Abstract: The industrial revolution witnessed the rise of the firms; in return the growing firms improved the process of industrial revolution. There must be a kind of generalized causal relationship in the phenomenon emerged in secession. The new complexity science provides a useful way to explain this complex phenomenon. This paper tries to use "coupling theory" explain the origin of the firm, scale and characteristics. The firm is a kind of economic organization in which capital and labor was coupled up by technology, the size of the firm depends on the control variable (technology) of the coupling system. The technology is the hub of a firm and the most important component of the core competitiveness of firm. The explanation of origin of firm by way of coupling theory is novel and powerful.

摘要： 工业革命见证了工厂的兴起，工厂的壮大又延续着工业革命的进程。如此前后继起的现象必然存在广义的因果关系。新的复杂性科学对解释这种复杂性现象提供了有益的方法。本文尝试用“耦合理论”解说企业的起源、规模和特征，企业是技术把资本和劳动耦合起来的一种经济组织，企业的规模取决于耦合系统的控制变量（技术）的大小。技术是企业组织中的中枢，是企业核心竞争力的最主要的组分。用耦合理论解说企业的起源是新颖的，也是有力的。

关键词: 技术, 耦合, 企业, technology, coupling, firm