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 CEDR possesses a Discipline of Western Economics . Our discipline is one of the two National Key Disciplines in China and was also among the earliest disciplines in China's universities which offered graduate programs in the area of western economics. As early as in the year of 1981, our discipline was approved to provide the M.A. Programs , and in 1986 was appointed to set up the Ph.D. Programs . Since the early 1980s, there have been 122 students who earned the M.A. degrees and 105 candidates who were awarded the Ph.D. degrees. At present, in the programs of our discipline, 53 students register in the M.A. programs and 25 students in the Ph.D. programs. The discipline has a faculty of 12 members, among them there are 7 full professors (with 6 doctoral advisers), 3 associate professors and 2 lecturers. Most of the faculty members have their more-than-one-year experiences of studying, researching or teaching in foreign countries.

  As one of the National Key Disciplines in China, our discipline is known for her leadership in the field of the Western Economics not only in research but also in teaching. In the aspect of research, such famous economists who enjoy the nation-wide fame as Professor Tan Chongtai , the late Professor Liu Diyuan and the late Professor Fu Yincai and others, are the founders of this discipline. They have made initiative contributions in the field of the western economics as well as in its sub-field development economics. Most of their achievements fill China's vacancies of research and are highly praised by the professional counterparts at home and abroad. Theoretical Researches on Economic Development , a series of 10 books edited by Professor Tan Chongtai , won a very high evaluation from the Chinese academic circle; Studies on Keynesianism , a collection of 5 volumes edited by the late Professor Liu Diyuan , are up to now the only set of monographs which systematically deliberated over the economic theories and the effects of its policies by the Keynesian School; Main Schools of Thoughts in Western Economics with 10 volumes and with the late Professor Fu Yincai as an editor-in-chief, produced a great impact on the domain of western economics in China. These important and pioneering achievements have established our Discipline of Western Economics to be in the countrywide lead.

  Our discipline has steadfastly taken Development Economics as our focal point of research and as our orientation to adhere. In 1981 Professor Tan Chongtai put out the very first essay which stated succinctly the history, current situation and future of development economics, in 1985 he published in China the first monograph on development economics, and in 1989 the textbook Development Economics edited by him came off the press. All this, at that time, played an important role of enlightening the Chinese economists who were to understand or to familiarize this sub-discipline of western economics which specializes in the economic problems in the developing countries. Professor Tan Chongtai also carries out his initiative studies on the theoretical spheres of development economics. As early as in the year of 1984, he advanced, in order not to lose a complete view of the history, to grip a main line of the thoughts on economic development so as to re-explain the Western History of Economic Thoughts. His exploration has changed the traditional approach at home to study the Western History of Economic Thoughts. Under his leadership and his guidance, and after the perennial studies with great concentration, he and his research group finished the book History of the Western Thoughts on Economic Development in 1993. This book was spoken highly of by the economic professionals at home and abroad and was, one after another, awarded such top academic prizes in China's circles of humanities and social sciences as the First-Rate Prize for the Excellent Research Achievements in Humanities and Social Sciences in National Institutions of Higher Education (1995) , the Third National Prize for Excellent Academic Books (1996), and the Second-Rate Prize for the Outstanding Achievements of the National Social Sciences Foundation Research Projects (1999), etc.. In late 1990s, he organized the writing of Advances in Development Economics , which came out in 1999. In the book, Professor Tan Chongtai thoroughly analyzed and evaluated the different kinds of theories of development economics at the third stage of its advance which began since the early 1980s. He generalized the third stage of advance of development economics as the Stage of Neoclassical Political Economics.This book was awarded the Prize of China Excellent Academic Books , 2002.

