Using micro data of Japanese banks and borrower firms, we construct an index measure that quantitatively describes the monitoring activities of Japanese banks. We examine the effects of bank monitoring on the profitability of borrower firms. We find significant positive effects in the periods...

The 1990s have been a decade of minimal growth for the Japanese economy. Examining this record from a growth accounting perspective, this paper argues that a major factor underlying Japan's disappointing growth performance in recent years has been a marked slow-down in total factor productivity...

Distinguishing between vertical and horizontal foreign direct investment (FDI), this paper examines how the location determinants of the two types of FDI differ. Based on a conditional logit model and data on Japanese foreign affiliates, the main findings are that the most important determinant...

This paper compares the performance of foreign-owned and domestically-owned firms, using micro data on Japanese firms in the manufacturing sector for the period 1994-2000. The overall comparison between foreign-owned and Japanese companies shows that foreign-owned companies enjoyed 5% higher TFP...

Is employment practice at foreign-owned firms different from that of Japan, the life-time employment system? Using firm level data of the Japanese manufacturing sector, this paper showed that the adjustment speed of employment at foreign-owned firms was slightly higher than at domestically-owned...