作为企业组织形式的信托

Commercial Trusts as Business Organizations

在信托作为企业组织形式的发展过程中,有两个问题值得关注:一是为什么信托能够作为企业的组织形式;二是信托作为企业组织形式经历了由盛而衰,然后再度崛起的过程,其背后的原因是什么?以法经济学的视角观察会发现,信托与公司在资产分割及其所导致的债权人模式上是没有区别的,这奠定了信托作为企业形式的基础;而以企业理论观察,就会发现信托与公司在企业所有权安排上的不同,即信托将控制权安排给了人力资本所有者,而公司则是将控制权安排给了非人力资本,这一不同导致了两者在治理结构与应用范围上的差别。

In modem economy, the core function of the trust has changed, from a conveyancing device to a form of business organization. The ultimate challenge of this intriguing topic is to explain when and why trust dominates corporation for particular commercial tasks. This article builds an analytical framework in which to attempt to examine these issues. In that context, it argues that commercial trusts and corporations can be viewed as mirrorimage entities that respond to different investor needs.