Text / Du Yimin
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Hayek and Yang Xiaokai explored Li Dezhu in their academic careers and pushed the boundaries of human knowledge. They were born half a century apart, with different temperaments and experiences, but with deep spiritual covenants and wonderful intersections of thought. This is because the two unruly hearts are interested in pursuing the classics and the extremely poor mysteries, and there is no difference in touching places.
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· I ·
Adam Smith is a pivotal link in the history of economic thought. Let's pick up the fragments of time and recall his thesis.
In Smith's view, the division of labor was almost the only factor in economic progress. The first chapter of Xiuzi's "Study on the Nature and Causes of National Wealth," "On the Division of Labor," states that "the greatest advance in the productivity of labor, and most of the skill, proficiency, and judgment embodied in the application of labor anywhere, seem to be the result of the division of labor." "The division of labour greatly increases the amount of work that the same number of people can accomplish; saves time from one kind of work to another; invents many machines to facilitate and simplify labour, and enables one man to do the work of many. Not only can the division of labor in the handicraft workshop promote the improvement of labor productivity and the growth of wealth, but also the division of labor between various industries has this effect. "In a well-governed society, the division of labor multiplies the output of various industries, and the general affluence can benefit the toiling masses at the bottom." This is a classic summary of the determinants of economic growth. Since the division of labor derives from exchange, Smith naturally came to the conclusion that the division of labor is regulated by the scope of the market, the "Smith's theorem" named by Young: "If the market is too small, no one will fully devote himself to a specialized profession." For in this case they cannot exchange the surplus products of labour which they themselves have consumed inexhaustibly for the products of the labour of others which they need at will. The most important function of the Invisible Hand is to coordinate people's choices about division of labor and specialization.
After Smith, Ricardo et al. expounded the theory of division of labor from multiple angles. However, the neoclassical economics founded by Marshall introduced a marginal analysis method, which regarded the division of labor as a given factor, examined the problem of growth from a static perspective, and shifted the focus of inquiry to resource allocation, obscuring the profound thinking of the predecessors and leaving behind the dilemma of how the return is possible. Later, Samuelson, Arrow, and Deblu, among others, cemented the system and made it a mainstream economics.
At the beginning of the last century, there were also some sporadic efforts to promote the essence of the classics. Younger joined the London School of Economics and Political Science in the role of Succeeding Cannan, an authority on Smith's research, with a testament entitled "Increasing Remuneration and Economic Progress," which represents Smith's highest achievement in tackling the division of labor. He introduced Bombardavik's concept of "roundabout production", the hole candle "the increase of indirect or roundabout production methods and the division of labor between industries", elucidated the evolution mechanism of division of labor from the perspective of a generalized market, and dynamically "Smith's theorem". It is concluded that the relationship between productivity and the division of labor is the main vein of economics, and incremental remuneration is the basic feature of this relationship. The division of labor and the market are mutually beneficial and mutually dependent, and the mutual derivation is a two-way positive feedback mechanism, and the possibility of economic progress is included here. Unveiling the "Smith-Younggart theorem": the division of labor depends on the size of the market, and the size of the market depends on the division of labor.
The brilliant history of economic thought in the 19th and 20th centuries has two less intriguing confusions. Mill Jr.: How much knowledge have we had about the division of labor since Adam Smith presented his famous example of needle-making? Stiegler lamented that there was no evidence that significant progress had been made in the theory of the division of labor after Smith, and thus the study of division of labor and specialization had not become an inseparable part of modern theory of production.
· II ·
Smith waited for a distant echo to complete the gathering of intellects. It's a journey through time and space.
Hayek and Yang Xiaokai are among the few cardinals who regard the division of labor as economics, as well as the seekers who are here. The two "solvers" ventured into the treasure house of knowledge that they had long admired, cutting thorns and opening paths over the years, and extracting essences. Through the prism of the division of labor, we can peek into economic mechanisms and processes, and with broad vision and profound power, we will become the modern interpretation of classical thought. Regardless of whether the new changes in these inheritances are agreed upon or not, they have made a contribution to the future derivation of the division of labor theory.
