學 院 專 欄 FACULTY COLUMN 缺失填補者 瞭解制度缺失的不同類型對於揭示缺失填補的 機制至關重要。制度缺失可以由很多行為者共 同填補，他們按照缺失的性質、手中擁有的資 源以及宏觀社會政治條件而採取不同的策略。 我們可以將缺失填補者粗略的分成三大類：策 略行為者、社會團體、普羅大眾。 策略行為者是有影響力的行為者，他們能修改 制度規定，建立新的做法，履行職能角色。他 們可能是公共實體（如國家）、組織機構（如政 府部門或商業協會）或有影響力的個人（如政治 領袖、政府官員或商業大亨）。策略行為者可 以是充當市場協調角色的公職人員，也可以是 承擔公共責任的私營部門人員。我們在案例研 究中遇到過很多行為者履行特殊任務的例子。 例如，台灣的美援會曾一度成為經濟發展的總 規劃師，印尼的大房地產企業承擔起城市規劃 和市政服務的責任，中國的當舖成為中小企業 的融資平臺。 第二類的社會團體包括非政府組織、利益集 團、宗教組織、專業協會、民間自發的懲罪團 體、甚至社會運動。這一類的行為者目前受到 的關注也是最多的。環保團體的活動，慈善機 構的社會服務，非政府組織在政府無作為時發 起的一些旨在預防或補救社會負面效應的運 動，這些我們都並不陌生。與策略行為者不同 的是，社會團體可能不具備充足的資金、行政 權力、市場影響力這些優勢。因此，它們常用 的策略就是和其他組織合作共同發揮影響力， 藉此實現共享資源，為其行動爭取更廣泛的社 會和民意支持。 目前為止，最令人意外的缺失填補者是普羅大 眾。與策略行為者和社會團體相比，普羅大眾 只是普通人，無權無勢又無錢，可供使用的資 源少之又少，也不會同心同德為了一個共同的 目標而努力。現有的理論慣於假設普羅大眾的 惰性，在沒有激勵的情況下，很難動員大眾發 起集體行動，即使這樣做符合其共同利益。然 而，實證研究顯示事實並非如此，尤其是在當 今這個信息時代。例如，普通人民(特別是網 民)已開始將互聯網作為一種防止政府違法瀆 職的公共監督機制。「人肉搜索」也已成為遏 制官員失職瀆職的有效工具。從這個意義上來 說，普通人通過自發無組織的共同匿名行動， 也可能起到部分填補缺失的作用。 Void-Filling Agents Understanding the variations in institutional voids is instrumental to unveil the mechanisms of void-!lling. Institutional voids can be !lled by a multiplicity of actors who deploy different strategies in relation to the nature of the voids, the resources these actors control, and the broader socio-political conditions. At the risk of simpli!cation, we can broadly identify three categories of void-!llers: strategic actors, social groups, and commons. Strategic actors are powerful actors who change institutional rules, establish new practices, and perform functional roles. They can be a public entity such as the state; an organisational establishment such as a speci!c government department or business association; or an in"uential individual such as a political leader, bureaucrat, or business tycoon. Strategic actors can be public servants ful!lling a market coordinating role, or private actors taking on public responsibilities of regulation and governance. We have come across many unexpected actors in our case studies. For instance, a development aid agency turned into an economic planning bureau in Taiwan; real estate companies assumed the responsibilities of town planning and municipal services in Indonesia; and pawnshops took over the role of banks for private enterprises in China. The second category, social groups, includes NGOs, interest groups, religious organisations, professional associations, vigilante groups, and even social movements. This category of actors has so far received the most attention. We are familiar with actions of environmental protection groups, social services provided by charities, and NGO movements which seek to remedy or protect against social externalities when governments fail to act. Unlike strategic actors, social groups may not be endowed with suf!cient !nancial resources, administrative power, or market leverage. Because of that, they often rely on a strategy of exercising in"uence in collaboration with other organisations, which allows groups to share resources as well as to broaden the basis of social support, hence gaining a higher level of popular legitimacy for their course of action. By far the most unexpected category of void-!llers is the agency exercised by the common people. In contrast to strategic actors and social groups, the commons are simply ordinary people, often powerless in terms of money and position, with few resources at their disposal, and barely organized for a common purpose. Existing scholarship tends to assume that it is dif!cult to realise collective action among commons in the absence of selective incentives to motivate participation, even if it is in their mutual interests to act. However, empirical studies have shown otherwise, especially in the age of information. For instance, ordinary people, especially the socalled netizens, have used the internet as a public surveillance mechanism against government malfeasance. The “human-"esh search” has become a kind of deterrence against of!cial misconduct in public. In this sense, the common people, through anonymous, concerted and yet spontaneous and uncoordinated actions, create a practice that serves to remedy a void, even if this is at best a partial remedy. 50 umagazine | issue 07
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