In the previous article, we discussed the general concept of economic entities, discussed the concept and characteristics of asset entities, and now we will discuss the existence and development of public enterprises as independent labor entities. This question includes two questions: first, why must public enterprises exist and develop as independent labor entities, rather than as independent asset entities; The second is the characteristics and laws governing the existence and development of public-owned enterprises as independent labor entities.
The second question is that it is an objective law that public enterprises must exist and develop as independent labor entities.
Earlier we discussed the objective law of the existence and development of capitalist enterprises or private enterprises as economic entities, and we know that enterprises based on private ownership of the means of production exist and develop as independent entities of the means of production. Now we have to ask, what kind of economic entities do enterprises based on public ownership of the means of production exist and develop?
First, enterprises based on public ownership of the means of production cannot exist and develop as independent entities of the means of production.
What kind of economic entities can enterprises based on public ownership of the means of production exist and develop? To answer this question, we must first understand the basic characteristics of public-owned enterprises.
1. The first basic characteristic of public enterprises is that due to the realization of public ownership of the means of production, the personified owners of assets have been eliminated. In a public-owned enterprise (e.g., a state-owned enterprise), there is no such thing as a simple owner of assets: employees are not owners of assets, managers are not owners of assets, and even the staff of the competent authorities are not real owners of assets. Of course, whether under the conditions of national ownership or collective ownership, laborers also have the status of public owners of the means of production, but the laborers of an enterprise, whether in the form of individuals or collectives, are not independent and complete asset owners, and cannot exercise the functions of asset owners; Moreover, socialism wants to realize public ownership of the means of production precisely in order to eliminate the owners of the capital, because only by eliminating the owners of the assets can it be possible to "eliminate exploitation and eliminate polarization".
2. The second basic characteristic of public enterprises is that under the condition of realizing the public ownership of the means of production, although the owners of labor also have the status of public owners of the means of production, the public ownership of the means of production itself has eliminated the differences between people in terms of asset ownership, so there is no difference between laborers as public owners of assets in terms of asset ownership. This characteristic of public ownership determines that the so-called ownership of assets loses its meaning in the production process, just as the right of every person on the earth to breathe air is indiscriminate and equal, so the right to breathe air is meaningless in the process of life is exactly the same. Moreover, socialism wants to realize public ownership of the means of production precisely in order to eliminate the differences between people in the ownership of assets, because only by eliminating the differences between people in the ownership of assets can the property rights claim be fundamentally eliminated, and it is possible to "eliminate exploitation and eliminate polarization."
3. The third basic characteristic of public ownership is that because the means of production under public ownership have a large-scale wholeness, a single enterprise can no longer exist and develop as an independent entity of means of production, and the realization of public ownership of the means of production fundamentally excludes the possibility of the existence and development of enterprises as an independent asset entity. In order for an enterprise to exist and develop as an independent entity of means of production, it must have clear property rights, that is, how much total amount of means of production is occupied by the enterprise? Who does it belong to? It should be clear, but the realization of public ownership of the means of production has turned the means of production into public ownership, forming a large-scale wholeness, and this integrity excludes the possibility of the existence of asset entities in public enterprises.
To sum up, the first basic feature and the second basic characteristic of public ownership determine that public enterprises do not need to exist and develop as independent asset entities; The third basic characteristic of public ownership determines that it is impossible for public enterprises to exist and develop as independent asset entities.
Second, enterprises based on public ownership of the means of production can and must exist and develop as independent labor entities.
Since a public-owned enterprise does not need and cannot exist and develop as an independent asset entity, can it exist and develop as an independent labor entity? To answer this question, we must also proceed from the basic characteristics of public-owned enterprises. Now let's take a closer look at the basic characteristics of public ownership:
1. Due to the realization of public ownership of the means of production, the personified owners of assets have in fact been eliminated, so that the only owners of labor who can be the main body of social production are left in the public enterprises. The question now is, are the workers of enterprises based on public ownership of the means of production independent and complete owners of labor? Can it become the main body of enterprise production? As we know, socialism has achieved public ownership of the means of production, but it has not eliminated the individual ownership of labor. The owners of labor, which are based on the individuality of living and consumption, are complete and independent, whether they exist individually or collectively.
