Prepared for a forthcoming book on the distribution sector in Japan, this essay introduces the distribution network in the apparel industry. We note the varying patterns of cross-market contracting and intra-firm organization in the industry, and trace the economizing logic involved. More...

The Japanese quot;main bank systemquot; figures prominently in the recent literature on quot;relationship banking.quot; By most accounts, the main bank epitomizes relationship finance: traditionally, every large Japanese firm had one, and that bank monitored the firm, participated in its...

Using a data set of about 1000 Japanese contracts, I study the relationships among urban labor markets, peasant employment contracts ,and parental control over work-age children. From 1600 to the mid-18th century, the use of contracts for the sale, pledge, or long-term employment of children...

Although some observers urge modern transitional economies to rely on bank finance rather than stock markets, in quot;transitionalquot; Japan at the opening of the 20th century large firms did not rely on debt. Instead, they raised their funds through the stock market, and took a variety of...

Several decades ago, Gerschenkron famously argued that banks facilitate economic growth in quot;backwardquot; countries. To similar effect, theorists sometime claim that banks promote growth by reducing informational asymmetries and thereby improving the allocation of funds. As a fast-growth but...

In Japan, the government wins most of its tax cases against taxpayers. Why? We find, using statistical analysis, that judges who rule for taxpayers do not suffer in their future careers in general. If, however, the loser, whether tax office or payers, appeals and wins, the trial judge's future...

Although sometimes said to reflect distinctively Japanese modes of economic organization or the general importance of path-dependence and culture, the cross-shareholding patterns within the Japanese keiretsu often display a straightforward economic logic. When keiretsu banks trade on debtor...

Most studies of executive compensation focus on publicly traded companies. The high levels of compensation there are often attributed to agency slack due to ownership by diffused shareholders. If so, pay at private companies more closely held should be much lower. Governments in the United...

Most studies of executive compensation have data on pay, but not on total income. Studies of executives in Japan do not even have good data on pay. Although we too lack direct data on Japanese salaries, from income tax filings we compile data on total executive incomes, and from financial...

Reformists argue that Japanese firms maintain inefficiently few outside directors, while theory suggests market competition should drive firms toward their firm - specifically optimal board structure (if any). The debate suggests three testable hypotheses. First, perhaps board composition does...