资源禀赋、制度分岔与组织变迁——一个关于包买制的比较制度分析

Resource Endowment,Institutional Divergence and Organizational Transition:A Comparative Institutional Analysis of the Putting-out System

在近代中国,新兴的包买制度是传统经济向现代经济演进的重要标志之一。文章考察了存在于定县、高阳两地织布业中不同的商业组织模式,前者始终停留在传统的市场交易,后者则以包买制度为主体。利用不完全契约理论和比较制度分析框架,本文发现由人地比例这一内生要素禀赋所决定的织户谈判能力差异,是导致两地衍生出不同制度路径的关键因素。另外,基于微观案例的讨论还为理解制度变迁提供了新的启示:定县高阳的对比意味着,即使在没有外部干预的情况下,更多的资源禀赋也可能通过强化外部选择权的方式阻碍更有效率的商业组织的建立,进而影响到整体的经济绩效。

The putting-out system is one of the important signs of the evolution of traditional economy to modern economy.Dingxian and Gaoyang,which were geographically adjacent and similar in natural environment,were two representative areas of traditional handicrafts in China for their prosperous indigenous-cloth economy.However,Gaoyang witnessed the rise of modern business organizations,featured by the putting-out system,while Dingxian was still dominated by traditional handicrafts.Using the incomplete contract theory and the comparative institutional analysis,we find differences in bargaining power,which was determined by the relative proportion of labor and land(resource endowment),was the key factor leading to different institutional paths.This finding is also supported by empirical evidence.This paper also provides a new perspective to understand the process of institutional change based on micro-level case studies.Our research shows,even in the absence of external intervention,abundant resource endowments may broaden the choice set and hinder the establishment of efficient business organizations.