As Japanese firms have reduced the proportion of debts in their capital structures, they have also increased their debt maturities. Since the shorter debt maturity is more costly for the firms of poor performance, it is argued that the maturity length plays the role of signal as the theoretical...

This note provides an overview of macroeconomic problems that the Japanese economy faces after the global financial crisis and discusses Japan's policy responses, emphasizing the comparison with the United States and European countries.