下放与改制:不同国企改革路径的绩效比较

Decentralisation or Restructuring?Performance Comparison of Two State-Owned Enterprise Reforms

缺乏地方性信息是制约国有企业效率提升的重要因素,控制权下放与民营化改制都能够有效缓解国企经营中的信息壁垒。基于1998-2013年中.国工企数据,本文评估了1605家国有下放企业的效率改进,研究发现:国企下放能够带来10%左右的效率改进,这一作用主要体现在地方国企而非央属企业;国企下放作用并非一蹴而就,而是要经过一段时期的下放调整与适应才能逐渐显现;地方性信息的消减降低了企业代理成本,是国企下放促进企业效率提升的重要机制;下放与民营化都能够显著提升国企效率,且两种方案效果并不存在明显差异。本文研究不仅支持了地方性信息在国企效率中的关键作用,而且证实了国企改革多重路径的必要性。

Lack of local information is a major obstacle that limits efficiency improvement of state-owned enterprises(SOEs), and both decentralisation and privatisation can effectively alleviate communication costs and information barriers in the operation of SOEs. Based on Chinese industrial enterprise data from between1998 and 2013, this paper empirically evaluates the efficiency improvement of 1,605 SOEs devolved to lower-level government departments. The study finds that:(1) the decentralisation of SOEs may bring about a 10% improvement in efficiency, and this effect mainly occurs in local SOEs rather than central SOEs;(2) the decentralisation effect of SOEs is not a short-term one, and can only appear gradually after a long period of reform adjustment;(3) the reduction of local information barrier decreases the agency cost of SOEs, and it is the main mechanism through which the decentralisation of SOEs helps to promote their efficiency;(4) both decentralisation and privatisation can significantly improve the efficiency of SOEs.Additionally, there is no obvious difference in the reform effects of the two programs. This study not only confirms the key role of local information in the operational efficiency of SOEs, but also supports the necessity of multiple SOE reform paths.