IEF Lanlan Liu
The Institute of Economics and Finance conducted its fourth academic seminar on 26th Sepetember, 2016. The dean of the institute, Professor Li Gan gave an inspiring talk on “Advanced Research Topics on Chinese Economics”.
To start the talk, Professor Li Gan firstly introduced the current situation face by Chinese scholars in conducting research on Chinese economics. First of all, China scholars are not able to have a say in academia on Chinese economics research. This is mainly due to the fact that Chinese scholars tend to apply western theories with Chinese data, rather than developing theories based on Chinese institutional background. Secondly, Professor Li Gan suggest that it is important to understand the general principles of scientific development, which consists of identifying the basic facts and key issues; proposing new theories; the tests and application of new theories. The main issues for researches on Chinese economics are the absence of identifications of Chinese specific facts and issues. While the facts and issues in western economics has been clearly identifies in 1950s. Finally, Professor Li Gan listed some examples about the basic facts and key issues in China. For instance, researches on political connection、rural income and housing funds are issues with Chinese Characteristics. He also addresses the importance of using high quality and representative database. Thus, it is of great importance for IEF to carry out properly with the China local governance survey.
This informative and useful talk is highly appreciated by audiences. Lastly the research staff of the institute shared their experiences in data collection and research methodology.