Justin Yifu Lin

Justin Yifu Lin

Justin Yifu Lin ( Chinese  林毅夫 , Pinyin Lín Yìfū , born October 15, 1952 in Yilan , Taiwan ) is a Chinese economist . He was Chief Economist and Vice President of the World Bank from 2008 to 2012 . He taught for 15 years at the economic research institute "China Center for Economic Research" (CCER) at Beijing University , which he founded, before becoming chief economist at the World Bank on February 5, 2008, succeeding François Bourguignon . He is considered an expert in development policy .

Life

Justin Yifu Lin was born as Zhengyi Lin in Taiwan . He studied agricultural science at Chengchi National University in Taiwan. However, he broke off his studies to enter the military. In 1972 he fled his home country to China by swimming from a Taiwanese military base on Kinmen Island to the nearby Chinese island of Xiamen . In Beijing he studied Marxist economics . There he met the American Nobel Prize winner and economist Theodore W. Schultz , who enabled him to do his doctorate at the University of Chicago . Lin received his PhD in economics in 1986. A year later he went back to his adopted home China, where he founded the "China Center for Economic Research". He also held a professorship at Hong Kong University . From 1993 onwards he was an economic advisor at the World Bank . In 2007 he gave the Marshall Lectures at Cambridge University , Great Britain . Justin Yifu Lin is married and has two children.

research

In his dissertation and further research, he dealt with the economic reforms of the Chinese opening policy in rural areas. He analyzed u. a. the incentive structure of the system after households can determine part of production themselves (Household Responsibility System). In the 1990s, too, his research focused on the transformation of China's economy. a. the institutional context of state-owned companies, the adaptation of technical progress and the consequences of China's accession to the WTO .

Justin Yifu Lin and his wife at the Frankfurt Book Fair, October 2009

Political opinions

Justin Yifu Lin sees himself as a border crosser between Marxism and capitalism . He advocates a political direction that combines a planned and market economy . In his book On China's Economy. The Chinese road to economic power , he describes the enormous economic boom in China over the past 30 years. There it is said of him that China's upswing will continue for another two or even three decades, is a realistic forecast. But Lin also says: "The central social problem facing the People's Republic of China in the 21st century is its distribution problem." In an interview with ZEIT Online on March 12, 2009, he also said: "China's growth has been impressive in recent years, but at the same time the gap between rich and poor, urban and rural areas has grown."

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Justin Yifu Lin receives the Marshall Lectures . ( Memento of the original from March 9, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Announcement from the University of Cambridge. 
2. ↑ Commentary on the book "On Chinas Economy"  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. by Wolfgang Hirn, manager magazin  
3. ↑ Justin Yifu Lin: On China's Economy. The Chinese road to economic power. abcverlag, Heidelberg 2009, ISBN 978-3-938833-38-4 , p. 9.
4. ↑ Justin Yifu Lin: On China's Economy. The Chinese road to economic power. abcverlag, Heidelberg 2009, ISBN 978-3-938833-38-4 , p. 191.
5. ↑ Lin in an interview on: ZEIT Online. March 12, 2009

Web links

• Justin Yifu Lin: World Bank Chief Economist site of the World Bank
• Justin Yifu Lin Vita (PDF; 250 kB)
• Invitation to a press conference. About the person: Yifu Lin University of Hohenheim
• World Bank calls for new stimulus packages. on: WELT Online. October 17, 2009.
• From Beijing to Washington. on: ZEIT Online. February 27, 2008.
• For the first time a Chinese chief economist ... on: Der Tagesspiegel Online. February 6, 2008.
• China Center for Economic Research (CCER)