A firm's choice of location is very important because it reveals the firm's dynamics. Using a unique firm-level data set, we examine whether and how the presence of incumbent transaction partners (i.e., suppliers, customers, and lender banks) affects this choice. To this end, we focus on those...

In this paper, we investigate whether natural selection works for firm exit after a massive natural disaster. By using a unique data set of more than 84,000 firms after the Tohoku Earthquake, we examined the impact of firm efficiency on firm bankruptcy both inside and outside of the...

We study the impact of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake on firm dynamics and obtain implications for the recent Great East Japan Earthquake. By using unique micro-level data for a maximum of 90,000 firms, we examine the impact of the earthquake on firms' default, relocation, and investment...

In this paper, we construct a new converter that creates panel data drawing from the Census of Manufactures of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. Previous work has utilized a converter based on the respondent statuses of surveyed establishments. Although this usual converter is...

Using a unique dataset of non-listed firms that identifies the banks with which firms transact, we examine the effects of the largest-ever bank merger in Japan—that between Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi (BTM) and UFJ Bank (UFJ) in 2005. We focus on how the merger affected firms through their...

This paper investigates the causal relationship between firms' bank dependence and financial constraints by utilizing the 2008 financial crisis and its impact on the Japanese economy as a natural experiment. Since the Japanese banking sector remained healthy while the corporate bond markets were...

This paper investigates the effect of financial shocks on firms' exports. To circumvent endogeneity problems, we utilize the natural experiment provided by the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in 1995. Using a unique firm-level dataset, we single out the effect of exogenous financial shocks on...

Extending the endogenous growth model proposed by Young (1998), we construct a two-sector growth model that explains the observed pattern of structural change. Unlike existing studies, we assume neither non-homothetic preferences nor exogenous differential in productivity growth among different...

This paper investigates the effect of banks' lending capacity on firms' capital investment. To overcome the difficulties in identifying purely exogenous shocks to firms' bank financing, we utilize the natural experiment provided by the Great Hanshin-Awaji (Kobe) Earthquake in 1995. Using a...

To elucidate the relationship between the great trade collapse of 2008-09 and financial shocks, existing literature has focused on the channel of trade credit. Because exporting activities are more working-capital dependent than domestic sales, firms may reduce their exports when their banks'...