經濟學諾貝爾獎得主DouglassNorth的新制度主義旋風,已經颳到中國研究的範圍,而首當其衝的就是政治學者對中國政企關係的研究。評述最近這方面的文獻雖然是本文的目的之一,卻不是主要目的。我們的主要目的,是從評析九○年代文化人類學者、社會心理學者對華人關係」的研究中,草取一套從「倫理自我」到「家族原型」再到產生互信之「關係網」的分析語彙,用來補充North的分析架構之不足,特別是他所說「正式與非正式制約的不同,只是程度之別」的謬誤。也就是說,當我們理解華人關係網絡,乃是以諸如「五倫」關係中的自我定位為基礎,以家族所能提供每一個成員所謂「同宗」、「心意」、「面子」、「回報」等箏的語彙為文化資源,而由數個階段的贈禮歷程所組成(內含斤人情世故」及「工具權謀」兩大面向)的人際互動模式時,我們也理解到關係網絡所形成的非正式制約與正式制度(如政黨或公司)實有「本質」一而不止是「程度」上的基本差別。而帶入關係網絡的分析層次,也會促使研究大陸政企關係的學者正視官商之間貪污納賄的驚人事實。
Applying Douglass North’s framework of new institutionalism to the study of the Chinese business-government relationship, several social scientists have proved the utility of this framework. However, in their works they also reveal a common misunderstanding of the Chinese network of relationships known as guanxi. It is to clarify this concept that we orient our paper, drawing primarily on the recent anthropological and social psychological studies on guanxi as displayed in various Chinese settings. The Chinese guanxi is based on a “relational self” who manages his or her cultural and linguistic capital, such as “sameness,”“good-will,”“face,” and “reciprocity,” to spin his patron-client networks. That is, it is a particularism that, if applied to the business-government relationship, may potentially subvert the universal legal practices advocated by the Chinese communist state. It is this subversive particularism that, we argue, is not taken into account in North’s framework when he asserts boldly that “(t)he difference between informal and formal constraints is one of degree.” In this paper, we suggest that combining guanxi into the framework of new institutionalism is imperative. For, not only in studying the Chincese business-government relationship, but also in the novel research of, e.g., the identity of Taiwanese businesspersons in China, this combination will prove to be highly valuable.