Political uncertainty's effect on judicial recruitment and retention: Japan in the 1990s

Because of the risk of political interference, in countries with managed courts, jurists who share ruling-party preferences disproportionately self-select into judicial instead of private careers. During political turmoil, such jurists will find judicial careers less attractive. Orthodox potential jurists will disproportionately shun the courts, and orthodox incumbent judges will disproportionately resign. Unorthodox potential jurists, on the other hand, might find the judiciary more attractive. Combining data on a random sample of 1605 Japanese lawyers and on all 2502 judges hired between 1971 and 2001, we locate evidence consistent with these hypotheses: after the political crisis of 1993, the recruitment of young lawyers from elite universities lagged, while the number of early resignations increased. Journal of Comparative Economics 35 (2) (2007) 329-345.