平台時代公司法的新趨勢──基於平台公司多元利益相關者模式的法律調適

Evolvement of Corporate Law in the Platform Age: Addressing Platform Companies’Demands for Divergent Stakeholder Norms

Hansmann和Kraakman曾提出，各國已普遍認同以股東為中心的治理模式，並在法律層面逐步統一，公司法的歷史已然終結。然而，平台時代的到來改變這個局面。本文透過對平台經營模式的分析，指出平台公司治理中的三個顯著特徵：一、交易成本的大幅度降低使部分利益相關者擁有更強的自主權；二、由於利益相關者對公司價值創造的關鍵貢獻，平台公司的治理更趨近於利益相關者模式；以及三、由於利益相關者的投資價值難以測度，利益相關者之間的權力分配趨向動態、多元。因此，平台公司應採納去中心化的、利益相關者趨向、靈活和動態的公司治理模式。公司法應該回應而非阻礙平台公司的發展需求。因此，公司法應在治理模式選擇中更具有賦權性而非強制性，並允許不同的公司治理規範共存。

Hansmann and Kraakman posited that the history of corporate law has come to an end due to the worldwide convergence towards shareholder primacy. Nevertheless, the advent of the platform age has transformed this landscape. This article identifies three features of stakeholder relationships in platform companies: (1) some stakeholders have stronger discretionary powers due to the substantial reduction in transaction costs; (2) a more stakeholder-oriented approach needs to be adopted due to stakeholders’pivotal contributions to firms’value creation; and (3) the power allocation between stakeholders is flexible and dynamic since the value of their investments is changeable. Accordingly, platform companies must adopt decentralised, stakeholder-oriented, flexible, and dynamic corporate governance norms. Corporate law should respond to rather than hinder the demands of platform companies. In this regard, corporate law should evolve to be more enabling than mandatory in power allocation and allow the co-existence of divergent corporate governance norms.