经济学的本质与特性：一个元经济学的问题

对于“经济学究竟是什么”这个元经济学的问题几个世纪以来一直困扰着经济学家与哲学家。这既是一个经济学问题,又是一个哲学问题。在梳理穆勒等经济学家对于经济学本质观点的基础上,以经济学的角度进一步分析经济学的科学性,特别是数学工具的运用对于经济学向自然科学方向迈进所做的贡献做出论述。经济学的人文性主要体现在其研究目的、研究过程受价值观与意识形态影响上。经济学具有科学性与人文性的特质,但是经济学的科学性似乎更加重要。     

中国蜂产业的困惑

我国蜂产业从源头就已陷入恶性循环之中. 中国是蜂产品生产大国,蜜蜂饲养量、蜂制品产量和蜂产品出口量均居世界第一位.上世纪蜂产业是我国出口创汇的主导产业,但多年来,中国蜂产业发展一直处于较为混乱的局面:生产标准缺失、质量掺杂伪劣、名优品牌缺少、养蜂后继乏人等问题制约着该产业的发展.整个产业呈现每三五年一周期此起彼伏的状态:以蜂蜜为例,2005年出口25.73万吨,到2007年仅出口7.6万吨,2008年受自然灾害影响,蜂产品面临大幅减产,难以完成出口订单.     

The Assessment: The Economics of Sport

The study of sports economics has expanded rapidly in recentyears in response to significantly increased demand–forsport itself, for economic analysis relevant to commercial litigationin sport, for lively teaching material in schools and universities,and for research into the incentive properties of sporting contests.While much of the literature has focused on the issue of competitivebalance and how to achieve it, there have still been relativelyfew studies that apply the lessons of the economic theory ofcontests to the analysis of sports. There remain huge opportunitiesboth to develop our theoretical understanding of incentive mechanismsin sport and to conduct empirical research in the operationof incentives in sporting contests.     

The Legacy of Black Lynching and Contemporary Segregation in the South

Wacquant (2001) and others have argued that social control efforts directed at racial and ethnic minorities frequently shift institutional form and become more nuanced as societies modernize, even as the underlying function persists. This study examines the connection between southern lynching and housing segregation. We argue that legal, political, social and demographic changes in the south made lynching dysfunctional as a means of control. Among other more nuanced control mechanisms, modern housing segregation helped serve as a replacement. We test this proposition by relating historical southern black lynching rates to recent levels of segregation in southern MSAs. We find that an MSA’s historical lynching rate is positively and significantly linked to the MSA’s current segregation levels after accounting for standard determinants of segregation. Thus, segregation does not just occur generally throughout the south, but follows a very particular pattern based on past lynching rates. Our findings add to a growing literature on the legacy of lynching, such as studies examining contemporaneous variation in support for and use of capital punishment.     

The Economics of the Internet: Infrastructure and Regulation

The purpose of this article is to inform users, regulators,and economists about the basic economics of the Internet, focusingon regulation of its infrastructure. It defines the Internetand describes its development and organization. It analysesthe regulatory and competition issues associated with conveyanceon the Internet. It then discusses three current puzzles ofeconomic interest. While the article reaches several conclusions,the overall message is that much more work is needed in thisarea.     

Economics: The Sexy Social Science?

Michael Watts of Purdue University organized this symposium as a session at the 2002 Southern Economic Association Meetings in New Orleans. He invited five economists, who are specialists in economic education and other areas, to comment on William Becker's paper, “How to make economics the sexy social science.” which first appeared in the Chronicle of Higher Education (December 7, 2001). Their comments and Professor Becker's response appear below.     

The Assessment: Economics of the Internet

Seen from the perspective of economics, the Internet has beenwidely regarded as a major force likely to raise productivity.However, at least so far, the identifiable effects on productivityappear small and largely confined to the USA. Similar scepticismis expressed about the view that the Internet would be naturallyhighly competitive. On the contrary, economies of scale andscope plus advertising-intensive reputations create the threatof concentration. As a result, a pro-competitive stance forpolicy is required—and in taking such a stance policymust look over the full range of the value chain. Such a pro-competitivestance is, however, not sufficient. Because of other marketfailures and because of the need to protect democratic rights,a wider view of policy is essential. The fundamental policyissues facing the Internet are, therefore, whether it can remainopen, competitive, and pluralistic in a context increasinglydominated by large corporations.     

现行经济学学科设置问题与法律经济学的兴起

通过比较国内外现行经济学学科设置,评述法律经济学的学科定位、学科特征与发展趋势,分析政治经济学、制度经济学与法律经济学的关系,发现在应用经济学一级学科目录下,增设法律经济学这一内容丰富、方兴未艾的金矿学科,已经水到渠成。     

经济学中的达尔文主义:背离与复归

本文阐述了经济学中一个与主流范式截然相反的研究范式：重视整体和演进、寻求在过程中把握经济现象含义的达尔文主义。文章首先对经济学中的达尔文主义传统和牛顿主义传统做了简单的对比；其次，简要描述了达尔文主义及达尔文一凡勃伦范式的产生和理论要点；接着，文章描述了旧制度主义和新制度主义对这一范式的背离、以及来自旧制度营垒的汉密尔顿及来自新制度营垒的诺斯对这一传统的部分复归，从而对百余年来的学术传承进行了一个比较清晰的勾画。     

现代经济学分析中的功能主义：形成逻辑及其形式化危害

基于不同的研究层次及其目的,经济学界一直存在着两种基本研究思维：一是功能性的,它强调对经济现象的存在表现以及现象之间功能性联系的分析;二是因果性的,它强调对经济现象内在或背后的本质以及事物之间因果性机理的探究。尽管因果性分析曾是古典经济学的重要特色,但现代主流经济学却越来越偏重于功能性分析,并日益畸化为形式主义;它在伦理实证主义思维的支配下,不但为现实社会制度提供合理化解释,而且还往往会得出反人类道德的政策结论。     

2012年诺贝尔经济学奖述评:罗斯与沙普利

2012年诺贝尔经济学奖被授予埃尔文.罗斯和罗伊德.沙普利,以表彰两位经济学家在稳定配置理论及市场设计实践中作出的突出贡献。沙普利的研究促进了合作博弈理论的发展,其研究成果不仅奠定了合作博弈的理论基础,而且提高了该理论在实证研究与政策制定中的应用价值。在此基础上,罗斯将实证、实验和计算机模拟相融合,既验证了稳定配置理论,又设计了若干稳定机制,提高了市场效率。他们的学术贡献还包括提出联盟博弈的解概念和分析方法以及在实验研究方法上的开创性贡献等。