Unstash the Cash! Corporate Governance Reform in Japan

Japan’s high corporate savings might be holding back growth, by preventing a more effi cient use of resources. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have been the main contributors to high corporate cash balances, but more recently larger companies have also increased cash holdings. This paper focu...

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Main Authors: Chie Aoyagi, Giovanni Ganelli
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Warsaw 2017-01-01
Series:Journal of Banking and Financial Economics
Subjects:
Online Access:https://press.wz.uw.edu.pl/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1068&context=jbfe
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author Chie Aoyagi
Giovanni Ganelli
author_facet Chie Aoyagi
Giovanni Ganelli
author_sort Chie Aoyagi
collection DOAJ
description Japan’s high corporate savings might be holding back growth, by preventing a more effi cient use of resources. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have been the main contributors to high corporate cash balances, but more recently larger companies have also increased cash holdings. This paper focuses on the causes and consequences of the current corporate behavior and suggests options for reform. In particular, Japan’s weak corporate governance – as measured by available indexes – might be contributing to high cash holdings. An empirical analysis on a panel of Japanese fi rms confi rms that improving corporate governance would help unlock corporate savings. The main policy implication of the analysis carried out in this paper is that a more ambitious and comprehensive corporate governance reform should be a key component of Japan’s growth strategy. Such a reform would help remove some of the bottlenecks of the legal and corporate governance framework which encourage high corporate cash holdings and prevent a more pro-growth use of resources.
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publishDate 2017-01-01
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series Journal of Banking and Financial Economics
spelling doaj-art-8b655f71f2d2469da2f6198dca2b74a32025-01-02T23:16:33ZengUniversity of WarsawJournal of Banking and Financial Economics2353-68452017-01-0120171(7)516910.7172/2353-6845.jbfe.2017.1.3Unstash the Cash! Corporate Governance Reform in JapanChie Aoyagi0Giovanni Ganelli1International Monetary Fund, Regional Offi ce for Asia and the Pacifi c, JapanInternational Monetary Fund, Regional Offi ce for Asia and the Pacifi c, JapanJapan’s high corporate savings might be holding back growth, by preventing a more effi cient use of resources. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have been the main contributors to high corporate cash balances, but more recently larger companies have also increased cash holdings. This paper focuses on the causes and consequences of the current corporate behavior and suggests options for reform. In particular, Japan’s weak corporate governance – as measured by available indexes – might be contributing to high cash holdings. An empirical analysis on a panel of Japanese fi rms confi rms that improving corporate governance would help unlock corporate savings. The main policy implication of the analysis carried out in this paper is that a more ambitious and comprehensive corporate governance reform should be a key component of Japan’s growth strategy. Such a reform would help remove some of the bottlenecks of the legal and corporate governance framework which encourage high corporate cash holdings and prevent a more pro-growth use of resources.https://press.wz.uw.edu.pl/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1068&context=jbfejapancorporate cash holdingscorporate governancegrowth strategy
spellingShingle Chie Aoyagi
Giovanni Ganelli
Unstash the Cash! Corporate Governance Reform in Japan
Journal of Banking and Financial Economics
japan
corporate cash holdings
corporate governance
growth strategy
title Unstash the Cash! Corporate Governance Reform in Japan
title_full Unstash the Cash! Corporate Governance Reform in Japan
title_fullStr Unstash the Cash! Corporate Governance Reform in Japan
title_full_unstemmed Unstash the Cash! Corporate Governance Reform in Japan
title_short Unstash the Cash! Corporate Governance Reform in Japan
title_sort unstash the cash corporate governance reform in japan
topic japan
corporate cash holdings
corporate governance
growth strategy
url https://press.wz.uw.edu.pl/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1068&context=jbfe
work_keys_str_mv AT chieaoyagi unstashthecashcorporategovernancereforminjapan
AT giovanniganelli unstashthecashcorporategovernancereforminjapan