國家、社會與市場——日治臺灣郵政簡易壽險的商品 化歷程分析(1895-1937)

Abstract

為何臺灣總督府要於 1927 年開辦「郵政簡易壽險」制度?且為何這個制 度在台灣甫一上路就獲得巨大的成功?為了回答以上經驗問題，本文援引新經濟社會學的理論視角，嘗試走出與先前研究者不同的研究取徑。首先，本文不將壽險視為一個既存的商品，而是一個待分析的「商品化過程」;第二，本文 試圖跳脫國家與市場的二律背反，而是重視社會領域的相對自主性，並將「國家——社會關係」納入對市場的分析之中。 本文觀察到，郵政簡易壽險制度在日本以及殖民地台灣，因兩地官僚利益 的不同而有相異的創制脈絡。日本的社會政策官僚在設立法案時，強調的是制度的社會政策效果，並以扶貧與社會安全作為立法的正當性基礎。相對地，臺灣總督府財政官僚從日本引入郵政簡易壽險制度，主要目的是解決臺灣總督府 所面臨的龐大財政壓力，因此為了提供地方政府與公共建設穩定的金援，郵政簡易壽險基金既而成為臺灣總督府的一個財政工具。 本文也指出，台灣郵政簡易壽險商品化過程的可能性條件，仰賴於國家權力對地方社會的治理、總體經濟向低利率環境變化，以及台灣社會對死亡的特 殊文化觀念。首先，日本殖民地官僚在台灣進行長期而穩定的人口統計，並透過統計資料進一步計算死亡率與製作生命表，打造了壽險商品生產的基礎。第 二，日本在台灣設立了覆蓋全島主要鄉鎮的基層郵政網絡，並透過戶籍制度提升保險業務員的工作效率，兩者共同構成了壽險商品流通的基礎。最後，在商品消費上，則有來自經濟與文化的雙重誘因:日本帝國 1930 年代的貨幣政策 造就了低利率的總體經濟環境，使大眾更願意購買固定利率的郵政簡易壽險; 此外，為家人提前安排身後事、重視喪葬與納妾等文化習慣，也造就台灣呈現高比例的老人與女性保戶之特殊風貌。

What is the main purpose of the Taiwan Governor-general's Office(Taiwan Sōtokufu) as it enacted the state-run Postal Life Insurance(PLI) in Taiwan in 1927? How this insurance institution expanded highly in the next ten years? To answer these questions, this study takes a new approach with insights from new economic sociology. First, insurance will not be treated as an already existing commodity but as a 'commodification process' which is worth analyzing. Second, this paper emphasizes the relative autonomy of the society to get rid of the 'State versus Market' antinomy, and thereby the 'state-society relation' was brought back in the analysis of the insurance market dynamics. We find that the legitimate foundation of PLI policy-making varies between Japan and Taiwan due to bureaucrats' different interests. For bureaucrats in Japan, the PLI was established as a social policy that could eliminate poverty and guarantee social security. For those in Taiwan, in contrast, public finance matters. Thus, as a fiscal tool, the PLI was introduced from Japan to colony Taiwan in 1927 so that the local government could leverage the insurance fund to invest in infrastructure. This thesis also concludes three conditions that make the commodification process of the PLI in Taiwan possible: the state governance over the local society, the low-interest rates under the macroeconomic environment, and the specific death culture in Taiwanese society. First, the colonial bureaucrats utilize the population statistic based on the annual surveys, calculating the death rate and producing life tables, which are essential to PLI production. Moreover, both the intensive post offices network and the household registration accelerate the circulating process of the PLI. Finally, two incentives constitute PLI consumption. One is the economic reason: Taiwanese people prefer PLI among other financial instruments as the fiscal policy lowered interest rates in the 1930s. Cultural reasons, such as excessive funeral expenses and taking concubines, also make Taiwan an island with more elder and female policyholders.