• Search Research Projects
  • Search Researchers
  • How to Use
  1. Back to previous page

Board Composition and Corporate Governance in Japanese Firms

Research Project

Project/Area Number 15530151
Research Category

Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)

Allocation TypeSingle-year Grants
Section一般
Research Field Applied economics
Research InstitutionThe University of Tokyo

Principal Investigator

MIWA Yoshiro  The University of Tokyo, Faculty of Economics, Professor, 大学院・経済学研究科, 教授 (90109158)

Project Period (FY) 2003 – 2004
Project Status Completed (Fiscal Year 2004)
Budget Amount *help
¥1,200,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,200,000)
Fiscal Year 2004: ¥500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000)
Fiscal Year 2003: ¥700,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000)
Keywordsoutside director / board of directors / corporate governance / Japanese firms / conflict of interests / relationship banking / bank rescue / Corporate Governance / Outside Director / Conflict of Interest
Research Abstract

I, together with Professor J.Mark Ramseyer of Harvard Law School, investigate the relationship between board composition and firm performance of Japanese firms, focusing on "outside directors". The first paper (Who Appoints Them, What Do They Do?), using financial data on 1,000 odd Tokyo Stock Exchange listed firms, examines the relationship for the periods of 1985-90 (so-called the period of Bubble Economy") and 1990-95 (period of disorder and stagnation). The second paper (Does Relationship Banking Matter?) and the third paper (Conflicts of Interests in Japanese Insolvencies), focusing on the relationship between banks and their lending firms (borrowers), examine corporate governance of borrowing firms and the behavior and roles performed by Japanese banks when borrowers fall in financial distress.
All three papers reach the same conclusion : the conventional wisdom about Japanese firms lacks firm empirical foundation, and our tests show that it is false ; Those policy claims, based upon this conventional wisdom, such as recommending strongly an increase in outside directors as board members and emphasizing reconstruction of close relationship with lending banks including "main bank.", are totally false. It is widely believed, both at home and abroad, that lending banks, most notably "main bank", take actions in rescuing borrowers when they fall in distress, and succeed in their reconstruction. Out studies show, using massive micro-data, that, if there are a few such cases, the story does not hold in general, and that it is far from the truth. In this sense, bank-borrower relationship in Japans is not different from those in other economies.

Report

(3 results)
  • 2004 Annual Research Report   Final Research Report Summary
  • 2003 Annual Research Report
  • Research Products

    (7 results)

All 2005

All Journal Article (7 results)

  • [Journal Article] Who Appoints Them, What Do They Do? Evidence on Outside Directors from Japan2005

    • Author(s)
      Miwa, Yoshiro, J.Mark Ramseyer
    • Journal Title

      Journal of Economics & Management Strategy Vol.14, No.2

      Pages: 299-337

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(和文)」より
    • Related Report
      2004 Final Research Report Summary
  • [Journal Article] Does Relationship Banking Matter? Japanese Bank-Borrower Ties in Good Times and Bad2005

    • Author(s)
      Miwa, Yoshiro, J.Mark Ramseyer
    • Journal Title

      Journal of Empirical Legal Studies Vol.2, Issue 2 (forthcoming)

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(和文)」より
    • Related Report
      2004 Final Research Report Summary
  • [Journal Article] Conflicts of Interest in Japanese Insolvencies : The Problem of Bank Rescues2005

    • Author(s)
      Miwa, Yoshiro, J.Mark Ramseyer
    • Journal Title

      Theoretical Inquiries in Law Vol.6, No.2 (forthcoming)

      Pages: 301-339

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(和文)」より
    • Related Report
      2004 Final Research Report Summary
  • [Journal Article] Who Appoints Them, What Do They Do? : Evidence on Outside Directors from Japan2005

    • Author(s)
      Miwa, Yoshiro, J.Mark Ramseyer
    • Journal Title

      Journal of Economics & Management Strategy Vol.14 No.2

      Pages: 299-337

    • Description
      「研究成果報告書概要(欧文)」より
    • Related Report
      2004 Final Research Report Summary
  • [Journal Article] Who Appoints Them, What Do They Do? Evidence on Outside Directors from Japan2005

    • Author(s)
      Miwa, Yoshiro, J.Mark Ramseyer
    • Journal Title

      Journal of Economics & Management Strategy Vol.14,No.2

      Pages: 299-337

    • Related Report
      2004 Annual Research Report
  • [Journal Article] Does Relationship Banking Matter? Japanese Bank-Borrower Ties in Good Times and Bad2005

    • Author(s)
      Miwa, Yoshiro, J.Mark Ramseyer
    • Journal Title

      Journal of Empirical Law & Economics Vol.2,Issue2

    • Related Report
      2004 Annual Research Report
  • [Journal Article] Conflicts of Interest in Japanese Insolvencies : The Problem of Bank Rescues2005

    • Author(s)
      Miwa, Yoshiro, J.Mark Ramseyer
    • Journal Title

      Theoretical Inquiries in Law Vol.6,No.2

      Pages: 301-339

    • Related Report
      2004 Annual Research Report

URL: 

Published: 2003-04-01   Modified: 2016-04-21  

Information User Guide FAQ News Terms of Use Attribution of KAKENHI

Powered by NII kakenhi