Financial liberalization and firms’ capital structure adjustments evidence from Southeast Asia and South America

This paper investigates the impact of financial liberalization on the adjustment of debt ratios in 12 emerging markets using firm-level data from 1991 to 2004. The results support the central hypothesis of this paper that adjustment costs are important in explaining firms’ adjustment toward their debt ratio targets. Our results show that deviations from targets are halved within 1.09 years in South America and 1.19 years in Southeast Asia, suggesting speed of adjustment is relatively faster in South American countries than Southeast Asian countries. Furthermore, our results show that after full liberalization those countries where rule of law and creditors rights were properly enforced, firms had higher adjustment speed compared to those countries where such enforcement was not present.The estimated adjustment coefficients imply that on average firms’ adjustment speeds have increased in all South American countries over the period of financial liberalization. On the contrary, firms’ adjustment speeds did not increase in Southeast Asian countries, reflecting the uneven effect of liberalization on the firms’ financing behaviour in Asian countries. There was a significant reduction in time (in years) taken to half the gap between actual debt ratios and targets only in Pakistan and South Korea. This finding supports the idea of uncertain impact of financial liberalization programs on the domestic financial markets in those emerging markets which started opening up their market and integrating with the rest of the world latter than others. These findings have significant implications for the sequence of banking sector liberalization in the emerging markets.     

Accounting Information and Investment Risk Perception in Japan*

This paper investigates the issue of whether financial reports appear to convey information on risk on a consistent basis across international capital markets. Data collected from a sample of Japanese financial analysts are compared to previously reported data from U.S. analysts. The results indicate that traditional accounting measures of risk explain substantial variation in the average risk perceptions of financial analysts in both the U.S. and Japan; however, while accounting risk measures were found to explain significant variation in ex post beta for the U.S. sample, this was not found to be the case for the Japanese sample. The implications of these cross-national differences and similarities are discussed.     

The Japanese way of manufacturing and production management

As Japan has achieved a stable economic growth, Japan and Japanese companies are currently receiving world-wide attention. In this article some characteristics of Japanese manufacturing methods and production management are introduced, including flexible automation, group technology, the Toyota production system, the QC circle, lifetime employment, and product development. In addition, some financial aspects of Japanese companies and the government-industry relationship in Japan are also considered.     

日本特有的企业经营管理模式探析

日本的终身雇佣制是日本社会发展的特有的产物,被称为日本特有的经营管理模式,在战后日本经济的发展中发挥了巨大的作用。近年来,这一管理模式在日本社会中开始动摇,有的企业表示不再坚持这一管理制度,有的企业则仍然相信其为企业带来的经济效益。因此,文章对其存在的价值进行了剖析。     

Globalization,political institutions,financial liberalization,and performance of the insurance industry

This paper investigates the impacts of globalization, political institutions, and financial liberalization on the performance and risk-taking of insurance firms covering 1324 individual firms in 30 selected OECD countries. We find that greater globalization and a stable political institution lead insurance companies to exhibit a better performance—i.e., insurers adjust their strategies while being aware of institutional changes. By contrast, financial liberalization has an inverse impact on insurance company performance. Thus, greater globalization and a stable political environment both drive less risk-taking for insurers. These findings are particularly important to insurance markets’ competitors and national policymakers.     

我国利率市场化的发展呼唤国债期货的推出

我国利率市场化进程的发展,在有效的利率风险规避机制和手段存在之前,使利率风险日益累积,不仅影响债券市场的发展,也不利于各类经济主体进行利率风险管理。综合我国的实际情况,考虑推出国债期货将成为不可回避的问题。     

金融政策与资本配置效率——1992～2005年中国的实证

本文运用一个综合的金融自由化指标以及上市公司层面的数据,检验了1992~2005年中国金融政策从金融压抑向金融自由化的转变,对以托宾Q作为衡量指标的资本配置效率的影响。结果表明,中国金融自由化政策,对提高资本配置效率有积极的影响,并促进了金融深化。然而,就整体而言,中国金融体系对资本配置效率的贡献仍极为有限;相对于银行部门,股票市场能更好地发挥优化资源配置的功能。因此,未来的金融发展政策应考虑扩大资本市场在中国金融体系中的作用。     

Testing for financial spillovers in calm and turbulent periods

In this paper, we investigate financial spillovers between stock markets during calm and turbulent periods. We explicitly define financial spillovers and financial contagion in accordance with the literature and construct statistical models corresponding to these definitions in a Markov switching framework. Applying the new testing methodology based on transition matrices, we find that spillovers from the US stock market to the UK, Japanese and German markets are more frequent when the latter markets are in a crisis regime. However, we reject the hypothesis of strong financial contagion from the US to the other markets.     

