性別、家庭與經濟：分析小型家庭企業老闆娘的地位

本研究探討在台灣特殊的經濟、制度及文化環境中，小型家庭企業運作如何影響企業企業內老的地位。根據台灣302家小型家庭企業的抽樣調查，本研究發現業內老的地位是家庭企業的經濟策略運作的結果。台灣的小型家庭企業面對經濟制度之結構性限制以及強大的市場競爭壓力，在企業生存的先決條件下發展出追求最大經濟利益的經濟策略。在家庭經濟策略下企業組織的需求比家庭組織或個人資源更重要地決定了業內老在企業企的決策地位。企業組織制度化與否以及按生產技術性別化特質的性別分工都是家庭經濟策略的運作，對於業內老決策地位有顯著影響。家庭經濟策略可能使業內老獲得協商權力甚至突破了傳統父權體制下性別層級的制約。本研究進一步指出業內老的決策地位也是性別建構的結果；在小型企業的家庭經濟策略下，藉著日常生活的權力過程、工作上的互動以及個人對社會規範的認知，夫妻的性別認同及決策地位逐漸被建構，而且相互影響。

Findings from a survey of 302 small family businesses in various industries around the island of Taiwan suggest that the status of 'boss's wife' is tied to economic survival. That is, in response to institutional and structural barriers, as well as market competition, small Taiwanese family businesses have developed economic strategies to minimize production costs and maximize income. Accordingly, power relations between gender and 'boss's wife' status are determined by the demands of a family production system rather than reproduction system. Through the use of survival economic strategies by these families, including institutional rules and gender-based labor divisions, the wives are able to establish bargaining power and to go against patriarchal norms. The findings also suggest that 'boss's wife' status is the consequence of gender construction, through which work-related power relations and gender identification (for both husband and wife) are mutually shaped.