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The Corporate Cost of Capital in Japan and the U.S.: A Comparison

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  • Albert Ando
  • Alan J. Auerbach

Abstract

This paper presents evidence about the coats of corporate capital in Japan and the US, for a sample of large companies, and evaluates a variety of hypotheses about why the cost might be lower in Japan.We find that the before-tax return to capital in Japan appears slightly lower than in the U.S. when corrected book measures of earnings are used, but that this result would be reversed if market returns to Japanese equity were used in place of corrected earningsto measure the cost of equity.To what ever extent the cost of capital may actually be lower in Japan, we show that this is unlikely to be due either to a lower overall corporate tax burden or the particular tax advantages of corporate borrowing.

Suggested Citation

  • Albert Ando & Alan J. Auerbach, 1985. "The Corporate Cost of Capital in Japan and the U.S.: A Comparison," NBER Working Papers 1762, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:1762
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. King, Mervyn A. & Fullerton, Don, 2010. "The Taxation of Income from Capital," National Bureau of Economic Research Books, University of Chicago Press, number 9780226436319, December.
    2. Martin Feldstein & Lawrence Summers, 1977. "Is the Rate of Profit Falling?," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 8(1), pages 211-228.
    3. John B. Shoven & Jeremy I. Bulow, 1975. "Inflation Accounting and Nonfinancial Corporate Profits: Physical Assets," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 6(3), pages 557-612.
    4. Alan J. Auerbach, 1979. "Wealth Maximization and the Cost of Capital," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 93(3), pages 433-446.
    5. Miller, Merton H, 1977. "Debt and Taxes," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 32(2), pages 261-275, May.
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    Cited by:

    1. David Meerschwam, 1991. "The Japanese Financial System and the Cost of Capital," NBER Chapters, in: Trade with Japan: Has the Door Opened Wider?, pages 191-224, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Albert Ando & John Hancock & Gary Sawchuk, 1997. "Cost of Capital for the United States, Japan, and Canada: An Attempt at Measurement Based on Individual Company Records and Aggregate National Acccoun," NBER Working Papers 5884, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Jeffrey A. Frankel, 1991. "Japanese Finance in the 1980s: A Survey," NBER Chapters, in: Trade with Japan: Has the Door Opened Wider?, pages 225-270, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Bronwyn H. Hall, 1991. "Corporate Restructuring and Investment Horizons," NBER Working Papers 3794, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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