企業放眼長遠未必好 Corporate long termism is no panacea but it is a start
There are not many wholly new areas to open up in economic policy. But in recent months there has been a wave of innovative proposals directed at improving economic performance in general, and middle-class incomes in particular — not through government actions but through mandates or incentives to change business decision-making. The goal is for companies and shareholders to operate with longer horizons and to more generously share the fruits of their corporate success with their workers, customers and other stakeholders.
在經濟政策方面，沒有多少全新的領域可供開闢。但最近幾個月出現了一波創新的建議，以提升經濟表現，尤其是中產階級收入爲宗旨——不是通過政府行爲，而是通過指令或激勵來改變企業決策。其目標是讓企業和股東以更長遠的眼光開展經營，並且更慷慨地與員工、客戶和其他利益相關者分享企業成功的果實。
There are strong grounds for interest in such approaches. After the crises of recent years, the case for relying on speculative markets to drive the real economy — to whatever extent it had validity — is surely attenuated. Instances where successful companies with strong management teams and records of investment have been forced to curtail investment plans are a cause of concern. And we would all like to see middle-class incomes do a better job of keeping up with productivity than they have in recent years.
人們有很充分的理由對此類方法感興趣。經過近年的危機後，依靠投機市場推動實體經濟的理由（無論它曾經在多大程度上成立）無疑已被削弱。擁有強大管理團隊和投資經驗的成功企業被迫縮減投資計劃的事例值得關注。同時，我們都希望看到未來中產階級收入比起近幾年更能跟上生產率的提升。
Such proposals for corporate reform are responding to legitimate policy imperatives, but they also tap into the zeitgeist in another way. At the same time as there is widespread unhappiness with market outcomes, confidence in government has reached a low ebb. So the idea of achieving reform through altered business behaviour, rather than government programmes, is appealing.
此類企業改革建議是對合理政策要求的迴應，但它們也通過另一種方式挖掘了時代精神。在人們普遍對市場結果不滿的同時，他們對政府的信心也跌到了低谷。所以，通過改變企業行爲（而非政府計劃）實現改革的想法具有吸引力。
The corporate behaviour debate recently taken up by investors, management consultants and even presidential candidates is a very valuable one, which speaks fundamentally to the way in which American capitalism functions. In many aspects it is an overdue recognition of basic market principles.
投資者、管理顧問甚至總統候選人最近都在參與的這場企業行爲辯論非常有價值，它在根本上關係到美式資本主義的運轉方式。在許多方面，這是早就應該確立的對基本市場原則的認可。
Businesses will raise wages to a point where the cost is just balanced by the reduced costs of recruiting and motivating workers. At that point, a further increase in wages does not appreciably change their total costs but higher wages certainly makes their workers better off. So there is a strong case for robust minimum wages.
企業將把工資提升至成本剛好被節省下來的招聘和激勵員工的成本所抵消。在那一點上，進一步提高工資不會明顯改變總成本，但提高工資肯定會讓員工過得更好。因此，有充分的理由實行較高的最低工資。
There is also a strong reason for regulating aspects of pay. Usually competition drives desirable economic arrangements. But not always — especially when there is a risk of a race to the bottom. A company that tries to stand out by offering especially attractive family leave benefits , or job security, or egalitarian wage structures faces the prospect of attracting a disproportionately risk-averse work force. So there is an argument for using mandates to level the playing field.
還有很強大的理由監管薪資的某些方面。通常而言，競爭可以帶來理想的經濟安排。但情況並非總是如此，特別是當存在“逐底競爭”(race to the bottom)的風險時。試圖通過提供格外有吸引力的家庭休假福利、就業保障、或者平等的工資結構而獨樹一幟的企業，可能吸引異常多厭惡風險的員工。因此，使用指令創造公平競爭環境是有依據的。
Profit sharing, too, is an area where there are demonstrable benefits in terms of increased productivity — but an individual company that stands out by offering it may encounter difficulties in recruitment because workers are too risk averse. So there is a strong case for tax incentives to spur profit sharing.
利潤分享也是在提高生產率方面有明顯好處的一個領域，但個別提供這種機制的公司或許會在招聘中遇到困難，因爲工作者太厭惡風險。因此，有充分的理由利用稅收激勵來推動利潤分享。
At the same time scepticism about whether all horizons should be lengthened is appropriate. A generation ago, the Japanese keiretsu system of cross ownership of corporate shares — which insulated corporate managements from share price pressure — was seen as a strength. Yet, Japan’s manifest macroeconomic difficulties aside, companies lacking market discipline have squandered leads in sectors from electronics to automobiles to IT.
同時，對於應該一刀切放遠眼光的質疑是恰當的。一代人之前，日本企業交叉持股的經連體系(keiretsu system)——使企業管理層不受股價壓力影響——被視爲一種優勢。然而，姑且不論日本的宏觀經濟困難，缺乏市場紀律的企業浪費了各自在電子產品、汽車行業以及信息技術等行業的領先地位。
Managements of companies that are dissipating the most value, such as General Motors before it was bailed out by the US government in 2009, have often been the most enthusiastic champions of long-termism. Market participants who are willingly placing high valuations on Silicon Valley start-ups that lack any profits and have little revenue may be putting too much, not too little, weight on the distant future. That, at least, is the implication of those who see the inflation of a “technology bubble”.
耗散最多價值的企業管理層——如2009年美國政府出手紓困之前的通用汽車(General Motors)——往往是長期主義最熱心的擁護者。那些願意給予沒有任何利潤、且幾乎沒什麼收入的硅谷初創企業高估值的市場參與者，可能對遙遠的未來押注太多了（而非太少了）。至少，這是那些看到“科技泡沫”膨脹的人給出的暗示。
Corporations hoarding cash that is earning zero in the bank or in Treasury bills would be cheered not jeered by the market if they could be convinced that the companies were putting it to productive use. Many corporations are in this situation of having cash piles but often do not have productive uses for the money. Either that or they cannot convince investors of their projects’ validity. Pushing corporations without good projects to invest is wasteful. Stopping or discouraging them from distributing funds to shareholders is dangerous if it encourages mindless takeovers as an alternative.
很多企業目前把現金囤積在銀行賬戶或美國國債中，收入爲零；如果這些企業能夠讓市場相信，他們正將資金投入生產性用途，那將受到市場歡呼（而不是譏諷）。許多企業處於這種情況：擁有現金儲備，但往往找不到生產性用途支出資金。或者是無法說服投資者相信其項目的正當性。推動沒有好項目的企業去投資是一種浪費。阻止或阻礙他們向股東返還資本是很危險的——如果這樣做鼓勵他們轉而盲目收購。
The real need is for a cadre of trusted, tough-minded investors in any given company who can credibly commit to support strong management teams and to provide assurances to a broader investment community so that productive investments are made. Accomplishing that, while maintaining market discipline, is the crucial challenge.
真正需要的是，任何給定的公司都有一批受到信任、意志堅定的骨幹投資者，他們能夠可信地承諾支持強有力的管理團隊，同時向更廣泛的投資界提供保證，以便做出有效益的投資決定。實現這一點，同時又能維持市場紀律，是關鍵的挑戰。
