IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/eti/dpaper/26051.html

Will Unicorns be Born in Japan? A comparative study of private equity market development and policy reforms

Author

Listed:
  • Hajime TADOKORO
  • Yuji HONJO

Abstract

This study explores why Japan has produced relatively few unicorns compared with other advanced and emerging economies, despite strong entrepreneurial potential and abundant savings. It argues that the underdevelopment of Japan’s private equity markets constitutes a key structural bottleneck. We examine institutional causes and policy directions aimed at strengthening private equity markets and supporting high-growth firms. Drawing on experiences from the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, China, and the Republic of Korea, we conduct a comparative institutional analysis of core mechanisms for market-based equity financing: small public offerings, equity crowdfunding (ECF), and private placements, as well as secondary trading. Our analysis identifies structural regulatory constraints that raise entry barriers for issuers and limit investor participation in Japan. Based on these findings, we identify institutional issues that are currently lacking, including simplified disclosure frameworks, higher and tiered thresholds for small public offerings, flexible regimes for ECF, modernized rules for private placements and secondary trading, and the expansion of the scope of qualified investors, as well as digitized capital-raising processes. These measures would lower entry barriers, broaden investment opportunities, and improve risk capital allocation, while maintaining market-based investor protection. By fostering vibrant private equity markets, Japan can mobilize idle capital, stimulate entrepreneurship, and enhance competitiveness, thereby supporting innovation-driven economic growth and increasing the likelihood of more unicorns emerging. This study underscores the central role of institutional design in shaping entrepreneurial finance and offers policy-relevant insights for economies seeking to transition toward innovation-driven growth supported by vibrant private equity markets.

