Nottage, Luke --- "Perspectives and Approaches: A Framework for Comparing Japanese Corporate Governance" [2008] ELECD 382; in Nottage, Luke; Wolff, Leon; Anderson, Kent (eds), "Corporate Governance in the 21st Century" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2008)

Book Title: Corporate Governance in the 21st Century

Editor(s): Nottage, Luke; Wolff, Leon; Anderson, Kent

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781847209238

Section: Chapter 2

Section Title: Perspectives and Approaches: A Framework for Comparing Japanese Corporate Governance

Author(s): Nottage, Luke

Number of pages: 32

Extract:

2. Perspectives and approaches:
a framework for comparing Japanese
corporate governance*
Luke Nottage
In 2002, Japan began to emerge from its decade-long economic malaise (Katz,
2003; Ito et al., 2005). With the US confronting a rash of corporate collapses that
raised concern about the merits of shareholder primacy and market discipline
(Hill, 2005), Japan's economic revival posed an intriguing set of questions. Had
Japan engineered its way out of recession by refashioning its laws and economic
institutions along more American lines (Kelemen and Sibbett, 2002)?
Alternatively, did the economic recovery of `Japan Inc.' provide evidence of the
robustness of its broader, stakeholder-oriented system of governance (Collison
and Kozuma, 2002)? Does Japan's experience, in short, reflect the triumph of
US-style shareholder-oriented governance, or the endurance of Japan's stake-
holder-based model of capitalism (Nottage and Wolff, 2005)?
This chapter addresses these questions. It canvasses the burgeoning literature
that seeks to describe and evaluate changes to Japanese corporate governance
law and practice. Other contributors to this volume delve further into specific
governance issues in Japan: lifelong employment (Wolff), `main bank' monitor-
ing (Puchniak), control and conflicts in closely-held companies (Matsui),
management boards and committees (Lawley), and mergers and acquisitions
(M&A: Dooley, Pokarier, and Kamiya with Ito). This chapter addresses big-
picture trends. One reason is that this is the literature most non-Japan specialists
are likely to encounter when engaging in comparative corporate governance
research. It is also replete with widely divergent assessments ...