國家與網絡環伺下的台資企業協會:協會參與動力之探討

Abstract

大陸實施經改、台灣開放探親後的兩岸關係，正朝著政治分立、經濟合作路徑邁進。隨著台商經營模式由中小企業為主的低技術傳統產業，走向資金與技術密集型高科技產業，台商間的互動型態也由早期的小群體或個體作戰模式，轉為依賴集體力量、透過組織形式爭取共同利益。於此情況下，獲兩岸政府直接、間接承認的台資企業協會理應有非常大的運作空間，發揮外與兩岸政府斡旋、內為台商提供服務之功能。因此目前的相關文獻，莫不期待台商積極投入台協，而台協則發揮極其關鍵的功能。本研究卻將對此觀點提出挑戰，基於台協所提供的制度性入會誘因，分析台協的組織能力。基於上述設計，此研究奠基於筆者月餘的田野調查，訪談對象遍及上海、昆山、無錫三地台商與台辦人員。研究結果相當程度否定了學界視為理所當然之「台商積極參與台協」假設。根據筆者的研究，台資企業協會在中共政權的「強國家」以及經濟社會的「韌網絡」雙向壓縮下，台協的角色與功能，已遭到相當程度的弱化。

With the on-going post-Mao reforms, more and more Taiwanese businessmen (Taishang) seek business opportunities in mainland China. After almost fifteen years, these entrepreneurs have given up labor-intensive manufacturing and shifted to high-tech production. At the same time, they also feel constant needs to organize themselves, for reasons involving political capital, social capital and selective incentives. Most of these Taishang then create the Taiwanese Business Associations (TBAs) to serve their purpose. Although TBAs being founded one by one, our preliminary investigation suggests that most of them are in fact weak organizations. This research thus seeks to explain why those TBAs tend to be weak on the basis of the incentives they would provide for their members. After a month-long field research in Shanghai, Wuxi, and Kunshan, I find that these associations are bound to be weak organization mainly because of the “strong state” and “powerful networks.” The practices of the state hamper the functioning of TBAs while the operation of social networks creates an alternative organization with the functions of associations.