佃农理论与南京大学

有关土地使用的合约问题一直是有争议的。以往学者们从传统理论上分析,总是认为租佃制是无效率的。可是他们不能解释为什么类似于租佃制的合约方式在近现代还很有生命力。从南京大学获得的各种土地合约的原始资料可以发现相反的结论,说明租佃制是有效率的。这些合约资料帮助我完成了博士论文,并使得我的论文更加精彩。经济学是解释现象的,我们应该解释那些现实的东西,而不应该只解释并不存在的东西。

The Theory of Share Tenancy and Nanjing University

The issue of contract on land use has been disputed for a long time. Former scholars analyzed it on the basis of traditional theories and concluded with the inefficiency of the tenancy system. They cannot, however, explain why contracts, like those of the tenancy system , were still vital in modern times. I drew a contrary conclusion and showed its efficiency, based on the raw data of land contracts retrieved from Nanjing University. The data helped me in the writing of my doctoral dissertation, making it a bigger success. As economics explains social phenomena, we should be able to explain realistic things instead of the non-existent.