Hayek's wandering in "Katallatein" (ancient Greek word translated as "Katarathai", meaning intercommunication or exchange, and having the meaning of "accepted by the community" or "turning enemies into friends"), is devoted to the reinnotization and new reproduction of the principle of the "invisible hand". In 1936, gathering a few threads, inspiration like an electric shock burst out, Xun Min wrote a lonely and pearl-like "Economics and Knowledge". This astonishing work, which is based on the neoclassical view, describes the "division of knowledge" with the nature of a "meta-concept": it is not only quite similar to the division of labor, but it is at least as important as it is the real core problem of economics. A seminal discussion of its intrinsic characteristics reveals that each person possesses only "the kind of knowledge of the situation in a particular time and space", and that the vast amount of knowledge which one uses in economic activity cannot be concentrated and known in one man's mind, is highly peculiar and decentralized, questioning the assumption in neoclassical equilibrium analysis that "everything is known to each member at the same time". Thus, "a new word is like a new seed sown in the garden of discussion" (Wittgenstein).
If Economics and Knowledge is the best question, 1945's Use of Knowledge in Society is the answer. Hayek, who marked the concept of "separate knowledge," argued that socio-economic issues were not only how to allocate a given resource, but also how to apply knowledge. Everyone has information that is indispensable and difficult to have, and can only be used and benefited when decisions are made by individuals or through their active cooperation. Its essence lies in restarting Smith's thinking approach to the relationship between human trading tendencies and "language", viewing the price system as a mechanism for exchanging information, and solving the synergistic problem of "knowledge division of labor". The reason why human beings have been able to establish a system of division of labor on which civilization depends is because they have happened to discover the "price" that carries astronomical orders of magnitude of knowledge, making it possible for each person to use his knowledge to pursue his own goals, which is the more effective and decisive reason for the market economy. The two articles quoted above (and michael Polany's concepts of "personal knowledge" and "tacit knowledge" in later essays) are Hayek's most original expansion of economic theory, constituting the logical cornerstone of the critical planned economic system, shaping the entire foundation of his social philosophy, promoting the growth of a new paradigm of the Austrian School that is different from the neoclassical, and calibrating the subdivision of "information asymmetry", which has bred many Nobel Laureates.
From the idea of the Laogai farm and the subliminal pondering, to the same as Yang Ge to the printing factory to be a Ziren, until the negative Princeton University, Xiao Kai's obsession with "easy work" and "mutual benefit" is lingering. Professor Zou Zhizhuang sarcastically showed that he only needed to modify the econometric model he had done in China to award a degree, but he did not have time to relax, high from his position, and the moths were like fires to verify his limits. In 1988, he used the ultra-marginal analysis method in his doctoral dissertation to turn the idea of division of labor and specialization into a full equilibrium model, which purely conceived the emerging classical theoretical framework. Since then, he has published monographs and standard textbooks alone or with collaborators, and published a number of papers in the top issue. Smith's division of labor is mainly caused by the professionalization and development of specialized crafts, and there is no explanation of how the division of labor itself is triggered, and "Smith's theorem" is incompatible with market competition. Although Yang Ge understands the dynamic relationship between the division of labor and the size of the market, he lacks strong explanation of the reasons why the division of labor depends on the size of the market. The brilliance of Xiao Kai is that the division of labor and specialization are used as variable endogenous, combined with transaction cost analysis into a "double telescope", which systematically expresses the wisdom of Smith and Young Ge, and improves and expands their reasoning. He assumed that every decision-maker was both a consumer and a producer, and that there was no absolute separation of pure consumer and producer; that each person as a consumer preferred diversified consumption, that there was a specialized economy in production as a producer; that the analysis of demand and supply was based on a angular solution. Due to the dilemma between the increase in productivity brought about by the division of labor and the dragging of transaction costs generated by the division of labor, the level of division of labor depends on the transaction efficiency (Xiao Kai's self-cast term represents market conditions such as institutional structure, infrastructure, logistics services, etc., and the application of Samuelson's "iceberg" inversion technology makes the concept of transaction cost empirical and operable, and partially solves its measurement problem). The higher the transaction efficiency, the greater the space for compromise conflicts, the higher the level of division of labor, which in turn will expand the scale of transactions, improve the efficiency of transactions, and the level of division of labor will also go hand in hand. General remuneration increment is the effect of the division of labor network, which will also exist in the absence of enterprise economies of scale, and is compatible with competitive markets.
Due to the "poverty" of the analytical ability of the neoclassical framework, independent sub-disciplines such as macroeconomics, development economics, new trade theory, new endogenous growth theory, transaction cost economics, and property rights economics have been born one after another. Emerging classical economic modeling examines the origin of things in the development of the division of labor, regards many phenomena as different aspects of the evolution of the division of labor, splits the muscles, and pulls out the threads. It not only greatly strengthens the ability to explain various rich dynamics, but also uses an internal principle of "inserting a pole to the end", connecting and attributing various sub-disciplines, and tracing the original pattern of economics.
