Corporate Financing and Governance in Japan : The Road to the Future

Rating:
Summary: Japanese corporate finance
Review: Hoshi and Kashyap provide an interesting history of the post war corporate finance, with relevant information from the pre-war period that sets the tone. Their analysis includes comprehensive and illustrative data with sources on various aspects of the development of Japan's corporate finance arrangements. Although their exposition of the decline of the Keiretsu system is relatively detailed, it is this section that lets the book down. The role of capital market reforms on the small company-large company relationship in the Keiretsu families is glossed over, yet this surely has to be examined in more detail given the damage this wrought on small businesses and the subsequent contribution of this damage to the non-performing loan problems of the banking system. The chapters detailing the problems of the banking system also seem rather cursory given the scale of the crisis.

These weaknesses notwithstanding, the book provides a useful reference to the topic, and covers the background of Japan's corporate finance development with some helpful data insights.