評論
打印
One insight from the literature is that a tightly specified contract can have perverse outcomes.
一種來自文學的深刻見解是，有嚴格規定的合約可能帶來事與愿違的結果。
If teachers are paid according to test results, they will “teach to the test” and pay less regard to other tasks, such as inspiring pupils to think independently.
如果教師是根據考試結果而被付給工資，他們就會“為考試而教”，而且還會減少對激勵學生獨立思考等其他任務的關注。
If chief executives are paid to boost the firm's short-term share price, they will cut investment projects that may benefit shareholders in the long run.
如果高管是為了提振短期股價而被付給工資，他們就會減少可能讓利益相關方長期得利的投資項目。
Mr Holmstrom and Paul Milgrom established that where important tasks are hard to monitor, and where a balance of activities is needed, then a contract should shun strong incentives tied to any one task.
霍姆斯特羅姆和保羅·米格羅姆(Paul Milgrom)指出，在重要的任務難以監督以及行為的平衡是必需的情況下，合約應當回避被綁在任何一項任務上的強烈動機。
The best approach is to pay a fixed salary and to leave the balance of tasks unspecified.
最好的策略是支付一筆固定工資并且讓任務的平衡處于未定之中。
A related idea developed by Mr Hart and John Moore is of a job contract as a “reference point” rather than as a detailed map.
由哈特和約翰·摩爾(John Moore)提出的一種相關的觀點是把工作合約作為“參考點”，而不是“明細圖”。
Another insight is that deferred forms of pay, such as company pension schemes and promotions based on seniority, help cement long-term ties with employees and reward them for investing in skills specific to the relationship.
另一種深刻見解是，公司養老金計劃和基于資歷的提升這類延遲支付方式有助于強化與員工的長期關系，同時還要因為員工投資于為雙方關系所特有的技能而獎勵他們。
Coase noted in 1937 that the degree to which the mechanism of price is superseded by the firm varies with the circumstances.
科斯早在1937年就曾指出，價格機制被公司取代所能達到的程度，是隨情況的變化而變化的。
Eighty years on, the boundary between the two might appear to be dissolving altogether.
80年來，兩者間的邊界似乎已經完全消失了。
The share of self-employed contractors in the labour force has risen.
在勞動力大軍中，自我雇傭的簽約人比例一直在上升。
The “gig economy” exemplified by Uber drivers is mushrooming.
以優步為代表的“零工經濟”正在迅速成長。
Yet firms are unlikely to wither away.
然而，公司不可能消亡。
Prior to Uber, most taxi drivers were already self-employed.
優步之前，大多數出租車司機早已是自我雇傭的了。
Spot-like job contracts are becoming more common, but flexibility comes at a cost.
類似于現貨的工作合約正在變得愈發常見，但是，靈活性來得是有代價的。
Workers have little incentive to invest in firm-specific skills, so productivity suffers.
由于工人很少有動力投資于公司的特定技能，生產力深受其苦。
And even if Mr Seabright's shirt was delivered by a set of market-based transactions, the supply chains for complex goods, such as an iPhone or an Airbus A380 superjumbo, rely on long-term contracts that are often “incomplete”.
同時，即便希布萊特的襯衫是通過一系列基于市場的交易得到分發的，像iPhone或者空客A380超級客機這樣的復雜商品的供應鏈仍然依賴于經常是“不完整”的長期合約。
Coase was the first to spot an enduring truth.
科斯是發現一個持久真相的第一人。
Successful economies need both the benign dictatorship of the firm and the invisible hand of the market.
成功的經濟體既需要公司的良性獨裁，也需要看不見的市場之手。
譯文來源考研英語時事閱讀
