自生能力、经济转型与新古典经济学的反思

Viability,Economic Transition and Reflections on Neo-classical Economics

现有的新古典经济学理论体系把企业具有自生能力作为暗含的前提。但是 ,转型中国家和其他许多发展中国家的企业却因政府的赶超愿望 ,进入不具比较优势的产业而不具自生能力。当经济中大量企业缺乏自生能力时 ,实行根据新古典经济学所制定的改革或转型政策 ,往往达不到预期效果 ,而且 ,可能给社会带来巨大痛苦。本文主张 ,在分析社会主义经济、转型经济和发展经济问题时 ,放弃现有的新古典经济学体系中企业具有自生能力的暗含前提 ,把企业是否具有自生能力作为一个具体的考虑变量 ,这是新古典经济学理论的必要发展。

Many transition policies,based on neoclassical economics,failed in Eastern Europe,Former Soviet Union,and China.The paper argues that the failure is due to the viability assumption of the neoclassical economics.The neoclassical economics implicitly assumes a firm to be able to earn a socially acceptable profit in an open,competitive market if the firm has a normal management.However,many firms in the socialist as well as transitional economies are not viable,that is,they will not be able to earn a socially acceptable profit in an open,competitive market even if they have normal management because they are in sectors in which the economies do not have comparative advantages.With the viability assumption,the policies,based on neoclassical economics,focus on issues related to property rights,corporate governance,government interventions and other issues related to firms' management.However,many of those issues are in fact endogenous to the firms' viability problem.Therefore,without addressing the firms' viability issue,those policies fail to achieve its intended goals.Not only in the socialist and transition economies but also in developing countries many firms are not viable.The paper suggests to relax the viability assumption in the neoclassical economics when analyzing issues in socialist and transition economies,as well as in developing countries.