Social Control in the Digital Transformation of Society: A Case Study of the Chinese Social Credit System

Mo Chen and Jens Grossklags
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Mo Chen: Department of Informatics, Technical University of Munich, 85748 Garching, Germany
Jens Grossklags: Department of Informatics, Technical University of Munich, 85748 Garching, Germany

Social Sciences, 2022, vol. 11, issue 6, 1-23

Abstract: The Chinese social credit system (SCS) is a digital sociotechnical credit system that rewards and sanctions the economic and social behaviors of individuals and companies. This article uses classic social-control theories—the shaming theory and the labeling theory—to analyze the SCS, thereby contributing to a better understanding of the Chinese social-control approach to the digital transformation of society. Our research relies not only on government documents and media reports, but also on first-hand data collected from in-depth interviews conducted in China. We found that the perceived effectiveness of the shaming and labeling mechanisms is enhanced by the design of the SCS framework and the assistance of digital technology but weakened by a lack of transparency and questionable justification criteria, as well as privacy and fairness concerns.

Keywords: social control; labeling; shaming; digital transformation; “Lao Lai”; Chinese social credit system (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A B N P Y80 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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