building Judicial Integrity in China 

Fu Hualing, The University of Hong Kong - Faculty of Law

Kelvin Kwok on Fair Use and the Google Books Case (Yale J L & Technology)

"Google Book Search, Transformative Use, and Commercial Intermediation: An Economic Perspective"

Kelvin Kwok

Yale Journal of Law & Technology

2015, Vol. 17, pp 283-318

Abstract: This Article examines two important features of many copyright fair use cases: transformative use and commercial intermediation. While the issue of transformative use has arisen in many fair use cases, there is a lack of consistency and clear guidance on the meaning of “transformativeness” and how the degree of transformativeness is to be assessed. Additionally, in analyzing commercial use, courts have largely failed to appreciate the distinctive role played by “commercial intermediaries” in facilitating socially beneficial uses of copyrighted works. This Article advances economically grounded proposals for improving the way in which courts analyze transformative use and commercial intermediation. First, courts should focus on the economic effects of transformation instead of employing a purely conceptual analysis. In particular, courts should ascertain any complementary or substitutive effects as well as the cost and innovative-efficiency implications of the use: the more transformative the use, the more it tends to minimize market harm to the copyright owner and maximize social benefits such as transaction-cost economies and follow-on innovation. Second, courts should view commercial intermediaries favorably insofar as they facilitate educational or other beneficial fair uses of copyrighted works through cost-efficient production or substantial innovative investments. In other words, courts should view the commercial use in context and recognize that commercial uses may nonetheless produce social benefits that substantially outweigh any harm caused to copyright owners. This Article uses the 2013 Google Books decision as a primary case study, supplemented by related cases from the United States and abroad, to illustrate these arguments, concluding that the court’s decision to uphold Google’s fair use defense for Google Books is well-supported by the complementary relationship between Google Books and copyrighted books, Google’s substantial investments in promoting productive uses of books through Google Books, and transaction-cost and innovative-incentive considerations.  Click here to download the full article.