2. The realization of public ownership of the means of production has eliminated the differences between people in the ownership of assets, so that the so-called ownership of assets has lost its meaning in the production process, but due to the existence of individuality in living consumption, there are differences in labor input and consumption needs of laborers, and whether or not they can reflect this difference and meet the different interests determined by this difference has become the key to the normal development of the public ownership economy. Therefore, it is the ownership of labor, not the ownership of assets, that plays a decisive role in socialist production.
3. The realization of public ownership of the means of production has formed the integrity of the means of production in a wide range, thus excluding the possibility of the existence and development of public enterprises as independent asset entities; On the other hand, on the basis of the individuality of living and consumption, the owner of labor is independent in all aspects of labor, and the labor input of laborers is clearly understood whether it exists in an individual way or in a collective way. Therefore, enterprises based on public ownership of the means of production can exist and develop as independent labor entities.
Generally speaking, the first and second characteristics of public ownership determine that public enterprises must exist and develop as independent labor entities, while the third characteristic of public ownership determines that public enterprises may exist and develop as independent labor entities.
The conclusion is that, proceeding from the basic characteristics of public ownership, enterprises based on public ownership of the means of production cannot exist and develop as independent asset entities, but can and must exist and develop as independent labor entities.
The third question is the basic characteristics, objective laws, and general requirements for the existence and development of public enterprises as labor entities
The productive forces of society are always composed of two aspects: the means of production and the productive labor. Since economic entities can exist and develop in the form of asset entities, the existence of labor entities is also possible and inevitable. And in fact, such economic entities have also appeared in the existing socialist practice. Everyone knows that the distribution under the conditions of the responsibility system for agricultural production is "to compensate for consumption, to give enough to the state, to keep enough for the collective, and for the rest to be their own." From here, we can see that there is a qualitative difference between the value movement stipulated by the distribution model of the agricultural production responsibility system and the value movement of the property right enterprises: the value quantity of "the rest is its own", and the value of the production results, is no longer the amount of surplus value, but the amount of consumption value. This fact shows that in the real society, there is objectively an economic entity that is different from the asset entity - that is, the labor entity.
One of the schematic diagrams of the labor entity
A capitalist society is a society in which people exploit people, and the laborers are in a position of exploitation and enslavement. The proletariat wants to carry out a revolution and therefore overthrow the rule of the bourgeoisie precisely in order to "eliminate exploitation and eliminate polarization". The realization of public ownership of the means of production is the basis on which the system of exploitation is eradicated. Therefore, an enterprise based on public ownership of the means of production cannot exist as an asset entity like a capitalist enterprise, but can only exist and develop as an independent labor entity.
Starting from the three basic characteristics of public enterprises, and according to the principle of the correspondence between labor entities and asset entities, it is not difficult for us to understand the general laws and basic characteristics of the existence and development of public enterprises as labor entities:
(1) Whether it is a production team or a contractor, the basic characteristics of its existence and development are that the publicly-owned means of production are in a state of value preservation in the production process, and the production and operation status of the enterprise is manifested in the fluctuation of consumption value: "compensation consumption" is in the front, and "the rest is its own" in the back, which is the concrete embodiment of this basic characteristic. Generally speaking, we predetermine the value of the means of production and keep it unchanged in the production process, and the economic entities whose production and operation conditions fluctuate in the amount of consumption value are called production labor entities, referred to as labor entities.
(2) In the production team, it is the general meeting of members who decide on major affairs, and the team leader and team committee are elected and decided by the general meeting of members; In the contracted households, the production and operation management is directly the responsibility of the farmers themselves. It can be seen from this that the main body of enterprise production as the existence and development of labor entities is the owner of labor, and the interests of the owner of labor are manifested in the ownership of labor, the core of which is "labor ownership", which includes the labor distribution right that embodies "who works and who owns" and the labor management right of "who works and who manages", that is, the rights of "labor masters and distribution according to work". In line with this interest requirement, the value movement of the enterprise is manifested in the consumption value movement, and the management movement of the enterprise is also based on the embodiment of labor ownership.
