Renowned economics professor Avinash Dixit has recently been appointed as Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Economics at Lingnan University (the University) for a term of five years starting in May 2009.

Professor Dixit, who has been with Princeton University for the last 28 years, currently holds the prestigious John J. F. Sherrerd '52 University Professorship of Economics. Born in India, Professor Dixit earned his PhD in Economics from MIT. He spent his early years as an academic at the universities of Oxford and Warwick in the UK, before going to Princeton University in 1981 where he has remained ever since. Professor Dixit has been President of the two most important economics organizations in the world: the Econometric Society (President 2001) and the American Economic Association (President 2008).

Professor Dixit was a chief contributor to the synthesis that was achieved in recent decades between the two main and rival schools of thought for modern political economy founded by the two towering economists — Adam Smith and John Maynard Keynes, resulting in a macroeconomic analytical framework with firm foundations on market-based (microeconomic) analysis. With this work, which he first proposed in his seminal contributions to international trade and industrial organization, the philosophies of the two masters — Smith’s laissez-faire economics and Keynes’s more pro-intervention analysis of unemployment and macro policy — can be discussed on the same page. This research by Professor Dixit written since the late 1970s made Professor Dixit a major force in laying the synthesis and foundation for modern macroeconomics.

Aside from his path-breaking work that unified the two rival macroeconomics camps, Professor Dixit has also made significant contributions in numerous major fields of economics including microeconomics, international economics, finance (investment under uncertainty), international trade, industrial organization, public economics, law and institutions of economic governance, political economy, as well as growth and development.

Inaugural Lecture

Professor Dixit gave his inaugural lecture on campus on 5 June 2009, the double birthday of both Adam Smith (1723 – 1790) and John Maynard Keynes (1883 – 1946). The lecture, titled “Governance Institutions and Economic Development”, examined various social institutions - social networks and norms, and private adjudication - that attempt to substitute for the missing rule of law. Drawing on illustrations that range from YouTube videos to case studies in sociology, anthropology, and law, and on the conceptual framework of game theory, it examined the potential and limitations of such alternative institutions of governance, with concluding discussions of the different paths toward modernization of the institutions of economic governance.

During his term of appointment, Professor Dixit will spend about six weeks every year at the University. Next year, Professor Dixit will visit the University in June and July, during which he will give lectures and conduct research.

About Lingnan University

Founded in Guangzhou in 1888, and re-established in Hong Kong in 1967 Lingnan University today is committed to the provision of quality education distinguished by the best liberal arts tradition. It adopts a whole-person approach to education which enables its students to think, judge, care and, ultimately, act responsibly in the changing circumstances of Hong Kong, the region and the world.

Lingnan is characterized by a small student body, a residential campus, close faculty-student relationship and an emphasis on exchange and extra-curricular learning experiences. These characteristics are reflected in five areas, namely curricula, teaching and learning, campus life, internationlisation and community service.

About the Department of Economics at Lingnan University

The Department of Economics collaborates with the Departments of Politics and Sociology and Social Policy to deliver Lingnan’s unique-to-Hong Kong interdisciplinary Bachelor of Social Sciences degree. It also provides a highly regarded and popular one-year M.Sc. in International Banking and Finance. The Department’s research and expertise extends to broad areas of economic theory, empirical research and policy work. The 13 regular academic staff, all PhD holders from leading universities, are actively involved in frontline economic research. Their interests include international finance and trade, competition and industrial policy, labour markets, tax theory and policy, housing and health policy, in most cases with a particular strength on the economies of the Mainland, Hong Kong and/or the APEC region.