評(píng)論
打印
The best and worst states for small business
小本生意的旺市與淡市
Red tape blues
繁文縟節(jié)讓人憂郁
Small businesses fret less about taxes than over-regulation
小本生意擔(dān)心監(jiān)管過(guò)度問(wèn)題多過(guò)稅收
IAN TONER, an architect in Philadelphia, recently went to city offices for a permit to build a stoop for a client's home. The city, he learned, had just imposed new requirements:he would have to get maps from gas, electric, water and other utilities to ensure the stoop would not disturb their underground lines and then resubmit his application. A process he thought would take a day took more than two weeks.
最近，費(fèi)城建筑師伊恩·托納前往市政府辦公室為其客戶獲得房屋門(mén)廊建設(shè)許可證。伊恩了解到，費(fèi)城剛剛頒布了新的要求：申請(qǐng)者得提交天然氣、電氣、水氣等公司的地圖，確保門(mén)廊不會(huì)影響地下線，然后重新提交申請(qǐng)。他原本以為這個(gè)過(guò)程只需花費(fèi)一天，而事實(shí)上卻花了大概兩個(gè)禮拜。
That's not all. Other new rules require that he prove that his builder has general liability, workers'compensation and car insurance, and has paid all his taxes. Four times a year he must set aside a half day to ensure he is paying the state's and city's myriad taxes correctly. Mr Toner doesn't question the need for rules and taxes; what galls him is the time and hassle involved in complying with them. “The information exists all over the place and the burden is on me not just to gather it but interpret it. I'm not going to leave here because of this, but they're all things that could turn a person off of coming here.”
這還不是全部的。其他新的條例要求，申請(qǐng)者還要證明建筑工人享有責(zé)任保險(xiǎn)、勞工補(bǔ)償以及汽車保險(xiǎn)，并且全部交過(guò)稅。一年四次，他得留出半天時(shí)間來(lái)確保他準(zhǔn)確支付了州政府以及市政度各種繁雜的稅。托納先生并不是在糾結(jié)這些條例和稅收的必要性；讓他覺(jué)得受到羞辱的是遵守背后所花費(fèi)的時(shí)間與麻煩。“信息隨處可見(jiàn)，我所承受的壓力不僅僅是去收集這些信息，更多的是去解釋。我不打算因?yàn)檫@個(gè)就離開(kāi)，但是那些卻是阻礙人們來(lái)此的力量。”
America's states and cities have traditionally tried to attract businesses by offering them tax breaks and other cash incentives. Yet there may be a more effective way, and one which puts no strain on stretched budgets: make life simpler.
沿襲傳統(tǒng)，美國(guó)的州和城市通過(guò)稅收減免政策和其他的現(xiàn)金獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)措施來(lái)盡量吸引招商。但是，或許還有另外一種更有效的方法，不對(duì)緊張的預(yù)算施壓，即生活更簡(jiǎn)單。
Thumbtack, a website that matches customers to businesses, and the Kauffman Foundation, a think-tank, asks thousands of small businesses annually about local requirements for hiring, regulations, zoning, licences, health insurance and training. They have enough data to compile (somewhat subjective) “business climate” grades for 38 states and 82 cities.
美國(guó)一家本地服務(wù)網(wǎng)上交易市場(chǎng)—Thumbtack(圖釘)，以及發(fā)揮智囊團(tuán)作用的考夫曼基金會(huì)每年會(huì)向成百上千小本生意打聽(tīng)情況，詢問(wèn)當(dāng)?shù)貙?duì)于招聘、規(guī)章制度、分區(qū)制、健康保險(xiǎn)以及上崗培訓(xùn)的一些要求。他們有足夠的數(shù)據(jù)對(duì)美國(guó)38個(gè)州以及82個(gè)城市編譯“商業(yè)環(huán)境”（有點(diǎn)主觀）。
One surprising finding is how little local tax rates matter. Nearly two-thirds of respondents say they pay their “fair share” of taxes, which the survey-takers reckon means they don't feel over- or undertaxed. But many complain about the difficulty of complying with complex regulations: this was a strong predictor of how small businesses rank their states.
