Institutional Economics Three Talks

Author: Wang Dingding
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-04-23
Features: This book is a collection of dialogues by Professor Wang Dingding, Director of the Center for Economic Research at Peking University and Director of the Interdisciplinary Research Center at Zhejiang University; Professor Wei Sen, Vice Dean of the School of Economics at Fudan University; and Professor Yao Yang, Deputy Director of the Center for Economic Research at Peking University, on the topic of institutions. It includes discussions on the development of the discipline of institutional economics and many real-world issues in Chinese society. As a crystallization of the intellectual exchange among three economists long engaged in institutional research, this book holds significant academic value and theoretical significance. The work records the intellectual dialogues of three renowned Chinese economists: Wang Dingding, Wei Sen, and Yao Yang. The topics of the dialogue not only broadly cover the significance, current status, and future development of institutional economics research in contemporary China but also delve deeply into the ontology, epistemology, methodology, and significance of institutional economic analysis, as well as its linguistic and ideological foundations. The dialogue begins with the grasp of the concept of institutions, then moves on to discussions on the generative pathways of institutions and their moral foundations. The topic extends to the subjective agency of actors and shared "meaning equilibrium" among people, revolving around whether institutions are designed or emergent. Intense debates on the concepts of "order" and "equilibrium" and their roles in institutional analysis further steer the dialogue toward critiques of Hayek's and North's theories. Following the concept of "situated rationality," the topic shifts to the fundamental issues of individual and social choice in institutional generation. Centered around institutional evaluation, the dialogue gradually delves into the applicability of transaction costs, the dilemmas in measuring efficiency, and issues such as social welfare, freedom, and peace.