本课题旨在测度我国各地司法效率，并以此研究法治发展水平与经济增长间的关系。课题使用自2008年来全国法院近八千万份裁判文书数据，提炼衡量各地（至区县级）历年合同执行效率、债权人保护水平、知识产权保护水平、行政权力制衡程度、司法地方保护主义程度的客观指标，并综合这些微观数据，构建一套衡量各地司法效率和法治发展水平的综合指数。同时，利用一系列自然实验场景，本课题还将研究涉及司法效率、私权保护及经济增长关系的三个具体问题，包括：（1）合同执行效率与企业产业选择、服务业发展——以民事诉讼繁简分流改革为准实验场景；（2）行政诉讼、私权保护与民营部门发展——以各地行政案件集中管辖为准实验场景；（3）司法地方保护主义与证券投资者保护——以最高人民法院设立巡回法庭为准实验场景。课题共分为四个专题，专题一的指数构建是专题二至四（具体经济问题）的研究基础。

In this research project, we measure the performance of courts across China, and study the relationship between law and economic development in the country. We use data derived from nearly eighty million judicial decisions in China to measure courts’ performance, as detailed as to the county level. Specific measurements include courts’ performance in contract enforcement, protection of creditor right, protection of intellectual property, check and balance against the administrative branch, and anti-judicial localism. We also combine these measurements to construct a general rule of law index in China. Using these data and indexes, and employing a set of natural experimental settings, we study three specific issues concerning judicial performance, the protection of private right, and economic growth, including i) contract enforcement, firms’ choice of entering different industries, and the development of the service industry (using a reform in civil procedure as a quasi-experimental setting); ii) judicial check and balance against the administrative branch and the development of the private sector (using the reform on the concentration of administrative litigation as a quasi-experimental setting); iii) anti-judicial localism and the protection of investors in the securities market (using the establishment of circuit courts as a quasi-experimental setting). This research project includes four sections. Section I introduces the measurements and the construction of the rule of law index, which founds the basis for sections II to IV.