We investigate the changing structure of Japanese and U.S. companies and ask whether there are signs of national convergence in corporate organization. We present three types of evidence to address this question: longitudinal data, cross-sectional survey data, and structural equation modeling...

U.S. institutional investors are a key actor helping to diffuse shareholder-primacy precepts overseas, including to Japan. This study focuses on CalPERS, the public pension fund that is one of Japan's largest foreign equity investors. Using original sources, the article shows how CalPERS...

Based on data from an original survey of senior HR executives in Japan and the United States, this paper provides empirical data for evaluating institutional convergence. In both countries, the headquarters HR function has shrunk and employment decisions have become more decentralized. However,...

This paper considers the association between financial development and labor-market outcomes such as risk and inequality. The relationship is not straightforward, however. It is mediated by politics at the national and corporate levels. Politics spurs financial development, which sets in motion...

A growing literature discusses the convergence of national systems of corporate governance. Fostering convergence are activist institutional investors, especially from the United States. The following is a case study of one institutional investor - the giant pension fund, CalPERS - and its...