· III ·
Many of the theoretical hypotheses supported by empirical evidence drawn from the emerging classical framework can be translated into each other with Hayek's logic. To some extent, Yang Xiaokai is an outstanding actor and outstanding practitioner of Hayek's economic thought.
In Hayek's context, one of the most important orders of spontaneous order is the ever-expanding order of division of labor, an order that is renewed daily and can have expectations for the future, an order that leads to reciprocity, peace, and openness. It flourished, stretching strongly from the division of labor within the family to the division of labor between tribes, the international division of labor, until all mankind was incorporated. But in order to achieve the "extended order of human cooperation", it is necessary to implement "rules of proper conduct" that are abstract, purpose-independent and negative. The emerging classical model of endogenous personal division of labor, level of specialization and market integration proves that when the initial transaction efficiency is extremely low, people can only choose the self-sufficiency of "production without leaving the house"; when the transaction efficiency is slightly increased, the local division of labor appears, and the self-sufficient products gradually decrease; when the transaction efficiency is further improved, the new trade products are significantly expanded, stimulating each local market that does not interact with each other to grow into a national unified market; when the transaction efficiency is higher, the population of each country is not enough to accommodate a considerable level of division of labor. There are many free trade zones in the world; at the end, when transaction efficiency is extremely high, only a unified grand world market can maintain a dense division of labor. With the evolution of the division of labor, money, professional merchants, and enterprises have emerged, and industrialization and urbanization have evolved. It is a theoretical picture of a clear extraction of spontaneous order in a different way than Hayek's, and it is an emerging classical formulation of the idea, opening a door to deciphering its complete mechanism. In the logical process, Hayek focuses on the continuous self-improvement process presented by the highly adaptable system (the more people who follow the rules, the more opportunities for those who use the rules to predict the behavior of others, and the more likely to increase the benefits of cooperation, that is, as he said, "the reservoir for people to draw their share will increase"), Xiao Kai successfully portrays the increasing nature of the division of labor, "two zee". The two also exposed the possibility of social order and division of labor in the economy, retreat and even collapse.
The emerging classical uses a sequential game equilibrium model to confirm that the function of the market is not to let all sentient beings own all information, but to promote information asymmetry caused by specialization. When everyone knows only a small part of the information of the whole society, they can make full use of it. The Vallas equilibrium model not only reinterprets the above-mentioned functions of the price system, but also greatly promotes the division of labor because it requires very little individual rationality and information capacity. In this respect, it is an optimal approximation of a classic view of Hayek, which can be used as a text, a reflection, and reinforcement of each other. Hayek's explanation is that the price system is equivalent to people doing their part, just observing a few indicators can adjust the action, adapt to the changing communication system, break through the limitations of individual cognition; the knowledge required for its operation is very economical, and the individual only needs to know very little information. The contract model on the general equilibrium of enterprises built by Yang Xiaokai and Huang Youguang is also a deep depiction of the theory of the division of labor in knowledge, highlighting that the division of labor is the essence of the division of labor. They argue that the enterprise is a device of transaction management knowledge, involving the scarce entrepreneurial activities with extremely low transaction efficiency into the division of labor, and the right to surplus income is the most convenient and effective mechanism for measuring the price of entrepreneurial activities.
Hayek discussed competition as a driving force in economic life. Because all economic problems are triggered by unforeseen changes, their resolution "has always been a process of exploring uncharted territory, an attempt to discover new ways of doing things better than before." "Excavation" as a competition as a discovery process "is of value to the extensive and deep utilization of dispersed special knowledge." It was argued that it was more important for underdeveloped countries to introduce maximum competition than in developed countries, since there was still much to be discovered in the former and would lead to more successors following suit and pushing for necessary change. Experimental models of emerging classical social organization show that the market is a spontaneous process of creation, and that ideas contain the essence of Szychhayek's famous view of competition, and are refined and expanded. The essence of the story behind the model is that human knowledge of the division of labor organization determines the level of division of labor, and the level of division of labor determines the ability and productivity of human beings to acquire knowledge. Competing for knowledge of division of labor organizations is related to the efficiency of experimenting with different division of labor organizational structures, and this is related to the efficiency of determining prices and calculating optimal decisions. Whether a high level of division of labor can be achieved after obtaining information is related to transaction efficiency. This process demonstrates the more important connotation and function of the market, that is, it enables people to organize experiments with the price system to discover a more efficient division of labor structure. In addition, the two met the effectiveness of "Luck" in the competition.
