Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

acceptedVersion

Publication Date

12-2007

Abstract

This paper analyzes institutional and legal changes related to corporate governance and their impact on financial performance in Japan since the second half of the 1990s. We attempt to address two issues systematically: (1) how much the governance reforms of Japanese firms transformed the conventional system of alliance capitalism and managerial control; and (2) what economic outcomes those governance changes have yielded. As the Commercial Code and other legal and institutional frameworks were revised, Japanese firms experienced shifts in terms of stock ownership, corporate control and managerial organizations. Our empirical results show that the influence of new ownership composition and reformed governance mechanisms on financial performance remains varied. We find that certain factors, such as foreign and financial investors, functioned positively, while others, like the executive officer system and stock options, had little or negative performance effect. Japanese management apparently appeased market investor pressure by superficially institutionalizing various governance reforms, while enhancing financial performance through strategic modifications. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

Keywords

corporate governance, Japanese management, institutional and legal changes, performance impact

Discipline

Asian Studies | Business Law, Public Responsibility, and Ethics | Corporate Finance | Strategic Management Policy

Research Areas

Strategy and Organisation

Publication

Asian Business and Management

Volume

6

Issue

Supplement 1

First Page

S89

Last Page

S113

ISSN

1472-4782

Identifier

10.1057/palgrave.abm.9200240

Publisher

Palgrave Macmillan

Copyright Owner and License

Authors

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.abm.9200240

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