The impact of ADR activity on stock market liquidity: Evidence from Latin America

This paper examines the impact of ADR activity on liquidity of four major Latin American stock markets. We construct a measure of ADR activity in U.S. markets for a sample of ADRs trading during January 2003–December 2010, which is subsequent to the financial liberalization episodes and currency crises that shocked emerging markets in the 1990s. The sample lists 164 depositary receipt programs (Levels I, II, and III): 16 from Argentina, 81 from Brazil, 19 from Chile, and 48 from Mexico. Using System GMM methods to handle the potential effects from stock market development on economic growth and ADR issuance, we find that higher ADR turnover in U.S. markets has positive effects on domestic market turnover, particularly for issuance of exchange-listed (Levels II and III) ADRs. This positive relationship is not a statistical artifact created by the global financial crisis of 2008.     

The evolution of Japanese management: lessons for U.S. managers

To find the key to the success of Japanese economic performance since World War II, Marsland and Beer explore five main "environmental" factors used by Japanese firms to build a successful human resources management approach: Japanese social values, the structure of private enterprise, the structure of labor markets, the historic development of the Japanese employment system, and the structure of Japanese management. This discussion shows that post-war Japanese management, faced with rapid change, introduced new concepts and techniques that reinforced and maintained certain social values and traditions that fit well with human resources management objectives. This skillful blend of new ideas with traditional values enabled the Japanese to achieve superior economic performance.     

The ‘Japanisation’ of production and industrial relations at Lucas Electrical

Depressed product markets and severe financial constraints have recently prompted many firms to reappraise their production methods and industrial relations structures. This article examines a new Japanese style’ module production system at Lucas Electrical which management introduced to boost labour productivity and improve product quality.     

Central bank policy announcements and changes in trading behavior: Evidence from bond futures high frequency price data

We present an analytical framework to investigate surprises in financial markets. The framework enables us to simultaneously identify and quantify surprises in security price data. By applying the framework to the tick-by-tick data on Japanese government bond futures prices, we find that the Bank of Japan’s introduction of quantitative and qualitative monetary easing in 2013 was one of the most surprising episodes during the period from 2005 to 2016. We also show that traders’ sensitivity to the Bank’s announcements has strengthened since the introduction of the negative interest rate policy in 2016, whereas their sensitivity to economic indicators and surveys has weakened substantially.     

日本服装企业信息化中RFID物联网技术的应用

以日本服装企业为研究对象,从日本物联网发展现状分析入手,深入分析RFID物联网技术在日本服装行业的应用模式及应用效果。通过研究,日本服装行业以RFID物联网技术构建了信息畅达的供应链服务系统,提升了行业整体的运营效率和市场竞争力,这对我国企业进一步推动信息化有实践参考价值。     

日本经济腾飞过程中的技术引进和自主创新

第二次世界大战中,日本被彻底摧毁。但是到80年代,日本已经成为世界第二大经济体。文中回顾了日本在经济腾飞的过程中,利用外资情况和吸收先进技术的方法。通过分析日本汽车工业的发展历程,讨论了自主创新对企业和国家发展的重要性,并比较中国企业的行为,为中国本土企业未来的发展提出了一些建议。     

探析会计委派的研究

从成本效益分析的角度探讨会计委派制的可行性。认为,会计委派制对我国目前的财务监督起到了相当大的作用,但会计委派制由政府部门实施,不符合现代企业发展方向。随着我国经济的发展,会计人才市场的建立和完善,会计委派制将退出历史舞台,逐渐被会计行业监督所替代。     

FINANCIAL LIBERALIZATION IN SUB‐SAHARAN AFRICA: WHAT DO WE KNOW?

