经济学人:公司理论:科斯集结令(5)

 　　When output is the result of a team effort, it is hard to put the necessary tasks out to the market. 当产出是团队努力的结果时，把必要的任务交与市场很难。

　　That is because it is tricky¹ to measure the contribution of each member to the finished work and to then allocate² their rewards accordingly. 这是因为，衡量每一位成员对已经完成的工作的贡献、然后再相应地分配他们的酬劳很棘手。

　　So the firm is needed to act as both co-ordinator and monitor of a team. 因此，公司是为同时充当合作者和团队监督者所需。

　　If a team of workers requires a firm as monitor, might that also be true for teams of suppliers? 如果说员工团队需要公司作为监督者，那么，这对供给方团队也是正确的吗？

　　In some cases, firms are indeed vertically³ integrated, meaning that suppliers of inputs⁴ and producers of final goods are under the same ownership. 在某些案例中，公司实际上是被垂直地整合起来的，这意味着投入的供给方和最终产品的生产者处于同一所有权之下。

　　But in other cases, suppliers and their customers are separate entities⁵. 但是，在其他案例中，供给方和他们的客户是单独的实体。

　　When is one set-up right and not the other? 一种组织架构何时是正确的，另一种何时是不正确的呢？

　　A paper published in 1986 by Sanford Grossman and Mr Hart sharpened the thinking on this. 桑福特·格罗斯曼(Sanford Grossman)和哈特在1968年发表的一篇论文让这方面的思考变得又深入了一步。

　　They distinguished⁶ between two types of rights over a firm's assets (its plant, machinery⁷, brands, client lists and so on) :  他们把两种类型的公司资产权（厂房、机器、品牌、客户名单等等）区分了开来：

　　specific rights, which can be contracted out, and residual⁸ rights, which come with ownership. 特殊权利，这是可以通过合同被外包出去的；剩余权利，这是随所有权而来的。

　　Where it becomes costly⁹ for a company to specify¹⁰ all that it wants from a supplier,  对于公司来说，当列出它想要从供给方得到的一切变得代价高昂时，

　　it might make sense to acquire it in order to claim the residual rights (and the profits) from ownership. 收购供给方以宣称来自所有权的剩余权利（和利润）或许是有意义的。

　　But, as Messrs Grossman and Hart noted¹¹, something is also lost through the merger¹². 但是，正如格罗斯曼和哈特所指出的那样，某些东西通过收购也丧失了。

　　The supplier's incentive¹³ to innovate¹⁴ and to control costs vanishes, because he no longer owns the residual rights. 供给方的创新和控制成本的动力消失殆尽，因为他不再拥有剩余权利。

　　To illustrate¹⁵ this kind of relationship, they used the example of an insurance firm that pays a commission to an agent for selling policies. 为阐明这种关系，他们使用了一家为出售保单支付给代理人一笔佣金的保险公司的例子。

　　To encourage the agent to find high-quality clients, which are more likely to renew a policy,  为鼓励代理人发现更有可能续保的高质量客户，

　　the firm defers¹⁶ some portion of the agent's pay and ties it to the rate of policy renewals¹⁷. 公司推迟支付代理人的一部分工资，并且还将其与保单续保率捆绑在一起。

　　The agent is thus induced to work hard to find good clients. 这样，代理人就受到了努力发掘好客户的诱惑。

　　But there is a drawback. 但是，这有一个缺陷。

　　The insurance firm now has an incentive of its own to shirk. 如今，保险公司自身有一种逃避责任的动力。

　　While the agent is busting¹⁸ a gut¹⁹ to find the right sort of customers,  当代理人拼命工作以发现正确类型的客户时，

　　the firm can take advantage by, say, cutting its spending on advertising²⁰ its policies, raising their price or lowering their quality. 保险公司可以通过消减宣传保单的费用，提高价格或者降低质量等方式占便宜。

　　There is no set-up in which the incentives²¹ of firm and agent can be perfectly²² aligned²³. 不存在公司和代理人的动力可以在其中得到完美调和的组织架构。

1 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

2 allocate   

vt.分配，分派；把…拨给；把…划归

参考例句：

• You must allocate the money carefully.你们必须谨慎地分配钱。
• They will allocate fund for housing.他们将拨出经费建房。