According to the above-mentioned market theory, Xiao Kai had a unique eye to determine the reason why the Soviet planning system could be maintained for a long time: it was possible to share the information of developed countries on the test of industrial organizational structure free of charge, skip the intermediate level of division of labor, and invest in the construction of many factories with a high level of specialization, and quickly deepen the level of division of labor in the whole society. However, the planning system does not have the function of market organization experimentation, and once the imitation potential is exhausted, it is bound to decline. This argument supports Hayek's report that the central authorities "have to assume all the functions of the entrepreneur" in the absence of free prices, correcting his prediction that the planned economy will soon fail.
The emerging classical property rights theory cares about the relationship between property rights, transaction costs and division of labor. Xiao Kai is very clear that the orderly work of the price system must be based on private property rights. An economic system without private property as the basis for efficiency is much worse than existing economic theories envisage. The development of the division of labour and the advancement of technology have made property ownership more and more vulnerable to infringement or have made the cost of protecting property from infringement increasing. There is a dilemma between saving endogenous transaction costs caused by opportunistic behavior and saving exogenous transaction costs caused by agreeing and executing contracts, so there is a problem of optimal property rights ambiguity determined by the sum of the two types of transaction fees minimized. Hayek also casts a glimpse of particular interest here, arguing that the property rights system is the most effective way to coordinate the settlement of conflicts between people found so far, and that the legal system and social mechanisms for the protection of exclusive property rights are the cornerstones of the fertility of the state and the growth of civilization. It is difficult to assert that the existing property system is perfect, and that it does not necessarily take the final form in the contemporary world. Taking copyright, patents and other intangible property rights as an example, the difficulty of defining the optimal forms of various rights is evaluated.
Xiao Kai and his colleagues modeled an emerging classical equilibrium, interpreting the symbiosis of long-term economic growth and long-term economic cycles, as well as the rise in unemployment and the decline in national output during depressions. It shows that the boom cycle is correlated with high levels of division of labor and depreciation cycles in the production of durable goods. This differs from Hayek's focus on how relative price movements caused by monetary growth affect the structure of production. But Hayek's belief that capital is a tool of different qualities, "roundabout production" and opposition to the idea of easing the monetary base and increasing fiscal spending, arrived at Kai. The two have the same view of the phenomenon of recession. The small kai proves that the boom cycle may have a positive contribution to economic development and is the success of the market. Even if you don't understand the mechanism it produces and personally dislike it emotionally, you must never easily judge that this is a failure of the market, let alone try to correct it with the government or other monopolistic forces. Hayek saw recession as a natural healing, intestinal cleanser, keynesian healing with only temporary effects, and only time and market adjustments themselves could cure the unbalanced economy. "Even though it's a mistake, we can remove all the obstacles on the road to progress in this way." At least one thing is obvious here: the non-economic elements of progress, such as technical and business knowledge, benefit us in a way that we are unwilling to give up. Hayek's insights in Monetary Theory and the Trade Cycle, in which the logical mechanism is proved by Yang Xiaokai's axiomatic recourse.
· IV ·
The Scottish Enlightenment tradition was best spread by three thinkers three centuries apart. They were Smith, Menger and Hayek. Hayek is regarded as the last great representative of classical liberalism. Yang Xiaokai is also a scholar who consciously conserves classical liberalism, adheres to British empiricism, and is suspicious of mainland rationalism and scientism. Recalling the following academic films, I can understand the connection between the intellectual and ideological realms of the two people, and the closeness of the relationship is enough to prove it.
Promote the allocation of government power and limited rules, and tame Leviathan with the rule of law. Both of them extended to the study of jurisprudence and political theory, and their tongues were cultivated in the new Yantian. Hayek argues that the rule of law means that the government is bound by rules laid down and declared in advance in all its actions, and limits coercion strictly to the application of general rules. The basic point is to separate the power of legislation from the power of government governance, and to minimize the freedom of action of government agencies. The most essential logic of the thought of Klein klock, Hume, Burke, and Gunsdang is established. I believe Hayek will accept his words: the British "Glorious Revolution" cherished freedom and republicanism, and found a way to get rid of the cycle of revolution and despotism in a country with a long period of authoritarian rule and effectively control the "controller". The government should "get on track" and construct a credible commitment mechanism to oppose the national opportunism of refereeing and player integration, improve the level of institutionalization, and avoid the disadvantage of latecomers.
