獨立董事之脆弱性──從歷史脈絡與心理困境探討

Abstract

公司治理規制，不論在內國或國際層面，亦不論係法律或是軟性的規則，經過數十年的改革與修整，其方向與作法在今天已大局底定了下來──一個仰賴獨立董事運作的監控模式──，並給人們已瑧完美的印象。然而，公司的醜聞與失敗在世界各地仍層出不窮、未曾止歇，這樣理想與現實之間的落差卻未必使許多監管者與論者對今制失去信心或產生懷疑。筆者自此觀察出發，試圖從中窺探是否有如何隱微的脆弱之處，並以兩個主軸──歷史脈絡與心理困境──進行探索。就歷史脈絡的觀察而言，董事之制度來源於中世紀教會對羅馬法理──代表與同意──的發展，而自中世紀至航海時代，相等於董事之人，均係相等於執行長之人的助手，明顯顯示出董事作為監控者並非來自長遠的歷史淵源。就心理困境的觀察而言，人類並非以冷靜且理性地計算得失的方式行事，而受到諸多心理局限性的影響。並且，心理困境不單存在於每個人的內在之中，在人聚成團體時亦會產生團體層面的心理困境。此外，人作為社會的動物，亦受到廣泛的社會規範的制約。更甚者，身為菁英的同質性亦有如鬆軟的地基，暗示著建築於上的堂皇穩固的制度可能的危殆。最後，本文建議設立一個讓獨董歸屬的公背景的機關，得賦予其一種使命感與心理支援來對抗心理困境，而發揮其「直言力」。

After decades of reform and refinement, the direction and approach of corporate governance regulation, whether at the domestic or international level, and whether it is a law or a soft rule, has been settled today, that is, a monitoring model that relies on independent directors, and has given the impression that it has been perfected. However, the gap between ideals and reality does not necessarily make regulators and commentators lose their confidence or doubt about the current system. Starting from this observation, the author tries to get a glimpse of whether there is a subtle vulnerability, and explores it with two main axes: historical context and psychological dilemma. In terms of historical context, the institution of directors originated from the development of Roman jurisprudence by the medieval church, namely representation and consent, and from the Middle Ages to the Age of Navigation, the equivalent of directors was the assistant of the equivalent of the chief executive, which clearly shows that the directors as supervisors did not come from a long-term historical origin. In terms of psychological dilemma, human beings do not act calmly and rationally in the way of calculating gains and losses, but are affected by many psychological limitations. Moreover, psychological dilemmas not only exist within each individual, but also arise at the group level when people gather in groups. In addition, human beings, as social animals, are also subject to a wide range of social norms. Besides, the homogeneity of elites is like a soft foundation, implying that the grand and stable system built on it may be in danger. Finally, this article proposes to set up an institution with a public background to which independent directors belong, giving them a sense of mission and psychological support to combat against psychological dilemmas and exert their "outspoken power".