“底线竞争”抑或“上限竞争”——以美国公司法制度的竞争为视角

Is It"The Race to the Bottom"or"The Race to the Top"

19世纪末20世纪初美国各州为了吸引公司注册,在公司法上展开了竞争。这种竞争是"底线竞争"("向下的竞争")抑或"上限竞争"("向上的竞争")一直存在着争议。对于这个问题的回答,关键是要看在公司法的基本矛盾中应当如何取向:一方面,基于平等的主张,保护包括小股东在内的其他利益相关者,防止内部人控制;另一方面,基于效率的主张,促进公司管理者更为便利地行使权力,保证公司创造社会财富。法律的目标在于强调哪个方面?联邦化,抑或地方化?股东保护,抑或包括管理者在内的利益相关者保护?等等。这实质上是法律理念的一个矛盾。

Competition of corporation law among different States in US commenced for the purpose of attracting registration of corporations locally from the end of the 19th centaury to the early 20th. Is it ＂the race to the bottom＂ or ＂the race to the top＂？ This has been a controversial issue. The answer to it depends upon the actual value selection with regard to the fundamental contradiction peculiar to corporation law： either to protect stakeholders, including minority shareholders in terms of equality so as to prevent insider control or to facilitate managers to exercise conveniently their duties in terms of efficiency to ensure the creation of social welfares by corporations; what objectives, inter alia, federation or loealization, sharcholder proteetion or other stakeholders protection, including that of managers, and otherwise, deserve to be accentuated by corporation law？ It is submitted that this is, in essence, a perplexing contradietion in legal ideas.