近來先進國家對企業垂直流動的階層體系產生了研究興趣，新的研究方法遂孕育而生，這份報告介紹了二種不同的方法，並藉以分析台灣製造廠商在1970-1992期間的階層和流動。第一個研究法是採取傳統用來研究個人世代流動的方法，另一個研究法是位階連鎖分析 (vacancy chain analysis)，即檢視位置的移動而非公司本身的變動，位階連鎖分析有幾點好處，包括其統計分析可用來比較不同體系或國家的流動率。1970-1992年台灣大型製造廠商的資料分析結果顯示了一個明確的階層體系，短期間垂直的流動相當有限，特別在階層的上端。然而，長時期觀之，卻顯示相當程度的流動，特別在體系的下層結構。這研究成果將有助於未來研究，如影響公司表現的決定因素、不同時期不同產業的支配情形、生產對國、消費和世界市場的相對重要性、公司大小和其他條件的優勢和不利點。

　　　　　Recent trends in leading industrial nations have led to an interest in analyzing business firms as systems of stratification in which vertical mobility may occur. New methods are needed for performing such analyses. This paper introduces two different methods for such studies and uses them to investigate stratification and mobility among Taiwanese manufacturing firms for the years 1970-1992. The first method follows the traditional approach utilized in studying intergenerational mobility of individuals. A different method is also presented, vacancy chain analysis, which examines the movement of top positions rather than the firms themselves. Vacancy chain analysis has several advantages, including the production of summary statistics which may be used in comparing rates of mobility in different systems (nations). Results of the analyses of Taiwanese data on top manufacturing firms indicate that such firms do form a definite stratification system. Vertical movement of firms is quite limited in the short run, especially at the top of the hierarchy. Over a period of time, however, a considerable degree of turbulence is revealed, especially in the lower levels of the system. The information provided by the study may prove useful in future studies in determining factors affecting firm performance, dominance of different industries during different time periods, relative importance of production for domestic consumption and for the world market, advantages and disadvantages associated with firm size, and other considerations.