令人吃驚的是，當(dāng)?shù)囟愂諢o(wú)關(guān)痛癢。近六成受訪者稱，他們支付問(wèn)卷者認(rèn)為的不高也不低的稅收。但是許多人抱怨遵循復(fù)雜法規(guī)的難處：這是一個(gè)很強(qiáng)烈地預(yù)兆，表明了小本生意如何去評(píng)價(jià)他們所在的州。
To be sure, low-tax states such as Texas generally score well, while high-tax states such as California and Illinois flunk their tests. This may be because the kind of politicians who like high taxes also like bossing people around. But not always. Minnesota, a high-tax state, earns a respectable “B” for business climate, partly because it is easy to start a business there. Washington and Florida, both low-tax states, earn a “C” and a “C+”. Entrepreneurs fault Washington's harsh zoning laws and gripe that in Florida new firms must jump through hoops like dolphins at SeaWorld.
可以肯定的是，像德克薩斯州這樣低稅收的地方通常排名靠前，評(píng)價(jià)高；相比而言，想加州和伊利諾斯州這樣高稅收的卻未能博得民心。或許是因?yàn)橄矚g高稅收的政治家們很喜歡發(fā)號(hào)施令。但也有的特例，比如，明尼蘇達(dá)州稅收高，卻贏得了一個(gè)令人尊敬的“B”級(jí)商業(yè)環(huán)境等級(jí)；可能是因?yàn)檫@里創(chuàng)業(yè)很容易。像華盛頓和佛羅里達(dá)這樣低稅收的，卻分別得了一個(gè)“C”和一個(gè)“C+”。企業(yè)家把責(zé)任歸咎于華盛頓苛刻的分區(qū)制，還抱怨佛羅里達(dá)州的新公司就像海洋世界里海豚跳鐵圈一樣。
The lesson for politicians is: “no matter what else you do, make things easy,” says Jon Lieber of Thumbtack. “This may seem obvious but a lot of governments don't do it right. Don't require a plumber to spend two days at city hall pulling permits when he could be doing jobs.”
來(lái)自圖釘?shù)募s翰·烈博說(shuō)，政治家得到的教訓(xùn)是：“不管你做了什么，簡(jiǎn)化它們。”他繼續(xù)說(shuō)，“這看起來(lái)顯而易見(jiàn)，但很多政府官員卻無(wú)法做到。不要指望水管工會(huì)花兩天的時(shí)間在市政廳請(qǐng)求許可證，特別是在他們還可以做別的事的時(shí)候。”
Too often, state websites are confusing and bureaucrats unhelpful. Dennis Kessler, an accountant in New Jersey, says he usually can't get through on the telephone to the relevant department. When he does, the information is often misleading or incomplete. He recently spent 30 hours trying to help a client change its corporate status without getting a different federal tax-identification number—only to discover that this is impossible.
州政府網(wǎng)站時(shí)常讓人費(fèi)解，而且官僚們常常無(wú)所用處。新澤西的會(huì)計(jì)丹尼斯認(rèn)為，通常，他無(wú)法打通相關(guān)部門(mén)的電話。當(dāng)他打通的時(shí)候，回饋的信息往往是讓人誤解的或者不完整。最近，他花了30個(gè)小時(shí)幫助一名客戶在未獲得不同的聯(lián)邦納稅人識(shí)別號(hào)的情況下去改變法人地位，但最后他發(fā)現(xiàn)一切都是徒勞的。
Licensing rules are a headache. In theory, they protect the public from incompetence, which is useful if you are hiring a doctor. But increasingly they protect incumbents from competition—the requirement to have a licence raises an occupation's wages by 18%, according to Morris Kleiner and Alan Krueger, two economists. In the 1950s less than 5% of workers required state licences; now 35% do.
