ABSTRACT
Whereas prisons are usually analyzed in terms of such measures as size and effect on inmates, in China the state has tended to view the institutions as much as anything else in economic terms. For a subject as widely discussed as China’s prison system has been, it is surprising that scholars in the West have subjected this aspect to so little serious investigation. In the past, the absence of reliable information and analysis gave rise to many myths about the prisons as economic institutions, spawned by both defenders and critics of the way China treats prisoners. Some of this, we believe, was laid to rest in our monograph New Ghosts, Old Ghosts (Seymour and Anderson 1998), even though the data then available were limited, especially concerning economics. In recent years, much more information has come to light, giving rise to the opportunity for a more definitive analysis of this controversial matter.