3 vertically   

adv.垂直地

参考例句：

• Line the pages for the graph both horizontally and vertically.在这几页上同时画上横线和竖线，以便制作图表。
• The human brain is divided vertically down the middle into two hemispheres.人脑从中央垂直地分为两半球。

4 inputs   

n.输入( input的名词复数 )；投入；输入端；输入的数据v.把…输入电脑( input的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Uncheck the inputs checked for optimization in the previous stage. 不测试那些已经测试过的优化了的以前步骤的inputs.（变量参数）。 来自互联网
• Just in case, save in a file the inputs obtained at the previous stage. 以防万一，保存以前步骤获得的inputs（变量参数值）到一个文件中去。 来自互联网

5 entities   

实体对像； 实体，独立存在体，实际存在物( entity的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Our newspaper and our printing business form separate corporate entities. 我们的报纸和印刷业形成相对独立的企业实体。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities. 北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

6 distinguished   

adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的

参考例句：

• Elephants are distinguished from other animals by their long noses.大象以其长长的鼻子显示出与其他动物的不同。
• A banquet was given in honor of the distinguished guests.宴会是为了向贵宾们致敬而举行的。

7 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。

8 residual   

adj.复播复映追加时间；存留下来的，剩余的

参考例句：

• There are still a few residual problems with the computer program.电脑程序还有一些残留问题。
• The resulting residual chromatism is known as secondary spectrum.所得到的剩余色差叫做二次光谱。

9 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

10 specify   

vt.指定，详细说明

参考例句：

• We should specify a time and a place for the meeting.我们应指定会议的时间和地点。
• Please specify what you will do.请你详述一下你将做什么。

11 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

12 merger   

n.企业合并，并吞

参考例句：

• Acceptance of the offer is the first step to a merger.对这项提议的赞同是合并的第一步。
• Shareholders will be voting on the merger of the companies.股东们将投票表决公司合并问题。

13 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

14 innovate   

v.革新，变革，创始

参考例句：

• We must innovate in order to make progress.我们必须改革以便取得进步。
• It is necessary to innovate and develop military theories.创新和发展军事理论是必要的。

15 illustrate   

v.举例说明，阐明；图解，加插图

参考例句：

• The company's bank statements illustrate its success.这家公司的银行报表说明了它的成功。
• This diagram will illustrate what I mean.这个图表可说明我的意思。

16 defers   

v.拖延，延缓，推迟( defer的第三人称单数 )；服从某人的意愿，遵从

参考例句：

• She never defers to her parents' opinions. 她从来不听从父母的意见。 来自辞典例句
• Even in Iraq, America defers to the elected government. 即使在伊拉克，美国也要遵从他的民选政府。 来自互联网

17 renewals   

重建( renewal的名词复数 )； 更新； 重生； 合同的续订

参考例句：

• Number of circulations excluding renewals. 7th out of 10 libraries. 借阅数目（不包括续借）。在10间图书馆中排行第七。
• Certification Renewals shall be due on July 1 of the renewal year. 资格认证更新在更新年的7月1日生效。

18 busting   

打破，打碎( bust的现在分词 )； 突击搜查（或搜捕）； （使）降级，降低军阶

参考例句：

• Jim and his wife were busting up again yesterday. 吉姆和他的妻子昨天又吵架了。
• He figured she was busting his chops, but it was all true. 他以为她在捉弄他，其实完全是真的。

19 gut   

n.[pl.]胆量；内脏；adj.本能的；vt.取出内脏

参考例句：

• It is not always necessary to gut the fish prior to freezing.冷冻鱼之前并不总是需要先把内脏掏空。
• My immediate gut feeling was to refuse.我本能的直接反应是拒绝。

20 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

21 incentives   

激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机

参考例句：

• tax incentives to encourage savings 鼓励储蓄的税收措施
• Furthermore, subsidies provide incentives only for investments in equipment. 更有甚者，提供津贴仅是为鼓励增添设备的投资。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

22 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

23 aligned   

adj.对齐的，均衡的

参考例句：

• Make sure the shelf is aligned with the top of the cupboard.务必使搁架与橱柜顶端对齐。