(3) The premise of the existence and development of an enterprise as a labor entity is that the value of the means of production in public ownership must be predetermined and kept unchanged in the production process. Because only when the value of the means of production remains unchanged, the production and operation activities of the enterprise can be manifested as the fluctuation of the consumption value; Only when the value of the means of production is in a state of preservation can the distribution according to work be realized, and the workers' demand for labor ownership interests can be satisfied; Only when the value of public assets is preserved can enterprises maintain production and reproduction, and the long-term interests of workers can be guaranteed.
Obviously, in order to reflect the basic requirement that the value of public assets remain unchanged in the process of production and operation, there is also an economic category corresponding to wages in public enterprises, which we can call "public assets", that is, the value of public assets. "Public capital" is a predetermined form of the value of public assets, and it is the part of the distribution of production results that must be preferentially guaranteed, just as an enterprise that exists and develops as an asset entity must first pay the wages of its workers when it goes bankrupt, an enterprise that exists and develops as a labor entity must first compensate for the amount of value of public assets consumed even when it is dissolved.
Schematic diagram of the labor entity 2
(4) The basic condition for the normal development of an enterprise as a labor entity is the clear distinction of labor rights: that is, what is the total amount of labor to form a collective product? Which workers are involved? The share of each worker and so on must be clearly understood and reflected in the distribution. In line with this requirement, the division of work is a suitable form that reflects the difference in the amount of labor provided by the laborer. In the production team, due to the adoption of the form of division of labor, the different forms and quantities of specific labor provided by the laborers for the collective are transformed into the same collective labor that is the same in nature and can be distinguished in quantity, and the income level of the unit labor volume is determined according to the relationship between the total amount of labor and the amount of consumption value of the enterprise, and then the amount of consumption value is decomposed according to the amount of individual labor. It can be seen that the adoption of the division of labor system clearly distinguishes the amount of labor provided by workers for enterprises, and satisfies the basic requirements of labor ownership of workers due to the difference in labor input.
In addition, as a reasonable form of distribution according to work, the division of labor, like shares, is not only a reasonable form that reflects the difference in the amount of labor and satisfies the workers' requirements for labor distribution rights, but also reflects the difference in the amount of labor provided by the laborers and distinguishes the size of the laborers' management rights. If we divide the amount of individual labor in a given period by the total amount of labor in the same period, we get the proportion of individual labor in the total labor of the enterprise (we call it the "work ratio"). The size of the "work division ratio" is the criterion for distinguishing the management authority of the employee enterprise. Labor rights enterprises, like property rights enterprises, the basic principle of determining the management authority of production entities is not one person, one vote, but one work, one vote.
(5) The business mechanism of enterprises that exist and develop as labor entities is the distribution mechanism according to work. As an enterprise that exists and develops as an asset entity, it is the law of surplus value that plays a decisive role, and the operating mechanism of the enterprise is the expression and process of the law of surplus value. Correspondingly, the decisive role of the enterprise in the existence and development of the labor entity is the law of consumption value, and the business mechanism of the enterprise is the manifestation and process of the law of consumption value. First of all, through the distribution according to work system, the result of the production and operation activities of the enterprise is manifested as the fluctuation of the amount of consumption value, and the change of the amount of consumption value as labor income will effectively cause the economic behavior of the laborers who are the main producers of the enterprise to regulate the production and business activities, so that the enterprise will develop in the direction that is conducive to the satisfaction of the workers' interests, and when the results of the production and business activities of the enterprise have changed, the distribution system according to work will manifest the changed result as a new fluctuation in the amount of consumption value. This fluctuation in turn leads to new regulatory behaviors.
