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An Analysis of Japanese Corporate Structure, 1915–1937

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2009

Jennifer L. Frankl
Jennifer L. Frankl
Affiliation:
Jennifer L. Frankl is Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, WilliamsCollege, Williamstown, MA 01267. E-mail: jfrankl@;williams.edu.
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Abstract

Corporate groups have been very important in the economies of many developing countries, including prewar Japan, where zaibatsu controlled approximately one-third of the capital stock. Regression analysis of a new firm-level financial data set distinguishes the economic behavior of zaibatsu member firms from independent firms. The only significant difference between old-zaibatsu member firms and independent firms is that some measures of earnings of old zaibatsu were less stable. The earnings of new-zaibatsu firms were higher, faster-growing and less variable than those of independent firms. These results cast doubt on the anecdotal literature about old zaibatsu.

Type
Articles
Information
The Journal of Economic History , Volume 59 , Issue 4 , December 1999 , pp. 997 - 1015
Copyright
Copyright © The Economic History Association 1999

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