  Under the guidance of the economists of older generation, economists of the younger-and- middle-aged generation have grown up. The middle-aged leader of the discipline Western Economics, doctoral adviser, Director of CEDR , Professor Guo Xibao , who was honored the Title of Trans-Century Elite by the Ministry of Education, took part in, as a competent assistant as well as a principal member of the discipline, writing of many books which were chief-edited by Professor Tan Chongtai, such as Development Economics (1989) and History of the Western Thoughts on Economic Development (1993), etc. The book, On Agricultural Development, written by him, studied the problems related to agricultural development in developing economies firstly from the angle of development economics in China. This book was awarded the First-Rate Prize for the Excellent Research Achievements in Humanities and Social Sciences (1995) by the Ministry of Education. In addition, he also carried out his innovative researches over such problems as the purchasing power parity of the Renminbi and an international comparison of national incomes. His findings won acclamation from the professional counterparts. Deputy Director of CEDR , doctoral adviser, Professor Ma Ying did a successful job in the domains of history of western thoughts on economic development and of the structuralist school in development economics. He made a detailed analysis of and an evaluation on the thoughts on economic development of the German Historical School within the book History of Western Thoughts on Economic Development . His long treatise On the Structuralist Approach to Development Economics described for the first time the complete theoretical framework of structuralist approach, especially revealed the implicitly main hypotheses of this approach, and explained how this approach was relevant to the developing countries. His essay won the Chinese Society of World Economy Chairman Prize (2003). In a word, in the rank of our discipline, a batch of young-and–middle-aged scholars has stood out on the academic arena in China.

  As for the respect of teaching programs, our discipline was among those few institutions of higher education which started off with the teaching of western economics so early as ever since the “reform and open-door policy” was put into effect. The textbook, Modern Doctrine of Western Economics (1983), co-edited by Professor Liu Diyuan and Professor Tan Chongtai , was the very first textbook about western economics in China and was adopted by China's key universities in their teaching. The textbook made an important contribution to disseminating and popularizing the knowledge of western economics and it was reprinted more than 100,000 volumes. The textbook, Development Economics (1989), chief-edited by Professor Tan Chongtai , is also a best-seller for more than 10 years. It has been reprinted more than 10 times and has a record of issue as many as several ten thousands. And still, as early as in the year of 1995, our discipline firstly in China adopted the economics textbooks in English version used by the leading departments of economics of famous universities abroad and taught undergraduates and graduates “ in a bilingual way ”. To this day, our discipline has formed a whole set of pedagogic system which match the textbooks introduced from abroad. This system is as follows: at the undergraduate level , the undergraduates who enter into such programs as the National Training Base of the Talented Undergraduates as Economists , Public Finance , International Economics, International Trade , Finance and Financial Engineering which set higher demands on basic theories of economics are required to attend the two-level courses, i.e. Fundamental Microeconomics , Fundamental Macroeconomics , Intermediate Microeconomics and Intermediate Macroeconomics ; at the M.A. level , programs are designed into two fields: one is western economics, another is development economics; textbooks of advanced microeconomics , advanced macroeconomics and those graduate textbooks relating economic development used in the leading departments of economics of famous universities abroad are utilized, at the same time, History of the Western Thoughts on Economic Development and some other books of the above-mentioned three series of books are also listed in the syllabi of M.A. programs; at the Ph.D. level , the same two fields of programs, western economics and development economics, are arranged; as for pedagogy, lectures are combined with workshops (seminars), talks are given and discussions are held on the frontiers of western and development economics; besides the representative advanced textbooks abroad for the Ph.D. level are taught, candidates will be guided by the doctoral advisers into their reading, discussing and evaluating the important essays which have been recently published in the leading journals of economics. Moreover, CEDR organizes M.A. and Ph.D. students in their participation of routinely “ Growth and Development Seminar ”, and in discussing the “hot-spot problems” which are concerned in China's currently economic performance and her economic development. The authority of Wuhan University attaches high importance to our discipline. In recent years, the Department of Pedagogical Affairs has increased financial support into the pedagogic research within our discipline. At present, two projects of pedagogy, “ On the Pedagogic Reform in Teaching Western Economics in a Bilingual Way ” and “ A Plan of Building the Courses of Western Economics into the Elaborate Works ”, are being underway.

  The goals of our discipline are as follows: Utilizing the CEDR as our academic terrace, taking the aim of following the tracks of contemporary frontiers of western and development economics as well as giving impetus to the course of Sinolizing development economics as our focal points, combining the theoretical study with the great practice of China's reforms and development, we will up with the time, continuously blaze new trails, maintain the characteristics of our own and evolve an academic style of our own, and try to build the CEDR into a base camp of the Luojia Hill School in the circle of development economics.


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