Research On The Status,Problems And Countermeasures Of ESOP In China's State-owned Enterprises

The employee stock ownership is an institutional arrangement with the role of both incentive and governance,meaning that the employees hold shares in their company and exercise the shareholder rights granted by the Company Law,i.e.to participate in the corporate management,enjoy the development fruits and share the competition risks.In China,the employee stock ownership in state-owned enterprises is aimed to establish a community of shared interests between capital owners and labor owners in the mixed ownership economy through such arrangement,release the vitality of state-owned economy and implement the philosophy of new development.It is of great theoretical and practical significance to explore the state-owned enterprise employee shareholding system in the new period for the active development of mixed ownership economy.The employee stock ownership in China's state-owned enterprises dates back to the early years when the economic system went through transformation and the structure of corporate property rights were in adjustment.There has been more than three decades since then,which can be roughly divided into the following five periods:the preliminary exploration driven by joint-stock reform from 1984 to 1991 with easing fund pressure as the main purpose;the comprehensive expansion led by pilot companies from 1992 to 1994,reaching a new height of growth;the normal development guided by local governments from 1995 to 1998 when provincial documents were issued one after another;the major breakthrough supported by equity incentives from 1999 to 2004 when management buy-out flourished;and the reform and upgrade from 2005 to this day,which has been built with institutional norms and featured by emerging standardization.The state-owned enterprises in China have implemented the employee stock ownership with several major achievements:firstly,to promote the state-owned enterprises to improve the modern enterprise system and establish a clear corporate governance structure;secondly,to give full play to equity incentives and realize the value of human capital;thirdly,to create an all-together and all-development working atmosphere via motivating the staff;fourthly,to support the enlargement of state-owned capital and improve the impetus of the state-owned economy.There are several problems for now,i.e.first,the lack of top-level design,which leads to the ambiguity of policy orientation;second,the grave loss of state-owned assets,which has become the main reason for halting;third,the lack of policy compatibility and favorable implementation atmosphere;fourth,the unclear scope of shareholding,which has violated the original intention of system design.Tracing the source,the main reason for the problems lies in the uncompleted laws and regulations concerning employee stock ownership,the loose state-owned asset supervision,and the state that the external environment needs to be further standardized and optimized for employee stock ownership and the corporate governance structure continuously improved.In the new era,the promotion of employee stock ownership by state-owned enterprises in China must be further optimized in terms of improving the legal system,strengthening the supervision of state-owned assets,innovating support and encouragement mechanisms,and improving the corporate governance structure.Within the scope of application of scientifically defined systems,we need to adhere to the implementation principles of top-level design,incremental introduction and dynamic adjustment,clearly position the main body of shareholders,reasonably determine the proportion of shares held,optimize the shareholding exit mechanism,and fully transform the advantages of the employee stock ownership into a strong driving force for enterprises to enhance efficiency,stimulate vitality and strengthen cohesion.