“Innovation Pushing Forward Comprehensive Reform” Forum -- Fourth Nobel Economics Prize Laureate Visiting Guangzhou, China

Co-hosted by SYSBS and Time Weekly, the “Innovation Pushing Forward Comprehensive Reform” Forum featured as part of the Fourth Nobel Economics Prize Laureate Visiting Guangzhou, China was held at the International Conference Hall of the SYSBS Shansi Building on July 1. The highlighted speakers in attendance were Dr. Alvin E. Roth, the joint winner of the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 2012, and Prof. Min Tang, Counselor of the State Council, Vice-Chairman of the YouChange China Social Entrepreneur Foundation, and Chief Economist of the Asian Development Bank in China. More than 500 college students, faculty members, research scholars, and business representatives participated in the Forum.

Prof. Yu Xin, Associate Dean of SYSBS, Delivering Welcome Remarks

Dr. Roth has made significant contributions in the fields of bargaining theory, game theory, market design, and experimental economics. He has dedicated himself to his innovative research for the past twenty years and has pioneered a new branch of economics. Notably, his well-known design of a National Resident Matching Program facilitates the placement of approximately 20,000 medical school graduates in their assignments as residents in American hospitals each year. His “Market Design” theory is used to find solutions for basic yet complex problems such as decentralized markets and market failures, thereby enabling more suitable market conditions that lead to efficient outcomes.

At the Forum, Dr. Roth demonstrated his insightful points of view in accordance with the “market design” theory and the status-quo of Chinese economy. He stated his view that “market design” is an ideal approach to be applied to social problems such as unemployment, and to medical issues such as organ transplantation referring to his experiences in the U.S.
 

Dr. Alvin Roth Presenting Keynote Speech

Prof. Tang agreed with Dr. Roth and pointed out that the intractable problem of the difficulties that so many Chinese graduates encounter when trying to find suitable employment while many corporations struggle to find qualified candidates for job openings, is a sign of inappropriate matching between the education system and labor market demands.
 

Prof. Tang Taking “Matching Theory” to Illustrate His Viewpoints on University Graduates’ Unemployment

In the roundtable discussion, Dr. Roth and Prof. Tang led an enthusiastic brainstorming session on the topic of transformation and market design with other noted guests, Prof. Yongjian Pu, Associate Dean at the School of Economics and Business Administration at Chongqing University, Prof. Stephen Chiu, Associate Professor at the School of Economics and Finance at the University of Hong Kong, Advisor to the World Bank Group, and Visiting Research Fellow of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, and Mr. Fangcai Ling, Chairman of Guangdong Textiles Import and Export Co., Ltd.

Roundtable Discussion