利用數字技術縮小機會差距

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導 語

在商業🍺🤓、教育、金融等各領域，數字技術提供了縮小機會差距🙇🏿‍♂️、促進社會公平的新機遇。

Although many societies aspire to provide equal opportunities for everyone, that is easier said than done. People born into different economic and social statuses have unequal educational or financial starting points. This often leads to very different career and life opportunities.

盡管許多社會都渴望為每個人提供平等的機會🐭，但這說起來容易做起來難。出生在不同經濟和社會地位的人在教育或者財務的起點上是不平等的，這往往會帶來截然不同的職業和生活機會🚣🏼‍♂️。

Digital technology was not invented to tackle inequality, and there is even a risk that it could widen existing economic and social disparities. But, as the case of China illustrates, new platforms also offer many possible ways to narrow the opportunity gap.

數字技術的發明不是為了解決社會不平等，它甚至還可能擴大現存的經濟和社會差距。但正如中國的情況所表明的那樣➖，新平臺也提供了許多縮小機會差距的可能途徑。

Consider four examples. The first is the promotion of micro and small enterprises via e-commerce. The Chinese platform Taobao.com, part of the Alibaba Group, is the largest online marketplace by volume among emerging economies. It allows tea growers, furniture makers, suitcase manufacturers, and other small producers and merchants, including those from remote villages, to reach their customers in Shanghai and Beijing (and even overseas) easily and cheaply. Previously, these entrepreneurs were unable to sell directly in sufficiently large volumes because of high intermediary charges. But in the e-commerce era, they can.

舉四個例子說明👔。第一個是通過電子商務促進小微企業發展📇。阿裏巴巴集團（Alibaba Group）旗下的中國平臺淘寶網（Taobao.com）是新興經濟體中規模最大的在線市場。它使包括來自偏遠鄉村的茶農、家具製造商、箱包製造商和其他小型生產商和商人能夠便捷、廉價地觸及上海和北京（甚至海外）的顧客。此前🧝🏼‍♀️，由於中介費過高🧑🏻‍🌾，這些企業家無法直接大量銷售🥟。但在電子商務時代，他們可以做到💵🤾🏼。

Although e-commerce platforms can benefit companies everywhere, they disproportionately boost small businesses in rural and remote areas, and thus help to equalize opportunity. Moreover, as a forthcoming World Bank report entitled “E-Commerce Development: Experience from China” points out, such platforms also promote gender equality. Whereas the vast majority of offline entrepreneurs are men, their online counterparts are as likely to be female as male.

盡管電子商務平臺可以使各地的公司受益，但它們更有力地促進了農村和偏遠地區的小企業發展，從而有助於機會均等。此外👨‍🦽，世界銀行即將發表的題為《電子商務發展：中國的經驗》的報告指出，這些平臺也促進了兩性平等👛。盡管絕大多數線下創業者都是男性🙃，但在他們的線上同行中🙎‍♀️，女性的數量並不比男性少。

Second, FinTech can help to meet the financing needs of micro and small businesses. Ant Financial, which is partly owned by the Alibaba Group, generates credit scores by using cash flow data, online customer reviews, and other digital indicators. It then uses these scores to make uncollateralized loans to millions of micro and small enterprises in China that previously could not obtain a traditional bank loan.

第二，金融科技可以幫助滿足小微企業的融資需求。阿裏巴巴集團所屬的螞蟻金服（Ant Financial）利用現金流數據🧴、在線客戶評論和其他數字化指標來生成信用評分，然後基於這些評分向中國數百萬的小微企業發放無抵押貸款，而此前這些企業無法獲得傳統銀行貸款。

Research by Harald Hau, Yi Huang, Hongzhe Shan, and Zixia Sheng shows that micro-entrepreneurs who received an unsecured loan from Ant Financial enjoyed substantially faster growth in sales and other business indicators than those who did not secure such credit. To ensure that the results did not simply reflect the fact that firms receiving a loan were already bigger and better than the others, the researchers compared those companies whose credit scores were barely above the cut-off line for a loan with those that were just below it.

哈拉爾德·豪、黃毅、單宏哲和盛子夏的研究表明，獲得了螞蟻金服無擔保貸款的微型創業者，在銷售和其他業務指標上的增長速度顯著高於沒有獲得這種信貸的人。為了確保研究結果不只是反映了獲得貸款的公司已經比其他公司更大更好這一事實，研究人員將那些信用評分僅略高於貸款資格線的公司與那些略低於資格線的公司進行了比較🙄。

These two sets of firms were essentially the same before Ant Financial established its loan program. But the businesses that received an unsecured loan grew much more robustly than those that just missed out. This suggests that a small fintech loan can make a big difference for many micro-entrepreneurs.