(6) The enterprise system that is suitable for the existence and development of enterprises as labor entities is the enterprise system that fully embodies labor ownership. Only when an enterprise system that fully embodies labor ownership is established can the publicly-owned means of production be in a state of value preservation, the production and operation conditions of enterprises can be manifested as fluctuations in the amount of consumption value, and the workers' interest requirements for labor ownership can be satisfied. Only by establishing the enterprise system of labor rights can the laborers be able to easily regulate the production and operation activities of the enterprises in accordance with their own interests, and can the goal of commensurate labor income with labor consumption be achieved. The labor right enterprise system uses "public capital" to fix the value of the means of production in advance, and uses the consumption value to express the labor income of laborers, which better reflects the basic requirements of laborers for labor ownership in labor-management relations; On the other hand, it also reflects the difference in labor input of workers in the form of employment division, and satisfies the different requirements of distribution rights and management rights determined by this difference, thus reflecting the basic requirements of labor ownership of workers in the relationship between workers. It is precisely because the labor ownership enterprise system fully embodies the ownership of labor in two relationships, and it satisfies the needs of the existence and development of enterprises as labor entities.
(7) Production labor entities can be divided into two categories: simple forms of labor entities and combined forms of labor entities, the former is the mode of self-employment of workers based on the public ownership of the means of production, such as contractors under the responsibility system of agricultural production; The latter is a mode of collective management of workers based on the public ownership of the means of production, such as the production team model. In line with this, there are two types of enterprises that exist and develop as labor entities: enterprises that combine individual labor and public ownership of the means of production, which we call socialist individual enterprises; Enterprises that combine collective labor with public ownership of the means of production are called collective enterprises. There are also two types of labor rights enterprise systems that are suitable for the type of enterprise, such as the contract system and the division of work system.
In short, the establishment of an enterprise system that fully embodies labor ownership is a prerequisite for the existence and development of public-owned enterprises as independent labor entities. The value movement and management movement of the actual labor owner, which embodies the ownership of labor, is the basic connotation of the economic entity (labor entity) of the public enterprise, the value of the means of production is in a predetermined state and the labor rights are clearly defined as the regular requirements for the existence and development of the public enterprise as a labor entity, the fluctuation of the production and operation status of the enterprise is manifested in the amount of consumption value is the movement characteristic of the existence and development of the public enterprise as a labor entity, and the law of consumption value is the basic law that plays a decisive role. The so-called enterprise management mechanism is the manifestation and process of this law.
At this point, we have a basic understanding of the basic principles of labor entities. Some people will ask: where does this principle of labor come from? Is there a practical basis?
I would like to give a brief explanation of this. Since the October Revolution, the practice of socialism has a history of more than 100 years. However, we know that the "Soviet model", which has existed for the longest time and has the widest scope, has suffered a complete failure, and the basic reason for the failure of the "Soviet model" is that it cannot exist and develop as an independent economic entity. A slight analysis of pre-reform state enterprises will make this clear. However, in addition to the "Soviet model" of combining the property rights system and public ownership, there is in fact another mode of production in socialist countries, that is, the mode of production teams that combines the division of labor system and public ownership, and the form of peasant household management under the conditions of the responsibility system for agricultural production. Everyone knows that the distribution model of the production results of the agricultural production responsibility system is "to compensate for consumption, to pay enough to the state, to keep enough for the collective, and for the rest to be their own." This distribution model is the same as that of the production team. The nature of this model is markedly different from that of the state-owned enterprises: here, the members and peasants who directly bear the results of the production of the enterprises are no longer the owners of the assets, but the owners of labor, and the quantity of value that appears as the results of production is not surplus value in nature, and the amount of the income of the laborers is completely determined by the state of production of the labor collective. From this it is not difficult to see that the production team and the contractor are not only an independent economic entity, but also a different kind of economic entity from the capitalist enterprise. It's just that people are accustomed to thinking about things from the perspective of property rights and using property rights theory to explain everything, so people turn a blind eye to the particularity of this emerging economic entity. The question of the advantages and disadvantages of the mode of production teams and why the production teams failed to give full play to the superiority of the socialist system has been discussed in the article "On the Basic Characteristics and Development Requirements of the Socialist Productive Forces", and will not be repeated here. As for the study of the production team and the responsibility system for agricultural production itself, it needs to be carried out as a topic, which we will return to in due course.
来源: 子小浔