Three Problems of Business Addressed by Stakeholder Theory: Insights from the Institutional Economics of John R. Commons
利用康芒斯的制度经济学，重新解读利益相关者理论关注的三个核心商业问题：价值创造与交易、资本主义伦理和管理者思维，揭示了当代利益相关者理论中深层的制度经济学内涵。
Abstract Stakeholder theory is traditionally motivated by the need to reconceptualize three core problems of business: value creation and trade, the ethics of capitalism, and managerial mindsets. We argue that the need for this reconceptualization arises, in part, from the limitations of mainstream economic theory in grasping the evolving business environment. The original institutional economics of John R. Commons offers an alternative body of economic thought that addresses these limitations by replacing the atomistic individualism of mainstream economics with an ontology grounded in collective action. Drawing on Commons’ insights, we demonstrate how the problem of value creation and trade takes on a new meaning of promoting security of expectations through conflict resolution and the maintenance of order. We further reconstruct the problem of the ethics of capitalism by drawing on Commons’ concept of reasonableness, rooted in evolving community standards of morality. Finally, we trace the problem of managerial mindsets to Commons’ category of industrial goodwill, which suggests that managers can deliberately pursue policies that maximize stakeholders’ collaborative attitudes. We conclude that reconstructing these three problems of business through Commons’ categories reveals the deeper institutional economics content embedded within contemporary stakeholder theory.