ドイツ経営経済学説にみる近代資本主義の精神の様相(二)

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In his article 'Die Privatwirtschaftslehre als Kunstlehre', E. Schmalenbach, a representative of German Commercial College (Handelshochschule), protected, against the criticism by some scholars of national economics (Volkswirtschaftslehre), political economics of business enterprise (privatwirtschaftliche Kunstlehre), and emphasized even the superiority of this over so-called scientific economics of business enterprise (wissenschaftliche Privatwirtschaftslehre), mainly because of its highly empirical testability, the criterion of empirical science. He admits that, in capitalistic system, profit motive is the leading principle of all the production of goods and services, that profit is often despised as evil and yet leads ecomomic activities to bring us national welfare. So, he considers, the way to study business from view point of its profit may well be scientific. With a pity, however, he does not take this way, because profit, in our economic system of free trades, is the leading motive of all the jobs, not only of business but of doctors or professors, so that it does not mark business, the object of 'Privat-wirtschaftslehre', distinguished from other jobs. Instead, he chooses another way, where his eyes are focused on the production-side of business, separated from the profit-side, with intention of 'maintenance and recovery of the heatlh of economic body', -the task, he supposes, demarcated from such of doctors as `maintenance and recovery of the health of human body', and at the same time effective independently of the difference of economic systems. This task, or the principle of selection (Auswahlsprinzip) of Schmalenbach's business economics, seems to consist of two factors : rational supply of products according to the demand for them ; production with least consumption of material and human resources, -here, products and resources are all treated only with their volums, and it seems for us rational to consider these, especially products, also with their qualities, as it is unconsciously suggested in the task of 'maintenance and recovery of human body', which seems to be an example to make us associate with qualities of products of any sort of callings when these are managed as business, in spite of Schmalenbach's notion that job of fabricator belongs to business and that of medicine doctor belongs to another. Political economics of business, thus observed and remedied, may not succeed, because, in our economic system, rational supply of any product according to the demand for it, and its prodction with least consumption of resources, even considered both with volume and quality, could not be executed without profit criterion. The production-side and profit-side in business are inseparably united ; they influence each other so that each must be considered only as effected by the other, so there is no production-side which is indifferent to the economic system. The study of prodcution-side of business, treating this separately from profitside, will lose those merits of empirical science which Schmalenbach himself emphasized. The problem of Schmalenbach's study observed above seems to be rooted in the moral condemnation of 'evil profit', which influenced him in the depths of his heart and hindered him from seeing straightly the characteristics of modern business, especially the spirit of modern capitalism.
2006-12-25

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笠原俊彦
長崎大学経済学部

ドイツ経営経済学説にみる近代資本主義の精神の様相(二)

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