Suggested Citation

  • Hajime TADOKORO & Yuji HONJO, 2026. "Will Unicorns be Born in Japan? A comparative study of private equity market development and policy reforms," Discussion papers 26051, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    • Handle: RePEc:eti:dpaper:26051
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.rieti.go.jp/jp/publications/dp/26e051.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Peter Iliev, 2010. "The Effect of SOX Section 404: Costs, Earnings Quality, and Stock Prices," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(3), pages 1163-1196, June.
    2. Randall Morck & Masao Nakamura, 2005. "A Frog in a Well Knows Nothing of the Ocean: A History of Corporate Ownership in Japan," NBER Chapters, in: A History of Corporate Governance around the World: Family Business Groups to Professional Managers, pages 367-466, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. N. Berger, Allen & F. Udell, Gregory, 1998. "The economics of small business finance: The roles of private equity and debt markets in the financial growth cycle," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 22(6-8), pages 613-673, August.
    4. Arito Ono & Iichiro Uesugi, 2009. "Role of Collateral and Personal Guarantees in Relationship Lending: Evidence from Japan's SME Loan Market," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 41(5), pages 935-960, August.
    5. Walthoff-Borm, Xavier & Schwienbacher, Armin & Vanacker, Tom, 2018. "Equity crowdfunding: First resort or last resort?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 513-533.
    6. Brahim Gaies & Dorra Najar & Adnane Maalaoui & Sascha Kraus & Ayman El Tarabishy, 2023. "Does financial development really spur nascent entrepreneurship in Europe? — A panel data analysis," Journal of Small Business Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 61(6), pages 2440-2487, November.
    7. George W. Fenn & Nellie Liang & Stephen Prowse, 1997. "The Private Equity Market: An Overveiw," Financial Markets, Institutions & Instruments, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 6(4), pages 1-106, November.
    8. Julian FRANKS & Colin MAYER & Hideaki MIYAJIMA, 2009. "Equity Markets and Institutions: The case of Japan," Discussion papers 09039, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    9. Honjo, Yuji & Ono, Arito & Tsuruta, Daisuke, 2024. "The effect of physical collateral and personal guarantees on business startups," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 130(C).
    10. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 2008. "Theory of the firm: managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," RAE - Revista de Administração de Empresas, FGV-EAESP Escola de Administração de Empresas de São Paulo (Brazil), vol. 48(2), April.
    11. Bronwyn Hall, 2004. "The financing of research and development," Chapters, in: Anthony Bartzokas & Sunil Mani (ed.), Financial Systems, Corporate Investment in Innovation, and Venture Capital, chapter 2, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    12. Khan, Raihan & Dharwadkar, Ravi & Brandes, Pamela, 2005. "Institutional ownership and CEO compensation: a longitudinal examination," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 58(8), pages 1078-1088, August.
    13. Myers, Stewart C, 1984. "The Capital Structure Puzzle," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 39(3), pages 575-592, July.
    14. Karen Wilson, 2014. "Improving the role of equity crowdfunding in Europe's capital markets," Bruegel Policy Contributions 844, Bruegel.
    15. Susan Chaplinsky & Kathleen Weiss Hanley & S. Katie Moon, 2017. "The JOBS Act and the Costs of Going Public," Journal of Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 55(4), pages 795-836, September.
    16. Yuji Honjo & Koki Kurihara, 2023. "Graduation of initial public offering firms from junior stock markets: evidence from the Tokyo Stock Exchange," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 60(2), pages 813-841, February.
    17. Paul Gompers & Josh Lerner, 2001. "The Venture Capital Revolution," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 15(2), pages 145-168, Spring.
    18. Colin Mason & Ross Brown, 2013. "Creating good public policy to support high-growth firms," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 40(2), pages 211-225, February.
    19. Keith C. Brown & Kenneth W. Wiles, 2020. "The Growing Blessing of Unicorns: The Changing Nature of the Market for Privately Funded Companies," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 32(3), pages 52-72, September.
    20. Admati, Anat R & Pfleiderer, Paul, 2000. "Forcing Firms to Talk: Financial Disclosure Regulation and Externalities," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 13(3), pages 479-519.
    21. Coakley, Jerry & Lazos, Aristogenis & Liñares-Zegarra, José M., 2022. "Seasoned equity crowdfunded offerings," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    22. repec:bla:jfinan:v:53:y:1998:i:1:p:27-64 is not listed on IDEAS
    23. Cumming, Douglas & Johan, Sofia, 2007. "Regulatory harmonization and the development of private equity markets," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(10), pages 3218-3250, October.
    24. Bartlett, Robert P. & Rose, Paul & Solomon, Steven Davidoff, 2017. "The small IPO and the investing preferences of mutual funds," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 151-173.
    25. Damiana Rigamonti & Elena Cefis & Michele Meoli & Silvio Vismara, 2016. "The Effects of the Specialization of Private Equity Firms on their Exit Strategy," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(9-10), pages 1420-1443, October.
    26. Otsubo, Minoru, 2017. "Why do firms underwrite private placement shares of other firms? Case of Japanese firms," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 75-92.
    27. Lars Hornuf & Armin Schwienbacher, 2017. "Should securities regulation promote equity crowdfunding?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 49(3), pages 579-593, October.
    28. Krishnamurthy, Srinivasan & Spindt, Paul & Subramaniam, Venkat & Woidtke, Tracie, 2005. "Does investor identity matter in equity issues? Evidence from private placements," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 14(2), pages 210-238, April.
    29. Yuji Honjo & Koki Kurihara, 2024. "Target for campaign success: an empirical analysis of equity crowdfunding in Japan," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 49(3), pages 926-958, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Valérie Revest & Alessandro Sapio, 2012. "Financing technology-based small firms in Europe: what do we know?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 39(1), pages 179-205, July.
    2. Diana Hechavarría & Charles Matthews & Paul Reynolds, 2016. "Does start-up financing influence start-up speed? Evidence from the panel study of entrepreneurial dynamics," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 46(1), pages 137-167, January.
    3. Mataigne, Virginie & Meoli, Michele & Vanacker, Tom & Vismara, Silvio, 2025. "False signaling by platform team members and post-campaign venture outcomes: Evidence from an equity crowdfunding platform," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 40(1).
    4. Badertscher, Brad & Shroff, Nemit & White, Hal D., 2013. "Externalities of public firm presence: Evidence from private firms' investment decisions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(3), pages 682-706.
    5. Michael M. Moedl, 2021. "Two’s a company, three’s a crowd: Deal breaker terms in equity crowdfunding for prospective venture capital," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 927-952, August.
    6. César Camisón & José Antonio Clemente & Sergio Camisón-Haba, 2022. "Asset tangibility, information asymmetries and intangibles as determinants of family firms leverage," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 16(7), pages 2047-2082, October.
    7. Ciarán mac an Bhaird & Brian Lucey, 2010. "Determinants of capital structure in Irish SMEs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 35(3), pages 357-375, October.
    8. A. Heughebaert & T. Vanacker & S. Manigart, 2012. "Institutional Frameworks, Venture Capital and the Financing of European New Technology-Based Firms," Working Papers of Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium 12/809, Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration.
    9. SAU, Lino, 2007. "New Pecking Order Financing for Innovative Firms: an Overview," MPRA Paper 3659, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    10. Daniel Blaseg & Douglas Cumming & Michael Koetter, 2021. "Equity Crowdfunding: High-Quality or Low-Quality Entrepreneurs?," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 45(3), pages 505-530, May.
    11. Borello, Giuliana & De Crescenzo, Veronica & Pichler, Flavio, 2019. "Factors for success in European crowdinvesting," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    12. Simone Boccaletti & Annalisa Ferrando & Emanuele Rossi & Monica Rossolini, 2025. "European SMEs’ growth: the role of market-based finance and public financial support," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 64(2), pages 691-727, February.
    13. Lazos, Aristogenis, 2025. "When policy makers want to protect investors in equity crowdfunding: Does it have regional implications?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 215(C).
    14. Daniel Berliner & Rotem Shneor & Andreas Wald, 2025. "Beyond one-size-fits-all: Empirical evidence on the heterogeneity of equity crowdfunding investors’ decision drivers," Electronic Markets, Springer;IIM University of St. Gallen, vol. 35(1), pages 1-25, December.
    15. Hermans, Raine, . "International Mega-Trends and Growth Prospects of the Finnish Bio-technology Industry - Essays on New Economic Geography, Market Structure of the Pharmaceutical Industry, Sources of Financing, Intellectual Capital and Industry Projections," ETLA A, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy, number 40, June.
    16. Casson, Peter D. & Martin, Roderick & Nisar, Tahir M., 2008. "The financing decisions of innovative firms," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 22(2), pages 208-221, June.
    17. Hermans, Raine, 2004. "Finance of Small Bio-pharmaceutical Industry in Finland - Descriptive Analysis," Discussion Papers 888, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy.
    18. Giraudo, Emanuele & Giudici, Giancarlo & Grilli, Luca, 2019. "Entrepreneurship policy and the financing of young innovative companies: Evidence from the Italian Startup Act," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(9), pages 1-1.
    19. Vaznyte, Egle & Andries, Petra, 2019. "Entrepreneurial orientation and start-ups' external financing," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 439-458.
    20. Diana M. Hechavarría & Charles H. Matthews & Paul D. Reynolds, 2016. "Does start-up financing influence start-up speed? Evidence from the panel study of entrepreneurial dynamics," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 46(1), pages 137-167, January.

    More about this item

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eti:dpaper:26051. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: TANIMOTO, Toko (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/rietijp.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.