Contracts and Hierarchies: A Moral Examination of Economic Theories of the Firm
本文从道德角度批判了将企业视为契约层级的经济理论，认为该理论要求员工放弃部分自主权，在道德上不可接受，并呼吁商业伦理学者参与构建新的企业理论。
ABSTRACT: An influential set of economic theories argue that the firm is a nexus of contracts that institute a hierarchy to overcome the problems of incomplete contracting in the market. However, the economic theory of the firm as a hierarchy violates the moral requirement to respect the autonomy of those who contract into the firm. The internal logic of the theory depends on a morally unacceptable abdication of a part of the employee’s capacity to set her own ends in the future. So a different theory is needed to understand the nature and purpose of the firm. The development of such a theory can benefit from business ethicists engaging with existing economic theories of the firm to explore concepts like contracts, agency, and property.