科技政策與民主化：台灣發展電動機車經驗的政治經濟分析

Abstract

許多學者認為，政府有效推動科技與產業發展是台灣經齊成就的主要因素之一，而政府內科技官僚能夠隔絕於利益團體競租行為的干擾，理性規劃政策方案，又與其威權體制有關。因此，當台灣引進民主制度，改變冏僚決策的基本誘因結構，是否會影響其政策能力，則是非常值得關切的議題。從我國電動機車發展計畫的案例，可觀察到民主化對於政府政策的影響。電動機車產業同時具科技研發、產業升級以及環境保護等多重特性，因此可謂非常有創意的政策嘗試，但實施多年後，卻由主管單位的首長公開承認政策失敗。從政策內容來分析，可發現環保署並未選擇最有可能達成政策目標的工具與規劃方案，而選擇了阻力最小的方式進行，似可說明台灣經歷民主化後，決策官僚已不如以往能有效絕緣於政治因素的干擾，必須犧牲部分政策理性來換取政治的可行性。為鋪陳此一推論，本研究首先介紹相關政策原理，從政治經濟學的角度，申論追求特定政策目標所應有之最適政策方案。其次本文描繪行政官員實際選擇的方案，來說明政治可行性的考量比經濟理性更具影響力。從電動機車推廣案不太理想的結果看來，本文強調行政民主化的進程中，政策官僚必須學習如何在政治妥協中堅守專業考量。

How would democratization have impacts on the technology policy making of a country? Many newly industrialized countries (NICs) were famous for the quality of their industrial and technological policies which contributed to their economic achievements in the past decades. These policies were mostly designed by technocrats insulated from the rent seeking activities under their authoritarian rules. Nevertheless, late 1980s witnessed democratization of these countries and therefore whetted a curiosity that if the policy capacity of the bureaucrats would be hampered. This paper examines the case of Taiwan’s promoting electronic scooters to indicate the possibility of such influence. It shows that politicized process have created incentives of bureaucrats to choose a most popular policy scheme to promise political feasibility. Nevertheless, such designs might deviate from economic rationality and eventually lead to less promising results. This case suggests a need of institutional solution to assure the professional adequacy of bureaucratic policy making in democratization.