Newsletter No. 294

第二九四期　二零零七年三月十九日 No. 294 19 March 2007 1 第二九四期　二零零七年三月十九日 No. 294 19 March 2007 諾貝爾經濟獎得主闡釋新經濟演化論 Nobel Laureate Douglass C. North Lectures at CUHK 一 九九三年諾貝爾經濟學獎得獎人道格拉斯．諾 斯教授本月一日蒞臨中大主講「原始政體」。 諾斯教授在講座中介紹一套嶄新的經濟演化理論，指 出人類為追求各種目的而建構的社會組織，在歷史長 河中不斷湧現，而由社會、政治和經濟精英所組建的 原始政體亦是歷史進程中衍生的產物。諾斯教授並解 釋了原始政體為何出現，從原始政體演變為開放社會 的過程又為何如此艱巨。 出席講座者包括政府財經官員、本港大學經濟學者、 中大師生校友、中學教師及學生。中大更特別安排網 上直播，供中港兩地未能出席者收看。 諾斯教授一九四二年在柏克萊加州大學畢業，取得政 治科學、哲學及經濟 學的文學士學位， 一九五二年再獲 該校的經濟學博 士學位。諾斯教 授於西雅圖華盛 饒宗頤教授九秩華誕祝壽晚宴 大 學於一月二十六日為偉倫講座教授饒宗頤教授舉行九秩華誕祝壽 晚宴。 晚宴出席者眾，百多名中大友好、大學及書院校董和校友、饒教授 的友好和學生，以及潮州同鄉，濟濟一堂為饒公祝壽。晚宴上 中大校董會主席鄭維健博士向饒公致送刻有一代草聖于右任 先生所書的「龍馬精神壽且康」墨硯。劉遵義校長在晚 宴上表示：「饒教授學貫中西，博古通今，是馳譽中外 的大學問家，同時不單是香港人，更是中國人心目中推 崇備至的『國寶』，我們都尊稱他為『饒公』。」 饒教授是一代藝術宗師，詩、琴、書、畫、無不精絕， 與中大結緣三十多年，自一九七三年開始，已在中文系 作育英才；榮休後，繼續在中國文化研究所和藝術系從 事研究和創作。他是中文大學的偉倫榮譽藝術講座教授 和中國語言及文學榮休講座教授。 饒宗頤教授及何文匯教授講辭見後頁。 頓大學的經濟學系執教三十三年，並連續五年擔任經濟 研究所所長。一九八三年，諾斯教授加入聖路易斯的 華盛頓大學，現任聖路易斯華盛頓大學首任 Spencer T. Olin 文學及科學講座教授，以及胡佛研究所的 Bartlett Burnap 高級研究員。 諾斯教授的研究興趣遍及產權、交易成本、歷史上的經 濟組織、政體論、搭便車等問題，並集中研究政治和經 濟制度的形成，以及這些制度對經濟表現的長遠影響， 研究結果由劍橋大學出版社出版成書，題為《制度、制 度的變革與經濟表現》。 諾斯教授五十多年來，一直思考由一個簡單問題引申出 來的複雜變化：為什麼某些國家會漸趨發達，另一些國 家則依然貧困如昔？諾斯教授近年更開始應用認知及行 為科學的理論去分析理解經濟隨時間流逝的演變。 T he University invited Prof. Douglass C. North, 1993 Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences to deliver a lecture entitled ‘The Natural State’ on 1 March. In his lecture, Prof. North provided a whole new approach to understanding the process of economic change. The natural state is a complex construct of independent political, economic, and social elites that tend to evolve automatically as humans create societal organizations throughout history. The lecture’s focus was why the natural state is natural and why it is so difficult to transform to an ‘open access’ society. In attendence were government officials, scholars of local universities, CUHK staff and students, as well as secondary school teachers and students. The lecture was broadcast live on the CUHKwebsite for the benefit of viewers in Hong Kong and Mainland China. Prof. Douglass C. North obtained a triple BA degree in Political Science, Philosophy, and Economics in 1942, and a Ph.D. degree in Economics in 1952 from UC Berkeley. He began his academic career at the University of Washington in Seattle where he spent 33 years as a member of the Economics faculty, including five years as director of the Institute for Economic Research. Currently he is the Bartlett Burnap Senior Fellow at the Hoover Institution. Prof. North joined the faculty of Washington University in St. Louis in 1983, and was installed as the first Spencer T. Olin Professor in Arts and Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis in October 1996. His research interests have included property rights, transaction costs, economic organization in history, a theory of the state, the free rider problem; and have focused on the formation of political and economic institutions and the consequences of these institutions on the performance of economies through time. That research was published by Cambridge University Press in Institutions, Institutional Change and Economic Performance . His most recent research is set forth in his current book Understanding the Process of Economic Change .