在螞蟻金服推出貸款計劃之前🎈，這兩類公司的情況基本相同。但獲得無擔保貸款的企業的增長要比剛好與錯過貸款的企業強勁得多。這表明🪽🚵‍♂️，金融科技賦能的小額貸款可以對許多小微企業家產生重大影響。

Third, digital technology holds out the promise of directly reducing the imbalance in educational resources between poor and rich areas. Many rural schools in developing countries cannot afford to hire high-quality teachers, or to provide effective, up-to-date training for the teachers they have. As a result, rural students tend to do less well than those in better-off areas.

第三🦃，數字技術有望直接減少貧困地區和富裕地區間教育資源的不平衡。發展中國家的許多農村學校負擔不起聘請高質量的教師的費用，或者無法為現有教師提供有效的、最新的培訓。因此，農村學生的成績往往不如富裕地區的學生🙉。

YouChange Foundation, a non-profit organization founded and run by Min Tang, a retired Asian Development Bank official, set out to change this. Min persuaded top primary and middle schools in Beijing and other large Chinese cities to have video cameras installed in their classrooms, and to let schools in poor and remote rural areas audit their lessons via online video links.

由亞洲開發銀行退休官員湯敏創立並運營的非營利組織“友成基金會”（YouChange Foundation）正著手改變這種狀況🤨。他說服北京和中國其他大城市的頂尖中小學在教室裏安裝攝像機，並讓貧困和偏遠農村地區的學校通過在線視頻鏈接來旁聽他們的課程。

Mr. Tang invited rural schools to try out two models. Under the first, rural teachers observe how certain lessons (in mathematics or language, for example) are taught in the top national schools, and what type of exercises the teachers design and administer. They then adapt and apply these tips to their own rural classrooms the next day. Under the second model, students in the rural schools can watch the classes taught in large cities in real time, and their teachers then act as tutors to provide additional help.

湯先生邀請農村學校嘗試兩種模式。在第一種模式下🗯，農村教師觀摩全國頂尖學校是如何教授某些課程（例如數學課或語言課）的，以及授課教師設計和使用何種類型的練習。隨後，他們再將這些技巧應用到自己的農村學校課堂上。在第二種模式下，農村學校的學生可以實時觀看大城市的課堂教學，他們的老師則充當導師🤟，提供額外的幫助。

In both cases, rural students seem to learn better and enjoy school more. The YouChange teaching program has thus helped to reduce the educational gap between some of China’s poor rural regions and its much richer urban areas.

在這兩種模式下💂🏽‍♀️，農村學生的學習效果和興趣似乎都有提升🏎。因此⛵️，友成的教學計劃有助於縮小中國一些貧困農村地區和富裕得多的城市地區之間的教育差距👨🏿‍🌾。

Finally, new technologies can enhance the rights of small shareholders of listed companies. In 2014, the Chinese authorities introduced a policy requiring all listed firms to allow online participation and voting in their general shareholder meetings. Previously, only large shareholders had participated in these gatherings.

第四，新技術可以增強上市公司小股東的權利。2014年🧑🏼‍🔬，中國政府出臺了一項政策，要求所有上市公司在股東大會上允許股東在線參與和投票。此前🏂🏿，只有大股東參加了這些會議。

Research by Huasheng Gao and his colleagues at Fudan Fanhai International School of Finance suggests that the online option has increased small shareholders’ participation in such meetings, making proposals by company management or large shareholders that might hurt small investors’ interests less likely to be adopted. Digital technology has thus effectively democratized corporate governance by leveling the playing field for small shareholders.

凯捷体育娱乐泛海凯捷高華聲及其同事的研究表明🪶，網絡投票增加了小股東在此類會議上的參與度，使得公司管理層或大股東提出的可能損害小投資者利益的提案不太可能被采納✴️。因此🙅🏼‍♀️，數字技術通過為小股東提供公平的參與環境，有效地實現了公司治理的民主化。

In these and other areas, digital technology presents exciting new opportunities. But public policy also must play an important role. For digital technology to promote economic inclusion, governments need to ensure that virtually everyone has access to digital infrastructure. They should consider introducing tax incentives for digital initiatives that demonstrably narrow the opportunity gap. Policymakers should also ensure that the right laws are in place–and enforced–in order for the digital space to remain open, competitive, and affordable.

數字技術在上述領域和其他領域帶來了令人興奮的新機遇🤸‍♀️。但公共政策也必須發揮重要作用🧗🏼‍♂️。為了讓數字技術促進經濟包容，各國政府需要確保幾乎所有人都能使用數字基礎設施🫅🏻。他們應該考慮為那些能明顯縮小機會差距的數字化倡議引入稅收激勵🐆。政策製定者們還應確保製定並實施正確的法律，以保持數字空間的開放性、競爭性和可承受性。

Inequality is one of the most pressing issues of our time. Public policy and digital technology can complement each other to build a more inclusive society–both in China and elsewhere.

不平等是我們這個時代最亟待解決的問題之一🧎‍♂️。公共政策和數字技術可以相輔相成，以建立更具包容性的社會——無論是在中國還是在其他地方🧗🏿‍♂️。

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