Japanese Management Views on Overseas Exchange Listings: Survey Results

Although many theoretical papers support the hypothesis that overseas listings have a positive effect on stockholders' wealth, a few empirical studies cast doubts on this hypothesis. These studies suggest that the steady growth of overseas listings is motivated not only by the stockholders' wealth maximization, but also by other reasons, such as managers' utility maximization. However, information about management views on overseas listings is as yet inadequate to support or contradict this hypothesis. Following Baker and Pettit (1982) and Baker and Johnson (1990), both of which examined management's motives for domestic exchange listing, we used a questionnaire to obtain information on Japanese managers' views of their company's decision to list overseas. Our survey, mailed to the chief financial officers of 2,230 Japanese domestically-listed companies, shows that Japanese managers regard disclosure and financial reporting requirements as the primary obstacle to listing overseas. This is why many Japanese companies do not list their stocks on overseas stock exchanges despite the fact that they acknowledge the beneficial effects of overseas listings.     

REGIONAL DISPARITIES AND INVESTMENT–CASH FLOW SENSITIVITY: EVIDENCE FROM CHINESE LISTED FIRMS

In China, regional disparities are significant. We find that firms in inland regions rely more on their internal funds in terms of their investment activities than those in coastal regions, and that the sensitivity gap between inland and coastal firms widened in the recent contractionary monetary policy period. This suggests that firms in inland regions find it harder to obtain outside funds due to the unfavourable social and economic environments they face. Our findings suggest that capital markets in China respond rationally to the potential impact of regional disparities on a firm's performance.     

Financial Turbulence and the Japanese Main Bank Relationship

Under the Japanese main bank relationship, a bank holds equity in a firm and plays a leading role in its decision-making and financing. This may leave a firm dependent on its main bank for financing due to its information advantage over other potential lenders. This dependency may be particularly severe during episodes of financial turbulence. We examine the sensitivity of returns on portfolios of Japanese firm equity to the returns of their main banks using a three-factor arbitrage-pricing model. We find no significant dependence when coefficient values are held constant over the entire sample. However, the data strongly suggest a structural break in the relationship subsequent to the last quarter of 1997, a turbulent period for Japanese financial markets. When a structural break is introduced, main bank sensitivity increases after the break, usually to significantly positive levels.     

Market price accounting and depositor discipline: The case of Japanese regional banks

We examine the determinants of Japanese regional bank pricing-to-market decisions and their impact on the intensity of depositor discipline, in the form of the sensitivity of deposit growth to bank financial conditions. To obtain consistent estimates, we first model and estimate the bank pricing-to-market decision and then estimate the intensity of depositor discipline after conditioning for that decision. We find that banks were less likely to adopt market price accounting the larger were their unrealized securities losses. We also find statistically significant evidence of depositor discipline among banks that elected to price to market. Our results indicate that depositor discipline was more intense for the subset of banks that adopted market price accounting.     

Regional economic development,strategic investors,and efficiency of Chinese city commercial banks

We investigate the effect of strategic investors on bank efficiency in the context of regional economic development. The data on Chinese city commercial banks operating regionally are well-suited for the study. Our findings suggest that strategic investors significantly increase efficiency in Chinese city commercial banks, while the effect of strategic investors on the efficiency of Chinese city commercial banks is negatively correlated to the level of regional economic development. The negative correlation of the effect of strategic investors on Chinese city commercial banks’ efficiency with regional economic development may be explained by the mix of local official promotion system and city commercial banks’ governance structure.     

Quantitative easing and Japanese bank equity values

One of the primary motivations offered by the Bank of Japan (BOJ) for its quantitative easing program—whereby it maintained a current account balance target in excess of required reserves, effectively pegging short-term interest rates at zero—was to maintain credit extension by the troubled Japanese financial sector. We conduct an event study concerning the anticipated impact of quantitative easing on the Japanese banking sector by examining the impact of the introduction and expansion of the policy on Japanese bank equity values. We find that excess returns of Japanese banks were greater when increases in the BOJ current account balance target were accompanied by “non-standard” expansionary policies, such as raising the ceiling on BOJ purchases of long-term Japanese government bonds. We also provide cross-sectional evidence that suggests that the market perceived that the quantitative easing program would disproportionately benefit financially weaker Japanese banks. J. Japanese Int. Economies 20 (4) (2006) 699–721.     

Are Banks Affiliated with Bank Holding Companies More Efficient Than Independent Banks? The Recent Experience Regarding Japanese Regional BHCs

Few studies have investigated whether Japanese banks affiliated with bank holding companies are more efficient and profitable than independent banks. The present paper tests this hypothesis by using both a stochastic frontier approach and a market valuation approach. First, our results suggest that banks affiliated with bank holding companies are not more cost-efficient than are independent banks. Because of the brief history of Japanese BHCs, it is fair to conclude that the formation of regional bank holding companies has not achieved efficiency gains so far. Second, we find that banks affiliated with bank holding companies are more profit-efficient than are independent banks. This is particularly apparent when the establishment of the bank holding companies increases market power in regional markets. This supports the Financial Services Agency’s policy to increase the profitability of regional banks through bank consolidation. Finally, based on standard event study methodology, we find that the market did not regard news about the establishment of bank holding companies as significant events.JEL Classification: G21     

Using Games in Community Disaster Prevention Exercises

Currently, there is a growing interest in disaster prevention exercises such as games, debates, workshops, and “town walks” that involve the active participation of community members as an alternative to seminars in which disaster prevention experts simply share their knowledge and skills. We have developed a disaster prevention game called Crossroad for use in local disaster prevention programs. It is a group learning game, in which players read cards with a scenario written on each card. The scenarios were derived from extensive, focus-group interviews with disaster veterans of the Kobe Earthquake of 1995 that killed more than 6400 people and described the dilemmas faced by these veterans. To deal with the dilemma, each player was required to make a “Yes” or No decision on two conflicting alternatives. We used Crossroad as a part of tsunami disaster prevention, community-building workshops for citizens of Kishiwada city in Osaka, Japan. The results suggested the importance of motivating local people to find a socially “viable” solution through their own strength, rather than forcing a community to accept a universally “correct” solution prescribed in advance by outsiders. It is concluded that the Crossroad game can be used effectively as a new communication medium to promote the active participation of community members.     

The Evolution Of Bank Resolution Policies In Japan: Evidence From Market Equity Values

We examine the evidence in equity markets concerning bank regulatory policies in Japan from 1995 to 1999. Our results support the presence of information‐based contagion in Japanese equity markets. When the failure of a bank of certain regulatory status was announced, it adversely affected excess returns on banks with equal or lower levels of regulatory protection. Market participants therefore initially behaved as if only second regional and smaller banks would be allowed to fail. As the situation deteriorated, however, banks that traditionally enjoyed greater regulatory protection were also perceived to lose their too‐big‐to‐fail status.