中国近代企业中的代理经营制度--以在华外商企业为中心

The Agency Management System of Foreign Enterprises in Modern China

中国近代有些企业实行代理经营制度。所谓代理经营,是企业将其经营权和部分决策权以合同方式让渡给另一企业。在绝大多数情况下,这种制度主要存在于外商企业之间,只有极少数华商企业委托外商企业代理经营。有一些实行代理经营的外商企业,代理方以咨询委员会取代董事会进行决策。外商橡胶公司的代理经营权有集中倾向。委托方的成本较高而权利较少,但该制度在近代中国尚无法取消。总的来说,中国的人力资本较为稀缺,包括到中国来从事经济活动的外国技术和管理人才,人力资本的本土化进程也较为缓慢,职业经理人阶层及其市场尚未形成;在一些行业中,市场也不是充分竞争的,如外贸、橡胶园公司行业等,少数机构在一定程度上对资源、技术和市场具有控制力。这样,委托优势企业代理也就是一些企业顺理成章的选择了。

In modern China,some enterprises implemented the agency management system.The so-called agency operation means that an enterprise transfers its mana-gement rights and part of its decision-making rights to another enterprise by way of contract.In most cases,this system mainly exists among foreign enterprises,and only a few Chinese enterprises entrust foreign enterprises to operate as agents.In some foreign enterprises that operate as agents,the agents make decisions by an advisory committee instead of the board of directors.The agency right of foreign rubber companies tends to be concentrated.The entruster has higher cost and less rights,but this system could not be cancelled in modern China.In general,China’s human capital is relatively scarce,including foreign technical and managerial talents who come to China to engage in economic activities.The localization process of human capital is also slow,and the professional manager class and its market have not yet formed.In some industries,the market is not fully competitive,such as foreign trade,rubber garden company industry,a few institutions have control over resources,technology and market to a certain extent.In this way,the entrusted advantage of the enterprise agent is a logical choice for some enterprises.