对刘易斯理论的两种可能的解释--兼评关于中国经济转型的争论

Two Possible Explanations for Lewis's Theory and Comments on the Debates about China's Economic Transition

刘易斯二元经济理论将古典经济学的观点与新古典范式结合了起来,具有二重性。这种性质为后来的学者对该理论作出不同的解读预留了空间。对刘易斯理论的新古典解释有两种,但都没有超越刘易斯的分析,在某些方面甚至还存在重大的退步,在运用该理论来分析中国经济时存在理论局限性。另外,有学者对刘易斯理论进行了政治经济学的解释,从四个方面拓展了刘易斯的理论,构建了政治经济学的刘易斯拐点理论。最后,本文运用政治经济学拓展后的刘易斯模型对中国经济转型进行了分析。

The theory of dual economy put forward by Arthur Lewis has duality which adopts some fragmentary insights of classical economics and at the same time embodies the neoclassical approach. This character makes it possible for the subsequent scholars to develop different explanations for the theory. Firstly, there are two kinds of explana- tions in the neoclassical approach that don＇t only go far beyond Lewis but also ignore his crucial arguments. This paper confirms that applying the theory of Lewis turning point developed by neoclassical economics to China＇s economy is not reliable both theoretically and empirically. Secondly, this paper finds that some other researchers make an explanation in the approach of political economics, developing the theory from four aspects, especially constructing the Lewis turning point from the perspective of po- litical economics. Finally, this paper analyzes China＇s economic transition in the frame of Lewis model developed by political economics.