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An International Perspective of Japan's Corporate Groups and their Prospects

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Author Info
Yishay Yafeh
Abstract

This paper reviews the literature on corporate groups in Japan and elsewhere, and offers a comparison of Japan's corporate groups with groups in other developed and developing countries. It then proceeds to examine the evolution of corporate groups in Japan since the mid-1970s. The main conclusions that emerge are that: 1. Empirical evidence on the economic roles of corporate groups in Japan is limited. 2. Japanese groups are, in some respects, quite similar to groups in other countries, but their risk and return characteristics differ substantially. 3. There is little to suggest that over the past thirty years groups have had a major impact on Japan's industrial structure. In view of these findings, and because there is no evidence that Japanese groups (unlike those in some other countries) enjoy any particular political clout, it is unlikely that corporate groups will constitute an impediment to structural change in Japan.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 9386.

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Date of creation: Dec 2002
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:9386

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G3 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance
I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education

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  7. Saxonhouse, Gary R, 1993. "What Does Japanese Trade Structure Tell Us about Japanese Trade Policy?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 7(3), pages 21-43, Summer. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  31. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1998. "Law and Finance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 106(6), pages 1113-1155, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  33. Johnson, Simon & Boone, Peter & Breach, Alasdair & Friedman, Eric, 2000. "Corporate governance in the Asian financial crisis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(1-2), pages 141-186. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  34. Koen Schoors & Yishay Yafeh & Colin Mayer, 2001. "Sources of Funds and Investment Strategies of Venture Capital Funds: Evidence from Germany, Israel, Japan and the UK," OFRC Working Papers Series 2001fe15, Oxford Financial Research Centre. [Downloadable!]
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Yener Altunbaş & Alper Kara & Adrian van Rixtel, 2007. "Corporate governance and corporate ownership: The investment behaviour of Japanese institutional investors," Banco de España Occasional Papers 0703, Banco de España. [Downloadable!]
  2. Jong, A. de & Roosenboom, P.G.J. & Schramade, W.L.J., 2005. "Bond underwriting fees and keiretsu affiliation in Japan," Research Paper ERS-2005-038-F&A Revision, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus Uni. [Downloadable!]
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