The Governance Environment and International Business: Frictions between Rule-based and Relation-based Societies and the Strategic and Policy Implications

古典經濟學家用生產力和生產要素來解釋各國經濟增長的不同，但是他們無法解釋為什麼生產要素無效率的組合會在一些國家長期存在；文化學家則將各國經濟發展不同歸咎於文化差異，但是他們無法說明為什麼文化傳統相同的國家經濟發展可以相去甚遠。制度經濟學家提出制度演進的不同是各國經濟增長不同的主要因素。根據這一思路，我們建立了一個監管環境對商業和經濟影響的理論框架。監管環境指一國社會制度的總和，這一制度總和限定了人們在交換中保護利益的手段。我們把各國的監管環境歸為兩大類：一類可稱為“關係為本”，一類為“法制為本”。本文將介紹這一理論在國際商業研究中的應用。

關鍵字

監管環境；關係為本；法制為本；國際商業

並列摘要

Classical economics uses economic factors, such as productivity and factor endowment, to explain variations in economic performance across nations. It fails to explain why nations persistently deviate from the most efficient mode of economic activities. Cultural theorist use cultural differences to explain why some countries are rich and others poor. They cannot explain why countries with a similar cultural origin have contrasting economic performance. Institutional theorists propose that nations diverge in economic performance because of particular institutional arrangement resulting from different paths of institutional change. Following the institutional approach, we propose a framework that distinguishes two main types of governance environment: rule-based vs. relation-based, and argue that the variations in the national governance environment affect how international business is conducted and protected. This article introduces the framework and a series of studies based on the framework on how governance environment affects international business such as investment, trade, management, and marketing.