Based on the understanding of the common law based on precedents, there is a common evolutionary threshold for the understanding of institutions. Hayek's analysis of law precedes legislation, and it is never "invented" like legislation. The more developed legal order is only a detailed exposition of natural law. It is the unintentional consequence of man's actions, a spontaneous order, which evolves logically, and over the years it is transmuted, tempered, layered, and multiplied. Xiao Kai peeked into the shadow of economic history, and the extraordinary mind recognized and moved by the phenomenon of "law of the legal person" discovered by Hayek, "Copper Landslide and Luo Zhongying". Taking into account the characteristics of English common law, the rural reform of the mainland, and the spontaneous formation of private ownership of land and complex contractual relations in Yilan County, Taiwan, in the Qing Dynasty without government control, we have sought their meanings and empirically concluded that history has a long screening process, and the system of surviving after the Revolution for a long time in the living world must have its reasons. "If people understood Hayek's ideas about spontaneous order, they would certainly devote more energy to studying the spontaneously formed institutions and habits in Chinese history or today." Governments should not be superstitious about their ability to create new institutions, but should provide space for the formation of informal laws such as customs and practices, consciously relying on the power of spontaneous order formation. It is hoped that the resources of civil customs will be explored, and through the "equity" procedure similar to that in the common law system, the spontaneously bred "extralegal" cases condensed with a certain "collective intention" will be crystallized into an appropriate system, and the potential Caldo-Hicks efficiency within society will be bloomed.
Hayek constructively softens the nature of human learning, exhorting people to part ways with "fatal conceits," constructivism, and deliberate design. All progress must be based on tradition, and man's rational capacity is also a product of tradition. The highest rationality of mankind is the finiteness of reason. Rules of conduct are derived and passed on from generation to generation, rather than being created by instinct and reason. This has been demonstrated by cultural anthropology. "To use existing historical materials at every stage of development, to refine the details step by step, rather than trying to rebuild the whole." "Competition makes sense precisely because its outcome is unpredictable. Xiao Kai concretely confirmed the theory of bounded rationality, and there is a "common language" that is the same as Hayek's intention and their own expressions. He probes areas and aspects that are beyond rationality, deducing that human decision-making interactions create "fundamental uncertainty," and that the only predictable thing is unpredictability. Imitation learning of the system is sometimes more effective and gives it a latecomer advantage. "Maybe in economic reform, small is beautiful." Interested in the molecular biology of genes, biology was Hayek's lifelong preference. Taking into account the basic laws of the operation of human society, the two have successively broken away from the wishes of their youth.
Yang Xiaokai's view of religion is largely stained by Hayek. The latter has no explicit religious beliefs, but is willing to recognize the indoctrination of religion as a strong support for the growth of the extended order. The restrictive effect of guessing habits and traditions on individual behavior may initially be used as a marker to identify group members. Later, the belief that the gods would punish violators allowed these restrictions to be retained. Kai initially examined Christianity from an economic point of view, focusing on the "third party" function of religion and Christian civilization. After reading Hayek's writings, he gradually conquered the superstition of reason, regurgitated the function of religious culture like a philosopher, understood the incomprehensibleness of certain aspects, and finally realized it.
In Xiao Kai, Hayek's lonely voice resonates with each other. He wrote an article revealing his complex and experience: "I am a person with a unique set of economic ideas, and I have never admired all the Nobel Laureates in Economics, and I still think that they are hardly worthy of this honor. And I'm a guy who has a penchant for the scientific method and never pays attention to non-mathematical ideas. But after I read Hayek's book (he was an economist who never used mathematical models), I had a strong sense of seeing each other and admiring it. I can't tell why I never felt this way before, but I believe that when most people read his book, their perceptions of the world change deep into the marrow. ”
"Hiss hiss, his friend." If Quandi knew, Hayek, who had devoted his life to learning, would certainly be pleased with Yang Xiaokai, a backward Su Huai. If time can be turned back, Yang Xiaokai and Hayek, who inherit the old literature and the precedent of new learning, will certainly be excited to feel sorry for each other, become friends forgotten, lead to heartfelt friends, and eagerly walk hand in hand.
≡ Author ≡
Du Yimin //
END
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