The Relationship Between the Preservation and Demise of Family Firms and Trust: A Study through the Pharmaceuticals Trading System and Its Transformation

Research Project

Project/Area Number	17K13804
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
Allocation Type	Multi-year Fund
Research Field	Management
Research Institution	Shinshu University (2020-2021) Kyushu International University (2017-2019)
Principal Investigator	Fujino Yoshikazu 信州大学, 学術研究院社会科学系, 准教授 (10781403)
Project Period (FY)	2017-04-01 – 2022-03-31
Project Status	Completed (Fiscal Year 2021)
Budget Amount *help	¥3,250,000 (Direct Cost: ¥2,500,000、Indirect Cost: ¥750,000) Fiscal Year 2020: ¥520,000 (Direct Cost: ¥400,000、Indirect Cost: ¥120,000) Fiscal Year 2019: ¥910,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥210,000) Fiscal Year 2018: ¥910,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥210,000) Fiscal Year 2017: ¥910,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥210,000)
Keywords	同族企業 / 医薬品産業 / 信頼 / 取引システム / 医薬品業 / 医薬品卸業 / 医薬品卸 / 同族企業の終焉
Outline of Final Research Achievements	In this study, the pharmaceutical industry was selected as the research target. Focusing on trust, which is considered to be inherent in business transactions, the relationship between this concept and changes in corporate governance was examined. The plan was to conduct an interview survey with the pharmaceutical industry and wholesalers, as well as text mining based on publicly available materials, but the interview survey did not proceed as planned for reasons including the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, a deep analysis of changes in the pharmaceuticals business and related changes in the wholesale business was conducted. As a result, in addition to the loss of substance of the “affiliation” and “territory system” that represent Japan’s unique trading system, at the same time changes were also seen in the governance structure of wholesalers. It can be inferred that the relationship between such a change in the system and governance is related to a shift from individual to trust.
Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements	わが国の株式会社の多くは同族企業であると言われている。そのような同族企業を対象とした研究は数多い。しかしながら、株式が分散してもなお同族が経営に関与し続けることが可能な理由については明らかにされていない。この研究を追求することにより企業統治論の新たな切り口につながる。本研究ではそこに辿り着けなかったものの、本研究の成果によりそれが前進した。また経験的には言われてきたものの、わが国の医薬品取引の仕組みを表すテリトリー制や系列化がどのように終焉したのかを明らかにした。これも意義ある結果と捉えている。