許可證管理是一件很頭痛的事。經(jīng)濟(jì)學(xué)家莫里斯和奧蘭認(rèn)為，理論上講，這些制度保障了大眾，特別是當(dāng)你雇傭了一名醫(yī)生，它們可以避免無(wú)能醫(yī)生。漸漸地，這些制度保護(hù)現(xiàn)任者不受競(jìng)爭(zhēng)力的影響；即對(duì)執(zhí)照的要求使得工資上漲18個(gè)百分點(diǎn)。在20世紀(jì)50年代，不到5%的工人需要證明，現(xiàn)在增加到35%。
Some make no sense. Celeste Kelly, a horse lover, began offering horse massage, a subject she had studied privately, in 2006; she charges $55 per session. In 2012 the Arizona State Veterinary Medical Examining Board ordered her to “cease and desist” or face heavy fines and possible criminal charges. According to the Institute for Justice (IJ), a libertarian law firm which is suing the board on her behalf, Arizona does not require vets to learn massage, and Ms Kelly may offer it for free; she simply can't charge for it unless she's a vet. “Veterinarians I know think it's ridiculous,” she complains. “It's their political arm that has crafted legislation to be self-protective.”
一些制度純屬無(wú)稽之談。騎馬愛(ài)好者克萊斯特·凱里開(kāi)始提供為馬按摩的服務(wù)，這項(xiàng)服務(wù)是她于2006年個(gè)人研究的；按摩一次55美元。2012年，亞利桑那州獸醫(yī)醫(yī)學(xué)研究委員會(huì)要求凱里停止這項(xiàng)服務(wù)，否則將面臨高價(jià)罰款以及牢獄之災(zāi)。據(jù)司法部部門(mén)，一家持自由論的律師事務(wù)所幫助凱里控告該委員會(huì)，亞利桑那州并沒(méi)有要求獸醫(yī)要學(xué)按摩，而且凱里小姐也可能會(huì)免費(fèi)提供該服務(wù)；除非她是獸醫(yī)，不然她不能收費(fèi)。凱里抱怨道，“我所認(rèn)識(shí)的獸醫(yī)覺(jué)得這很荒唐。這是他們獲得自保的政治手段。”
State licensing regimes vary widely. Louisiana requires licences for 70% of low-wage occupations, according to IJ, including barber, bartender and cosmetologist. In Wyoming, it is a more modest 24%. In Hawaii, licences require an average of 724 days of experience and education; in Pennsylvania, 113. Enforcement is uneven, too.
許可證體制變化莫測(cè)。依據(jù)司法部門(mén)，路易斯安那州要求包括理發(fā)師、酒保以及美容師在內(nèi)的占70%的低收入職業(yè)持有許可證明。在懷俄明州，該比例較少，為24%。在夏威夷州，執(zhí)照獲得的資格要求是工作經(jīng)歷加教育經(jīng)歷724天；在賓夕法尼亞州，113天。執(zhí)行過(guò)程更是入目不堪。
Changes to regulations have little effect on economic growth in the short run—cyclical influences such as the state of the housing market or the fortunes of a particular industry (high-tech in California, oil in Texas) matter more. But in the long run, business-friendliness makes a difference: one study found that states that rank better on indices of taxes, costs and regulations enjoy stronger job growth, after filtering out the influence of industry composition and the weather. Globally, countries that rank higher in the World Bank's surveys of the ease of doing business grow faster.
從短期看，條規(guī)的變化對(duì)經(jīng)濟(jì)增長(zhǎng)無(wú)影響，而周期性的影響因素比如房地產(chǎn)市場(chǎng)的狀態(tài)或者一個(gè)特定行業(yè)的財(cái)富積累（加州的高科技，德克薩斯州的石油），卻更重要。但是，從長(zhǎng)期看，商業(yè)友好型卻有不同：一項(xiàng)研究發(fā)現(xiàn)，排除行業(yè)類別組成與天氣因素影響，稅收、成本和監(jiān)管指數(shù)排名較前的州享有更強(qiáng)的就業(yè)增長(zhǎng)。全球范圍內(nèi)，在世界銀行一項(xiàng)關(guān)于做生意的方便性的調(diào)查中，排名更靠前的過(guò)家發(fā)展更快。
Lowering barriers to entry for new businesses gives consumers more choice and cheaper prices. A gourmet-food-truck fad began in Los Angeles with $2 Korean tacos in 2008, and has thrived because the city is flexible about where such trucks can park. By contrast, Chicago forbids food trucks from operating within 200 feet of a bricks-and-mortar restaurant, and requires them to have a GPS to ensure compliance, which makes life very hard for them in the downtown business district.
