An International Perspective of Japan's Corporate Groups and their Prospects / Yishay Yafeh.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Yafeh, Yishay.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w9386.

NBER working paper series no. w9386

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2002.

Summary:

This paper reviews the literature on corporate groups in Japan and elsewhere, and offers a comparison of Japan's corporate groups with groups in other developed and developing countries. It then proceeds to examine the evolution of corporate groups in Japan since the mid-1970s. The main conclusions that emerge are that: 1. Empirical evidence on the economic roles of corporate groups in Japan is limited. 2. Japanese groups are, in some respects, quite similar to groups in other countries, but their risk and return characteristics differ substantially. 3. There is little to suggest that over the past thirty years groups have had a major impact on Japan's industrial structure. In view of these findings, and because there is no evidence that Japanese groups (unlike those in some other countries) enjoy any particular political clout, it is unlikely that corporate groups will constitute an impediment to structural change in Japan.

Notes:

Print version record

December 2002.