Xiaokai Yang

Xiaokai Yang (born as Yang Xiguang; Simplified Chinese: 杨小凯; 6 October 1948 – 7 July 2004) was a Chinese-Australian economist. He was one of the world's pre-eminent theorists in economic analysis, and an influential campaigner for democracy in China.

Biography Early life Yang's family came from Hekou, Xiangtan County, Hunan Province, and he was born in Dunhua, Jilin Province. At the time when he was born, Jilin was just taken by the Fourth Field Army led by Lin Biao. Yang was later taken to Changsha, Hunan and was raised there. Yang's parents were Chinese Communist Party officials. His parents' status meant that he initially had a privileged life, receiving an excellent education by Chinese standards at the time.

Following his study at Princeton, Yang accepted a postdoctoral fellowship at Yale University. In 1988, he moved to Australia and took up a position as lecturer at Monash University. His work is founded on the ideal that all persons (potential traders) are equal in all relevant respects. He moved from this to develop an extensive explanatory apparatus. His work encompasses equilibria that involve more behavioral adjustments than those defined in orthodox neoclassical models of general equilibrium. According to Buchanan, this approach has major implications for a wide range of issues in economics, such as globalisation, outsourcing, as well as interoccupational and locational mobility.

He died on 7 July 2004, survived by his wife, Xiaojuan; and three children, Xiaoxi, James, and Edward. His eventful life is described in his memoir, Captive Spirits: Prisoners of the Cultural Revolution.

Legacy Yang's major contribution at the time of his death was the development of infra-marginal economics, which are those discrete decisions that dictate future path dependencies.

He was a prolific author in economics, but Yang simultaneously wrote a large body of influential political essays in Chinese, including a best-selling book. He championed democracy, decentralization of Chinese political power, and privatization of the Chinese economy. When he died, Southern Weekend, the most influential reformist magazine in China, published a long obituary, praising Yang, and discussing the pervasive impact of his writings.