We examine the determinants of Japanese foreign direct investment (FDI) focusing on institutional and social factors. Using panel data on 59 countries from 1995 to 2008, we find that host countries with free and open markets and greater cultural distance from Japan attract Japanese FDI. Good...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to test two agency-based hypotheses regarding the effect of ownership concentration on dividend policy using a large sample of Japanese firms. Design/methodology/approach – Level regressions associating payout rates to ownership concentration are run....

This paper assesses conflicts of interest between banks and their client firms via the merger transaction by examining the wealth gain of merger acquirers who were listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 1990–2004. The paper reports two main findings. First, acquiring firms did not gain from...

The Japanese system of corporate governance andin particular the role played by banks andother financial institutions have been thesubject of considerable research andcontroversy in recent years. We estimate theimpact of equity ownership by financialinstitutions on firm performance in Japan...

This paper investigates how the consolidation process has affected the market structure and the degree of competition within Credit Associations (CA) and Credit Cooperatives (CC) in Japan. From the estimated results, I tentatively find they operate in an environment without collusive behaviour....

This paper seeks to explore how corporate social responsibility (CSR) is embedded in corporate organisations. The major questions examined are "How the CSR institutionalisation has been developed" and "How it functions in the organisation". While recent literature argues that CSR is important to...

This study examines Japanese restructuring agendas from a corporate governance perspective. The initial analysis of bank-based and market-based systems sets the cornerstone for system convergence, followed by the discussion on bad-debt problems, managerial group entrenchments, unclear monitoring...

We analyse the current Japanese economic downturn in the context of unique Japanese socio-cultural features, and contrast the Japanese conditions with those in the US. We find that socio-cultural factors shed light on economic conditions. In particular, the Japanese collectivist culture,...

This paper presents evidence on cash holdings for Japanese firms listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, focusing on the impact of corporate governance factors in cash holdings and the implication of cash holdings to firm value. We find that insider ownership and bank relations of firms play a...

This paper investigates the effects of the ownership structure on the R&D intensity. Using the Japanese machine-manufacturing firm data from 1987 till 1998, we first found that the effects of R&D on stock market valuation and TFP growth were significantly positive in the latter half of the...