降低創(chuàng)業(yè)的門(mén)檻讓消費(fèi)者享有更多的選擇，更實(shí)惠的價(jià)格。一股美食車潮因2美元的韓國(guó)烤肉于2008年在洛杉磯流行開(kāi)來(lái)，這是因?yàn)槁迳即夁@座城市隨處可適應(yīng)美食車。相比而言，芝加哥卻禁止快餐車停留在實(shí)體餐廳的200英尺范圍內(nèi)，還要求他們配有GPS定位以確保他們遵守了上述條例，而這一切讓市中心商業(yè)區(qū)的人們生活艱難。
Businesses lobby for lots of things they should not have: handouts from the taxpayer, handicaps imposed on their rivals. But it is hard to find fault in their plea for simpler rules, swifter bureaucratic decisions, government websites that a normal person can navigate and officials who actually answer the phone.
企業(yè)為了許多不屬于他們的東西四處游說(shuō)：納稅人的救濟(jì)金，給對(duì)手造成的障礙。然而，我們很難去指責(zé)他們想要簡(jiǎn)單條例、更迅速的官僚決策、普通人可以使用的政府網(wǎng)站以及可以接通電話的官員。
Clearing away old rules is hard. Their benefits tend to be concentrated (eg, when they protect incumbents); their costs dispersed (slightly higher prices affect all consumers, but only a little). States and cities can, however, slow the pace at which new rules proliferate, for example by estimating their economic impact before enacting them. Last year Iowa's governor vetoed a bill that would have required licences for drug-abuse counsellors, and Arizona made life easier for firms operating in multiple cities with separate sales taxes by limiting them to one tax form and one audit.
廢除老規(guī)矩是很難的。老規(guī)矩的受益者們往往很集中（當(dāng)要保護(hù)現(xiàn)任者的時(shí)候）；所需成本分散（稍高的價(jià)錢(qián)會(huì)影響所有的消費(fèi)者）。然而，州政府以及市政府卻可以放慢新規(guī)則的制定速度，例如，在制定之前可以先評(píng)估其經(jīng)濟(jì)影響。去年愛(ài)荷華州的官員投票通過(guò)一項(xiàng)法案，其內(nèi)容要求吸毒人員的顧問(wèn)持有執(zhí)照；亞利桑那州放寬對(duì)公司的要求，通過(guò)限制公司只有一個(gè)稅種和一種審計(jì)，允許其在多個(gè)城市支付單獨(dú)的銷售稅。
The difficulty is that many rules purport to protect the public: from shoddy services, dangerous products or even death. Even if the cost is high and the risk remote, no politician wants to be accused of compromising public safety. Last year Mike Pence, Indiana's Republican governor, vetoed the licensing of diabetes educators and anaesthesiologist assistants, on the grounds the new rules would raise barriers to business and require additional bureaucracy. But a year later, he signed into law a modified version of the measure, minus the extra bureaucracy but otherwise much the same.
許多條例制定出來(lái)是為了保護(hù)民眾免受贗品、危險(xiǎn)的產(chǎn)品以及死亡的威脅，而這恰恰也是難點(diǎn)。即使成本高，危險(xiǎn)遙不可及，沒(méi)有一個(gè)政客愿意因?yàn)槲：舶踩黄鹪V。去年，印第安納州共和黨州長(zhǎng)麥克·彭斯投票糖尿病教育者以及麻醉學(xué)者助理的許可證，理由是新的法規(guī)會(huì)給商業(yè)活動(dòng)造成困難，并會(huì)增加額外的官員。但是一年以后，他簽署了一份修改版的法案，減少多余的官僚機(jī)構(gòu)，其他方面則一樣。譯者：黃柳
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