Prof. Xue Zhaofeng: Knowledge and Action in Economics

Jul 08-2024   

In one of the events of MBA Lectern, Xue Zhaofeng, NSD Adjunct Professor, was invited to speak on the topic “Knowledge and Action in Economics”. The event was timed on April 23, 2024 – the World Book Day. Previously Prof. Xue had been NSD Professor of Law and Economics and Co-Director of Institute for Law and Economics at Peking University.

In his lecture, Prof. Xue recounted the initial discovery of the Coase Theorem and its subsequent extensive applications. The economist Ronald Coase (1910-2013), by referring to the simple concept of marginal equilibrium, dissected a vast number of law cases concerning pollution and infringement of rights in the UK and the US and identified a consistent economic pattern. This was then summed up as the so-called Coase Theorem under the condition of zero transactional cost.

But Coase himself turned a blind eye to reality; instead, he stressed that real-world transactional costs never come to naught. As such, he promoted research into institutions, customs, and law, laying the groundworks for such interdisciplines as Institutional Economics and Law and Economics.

Economics is thought by many to be about mathematics, accounting, and stock investing, but it is in fact about everyone’s choice-making and economic patterns concern everyone, said Prof. Xue. He has written books, offered online courses, and more recently produced a ten-episode documentary to help people grasp and apply economic thinking modes.

Prof. Xue Zhaofeng received his Ph.D. degree from George Mason University and used to be a postdoctoral researcher at Northwestern University School of Law. For many years Prof. Xue has been committed to the study of the relations between law, control, and economic growth, and his research interests encompass pricing theory, law and economics, competitive policy, and e-commerce governance. Currently he teaches Management Economics at PKU-Vlerick MBA program.