Abstract Beginning from the early 1980s countries in Sub‐Saharan Africa embarked on financial liberalization policies with a view to reversing the ill‐effects of financial repression. This paper provides a survey of financial liberalization in Sub‐Saharan African countries over the period 1980 to 2004. Our review of empirical studies showed that financial liberalization has had diverse and contrasting effects on savings, investment and economic growth. Most studies found a significant positive effect of financial liberalization on investment whereas its effect on savings has been largely insignificant. The evidence on the effect on economic growth is inconclusive as different studies find contrasting results. It is found that financial liberalization policies have not had the desired and expected results as both financial and macroeconomic variables have not improved following financial liberalization in these countries. This calls for a rethinking of financial liberalization in Sub‐Saharan African countries. It is important that financial liberalization is carried out in a stable macroeconomic environment. In addition to this, there should be a building and reform of institutions and the strengthening of prudential regulation. Following this, financial liberalization can be embarked upon but it must be properly sequenced and not rushed.     

Trade barriers and japanese foreign direct investment in the colour television industry

This paper examines the penetration by Japanese firms of the US and West European colour television markets, initially by exports and then, predominantly, by local production. It is demonstrated that Japanese foreign direct investment was basically a defensive response to trade barriers erected in these markets to re-locate Japanese plant from Japan and other Asian locations. A strategic oligopolistic imitative behaviour, rather than an orchestrated strategy, is identified, and a comparison is made of the effect of trade barriers in each region on industry structure and plant size.     

On the Use and Abuse of Thorstein Veblen in Modern American Sociology, II: Daniel Bell and the 'Utopianizing' of Veblen's Contribution and Its Integration by Robert Merton and C. W. Mills

A bstract . The analyses and applications of Thorstein Veblen's social theory by Daniel Bell, Robert Merton , and C. Wright Mills are criticized. Bell's analysis is deficient because it distorts Veblen's proposal for economic reconstruction and because it treats him as a hopelessly Utopian theorist. Merton's use of Veblen's theory of status emulation by linking it with latent and manifest functions is a noteworthy accomplishment; yet Merton's utilization of Veblenian concepts is too sparing and essentially apolitical. Only the treatment of Veblen's theories by Mills is theoretically systematic and sufficiently political in tone. The significant import of Veblen's work for an indigenous critical theory resides in his theories of social value , status emulation, conflict and cultural lag.     

Is the liberalization policy effective on improving bivariate cointegration of current accounts, foreign exchange, stock prices? Further evidence from Asian markets

This paper fist examines three set of bivariate cointegrations between any two of current accounts, stock markets, and currency exchange markets in 10 Asian countries. Furthermore, this work examined the effect of country characters on this bivariate cointegration. Our findings suggest that for three sets of cointegration test, each sample country at least exists one cointegration. India consistently exhibited a bi-directional causal relationship between any two of three indicators. Unlike Pan et al. (Int Rev Econ Financ 16:503–520, 2007 and Phylaktis and Ravazzolo (J Int Money Financ 24:1031–1053, 2005), this study found that such cointegration is influenced by three characteristics: capital control; flexibility in foreign exchange rates; and the ratio of trade to GDP. These characteristics are the result of liberalization in each Asian country. This implies that liberalization policies are effective on improving the cointegration between any two of financial markets and current account for 10 Asian countries.     

Mixed ownership of industrial firms in Japan: debt financing,banks and vertical keiretsu groups

In the 1980s, Japanese bank-driven corporate governance practices were often said to be part of the explanation for Japan’s economic success. However, these practices became suspected causes of Japan’s continuing recession following the burst of the financial bubble in 1990. Since then Japanese banks have suffered from increasing numbers of non-performing loans. Consequently, banks have become less able to act as the benefactors for Japanese firms. In response to the reduced supply of bank loans, Japanese firms have been exploring issuing corporate bonds and other types of public debt as alternative methods of debt financing. The objective of this paper is to examine empirically how Japanese manufacturers have responded to the deteriorating financial conditions of Japanese banks from a corporate finance perspective. In particular, we are interested in knowing whether Japanese banks’ involvement in corporate governance has declined with the increase in public debt issuances. Our empirical results seem to suggest that Japanese banks play a significant role in their client firms’ issuances of public debt and hence continue to play a significant role in corporate governance.