Qian Yingyi:

At Prof. Coase's 100th birthday anniversary, I'd like to present my sincere wishes to him. Thanks him so much for the significant influence of his ideas on the international economics circle, especially on Chinese economics circle. I suppose Prof. Coase's influence on Chinese economics circle might have exceeded many other noted economists. I would like to share with you three reasons which I believe responsible for his profound influence in China. 
 
 The first reason is that, Prof. Coase's theories and ideas go beyond the scope of most other economists who mainly study the issue of resource allocation. Prof. Coase instead studies the allocation of rights and authority. The issue of allocation of rights and authority weights much more than allocation of resources in China's transitional economy. China has transformed from a planned economy to a market economy, from an underdeveloped economy to an emerging market economy. This is the first reason why Prof. Coase's theories and ideas have such significant influence on Chinese economics circle. Since we are discussing transformation, the matter of how rights and power should be reallocated is often more fundamental than resource allocation.
 
The second reason is that, Prof. Coase's institutional economics is analytical. That is why his theory was later called new institutional economics. One of the important differences of his theory from the old institutional economics lies in that his theory is analytical. Being analytical means that there are analysis, reasoning, and proposition testing in his theory. The core is the transaction cost, which refers to the transaction cost both in the market and in organizations. The latter is sometimes called organizational cost. Therefore, we could not only make exploration in concepts, but also conduct further deduction in theoretical studies and testing in empirical studies. This is the second reason.
 
The third reason is that, Prof. Coase's ideas enable us to transcend our previous understanding of the market system as merely market transactions. In the market system, contracts, firms, and market transactions are all endogenous institutional forms and they emerge according to the principles of competition and efficiency. This perspective gives us a completely new understanding of the market system as a whole, and enables us to stand at a new height when analyzing institutional transitions.
 
In summary, study in allocation of rights and authority, focus on transaction costs, and the perspective of the market system as a whole are the three fundamental reasons why Prof. Coase's theories have such immense influence in many developing and transitional countries like China. It's also because of these three reasons that I believe his ideas will continue to have strong influence in China in the future.

Thank you all.

Xiao Geng:

Firstly, Happy birthday to Prof. Coase!
I'd like to compare Prof. Coase's theories to Newton's laws in social sciences. Why? This is because Newton's laws are still applicable until now and all manufacturing mechanical products need to use it. The institutional economics theories created by Prof. Coase are widely used in real life, and especially in China's reform. That's why so many of us have come here to honor his contributions. His theories are, like Prof. Qian Yingyi just said, explaining the institutions. All institutional reforms are about the reallocation of rights, or rather the redefinition of property rights. In fact, the most important part of Prof. Coase's theories is the property right theory. His study in transaction cost granted a good definition and foundation for the property right theory and economics as a whole. In other words, property right is a right; the definition and transaction of property rights, settlement of property right disputes, and protection of property rights, etc., all of them are the property right infrastructure created by human society. Our understanding in this aspect used to be rather superficial. Since the introduction of Prof. Coase's theories, we began to understand scientifically what the institution is, what the firm is, and what the market is. Therefore, the greatest contribution of his theories is being useful. I once compiled a paper collection in 1997, that is, Property Right and China's Economic Reform. To celebrate Prof. Coase's birthday, we should pay special attention to the application of his theories in the future. Many problems in real world can not be explained by classical economics. Once the issue of politics, the state, and the legal system are involved, many of our problems can not be explained by traditional economics. It's at this time that new institutional economics, the theories developed by Prof. Coase, become very useful.