Download or read book Institutional Shareholder Engagement with Japanese Firms written by Gordon L. Clark and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper explores how shareholder engagement on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues is informally exercised by a large global institutional investor with locally embedded, geographically remote firms. By studying a UK asset manager's shareholder engagement strategies on ESG issues toward Japanese firms, we document three findings. First, it is found that main target firms of engagement activities are large firms with global operations, and that corporate governance issues are the most important engagement topic in Japan. Second, in trying to effectively exercise voice across societies, engagement activities are conducted with geographically remote target firms on various ESG agendas through a self-enforcing, face-to-face, and sometimes collective manner. Finally, this study argues the gap between the asset manager's motivation to engage and local target firms' readiness to respond due to corporate organisational and language issues.

Download or read book Corporate Governance in Japan written by Masahiko Aoki and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2007-09-06 with total page 468 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Debates regarding corporate governance have become increasingly important in Japan as the post-war model of bank-based, stakeholder-oriented corporate governance faces the new pressures associated with globalization and growing investor demands for shareholder value. Bringing together a group of leading scholars from economics, law, sociology and management studies, this book looks at how the Japanese approach to corporate governance and the firm have changed in the post-bubble era.The contributions offer a unique empirical exploration of why and how Japanese firms are reshaping their corporate governance arrangements, leading to greater diversity among firms and new 'hybrid' forms of corporate governance. The book concludes by looking at what effect these incremental buttransformative changes may have on Japan's distinctive variety of capitalism.

Download or read book Foreign Shareholders and Corporate Governance in Japan written by Hidefusa Iida and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page 21 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Shareholders are one of the most critical players in corporate governance. Contrary to the stereotypical understanding of Japanese companies, widely held equity ownership and foreign investors constituting the largest investor category are commonly observed in large Japanese companies. Given this shareholding structure, foreign shareholders have a potentially significant influence on corporate governance in Japan; however, their role has rarely been analyzed from the perspective of corporate law. This paper argues that the current legal environment is at the halfway point in its attempt to get the most out of their potential influence. The aggressive shareholder activism by foreign investors has faced the skeptical attitude of not only the target company's management, but also the government and the courts. Although the recent reform in corporate governance led by the government is bringing about a change in the business environment, it is too early to conclude that it will eliminate the resistance against shareholders' activism. This paper argues that the law should prepare the environment to support mild shareholder engagement by relatively passive investors, such as those encouraging the collaboration among institutional investors.

Download or read book Corporate Governance and Managerial Reform in Japan written by D. Hugh Whittaker and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2009-10-29 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Japanese corporate governance and managerial practice is at a critical juncture. At the start of the decade pressures mounted for Japan to move to a shareholder-value driven, 'Anglo-American' system of corporate governance. Subsequent changes, however, may be seen as an adjustment and renewal of the post-war model of the Japanese firm. In adapting to global corporate governance standards, Japanese managers have also been reshaping them according to their own agenda of reform and restructuring of decision-making processes. The board's role is seen in terms of strategic planning rather than monitoring, and external directors are viewed as advisers, not as representatives of the shareholders. Managers have adopted a variety of defences against hostile takeovers, including poison pills in some cases. Although shareholder influence is more extensive than it was, central aspects of the Japanese 'community firm' remain in place. The commitment to stable or 'lifetime' employment for a core of employees, although coming under severe pressure, is still an important point of reference for Japanese management. Corporate Governance and Managerial Reform in Japan is based on detailed and intensive field work in large Japanese companies and interviews with investors, civil servants, and policy makers in the period following the adoption of significant corporate law reforms in the early 2000s up to the months just before the global financial crisis of 2008. The Japanese experience suggests that there are limits to the global convergence of company law systems, and that the widespread association of Anglo-American practices with the 'modernization' of corporate governance has been misplaced. This conclusion is unlikely to be altered - it may be reinforced - by reactions to the financial crisis.

Download or read book Corporate Governance in Japan written by N. Demise and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2006-11-22 with total page 124 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is the result of an international comparative study of corporate governance begun in 2002, and provides analysis of the issue as it applies to management, moral hazards, accounting practices, and the institutional investor from both a Japanese and a global perspective. The study presents a view of the company as an entity that not only maximizes profit for stockholders but that also has a social role to play in maintaining a sustainable society.

Download or read book How is Corporate Governance in Japan Changing written by Ryoko Ueda and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 92 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This research analyses the improvements to corporate governance within Japanese listed companies and the influence of institutional shareholders. Firstly, in order to analyse the external factors that have promoted the recent corporate governance reform, the report starts with an overview of the changes in the Japanese market post 1970s. The main players before the 1990s were the banks, who provided credit to companies as well as being shareholders. Corporate governance in Japan was characterised by the "main bank" system. However, after the "bubble economy" burst in the early 1990s, institutional investors, including domestic pension funds and foreign asset managers, started to have a greater presence. Secondly, the report analyses the recent developments in corporate governance within listed companies. Developments were influenced considerably by institutional shareholders through proxy voting. Further, the report reviews the legislation and relevant rules on corporate governance including the reform of the Companies Act and the Cabinet Office Ordinance on Disclosure of Corporate Information. Thirdly, the report examines the influence of institutional shareholders and their activities towards good corporate governance. In 2009, the "Report by the Financial System Council's Study Group on the Internationalization of Japanese Financial and Capital Markets" was published and asset managers, such as investment trusts and investment advisory companies, started to disclose policy and results of proxy voting. In February 2014, pursuant to the recommendation of the "Japan Revitalization Strategy 2013", Japan's Stewardship Code was published and it is now expected that institutional shareholders play a significant role to engage with investee companies and improve corporate governance within them. The report also analyses the historical changes to practices within shareholder meetings along with examination of the role that institutional shareholders have played in the improvement of corporate governance within Japanese listed companies.

Download or read book Competition for Corporate Control written by Ulrike Schaede and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 98 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Hedge Fund Activism in Japan written by John Buchanan and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2012-05-24 with total page 389 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hedge fund activism is an expression of shareholder primacy, an idea that has come to dominate discussion of corporate governance theory and practice worldwide over the past two decades. This book provides a thorough examination of public and often confrontational hedge fund activism in Japan in the period between 2001 and the full onset of the global financial crisis in 2008. In Japan this shareholder-centric conception of the company espoused by activist hedge funds clashed with the alternative Japanese conception of the company as an enduring organisation or a 'community'. By analysing this clash, the book derives a fresh view of the practices underpinning corporate governance in Japan and offers suggestions regarding the validity of the shareholder primacy ideas currently at the heart of US and UK beliefs about the purpose of the firm.

Download or read book Japanese Corporate Governance written by David H. Kaufman and published by Pacific Institute Publishing. This book was released on 1994 with total page 284 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Cross Shareholdings in Japan written by Mitsuaki Okabe and published by Edward Elgar Publishing. This book was released on 2002 with total page 136 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Okabe (Keio U. at Shonan Fujisawa, Japan) examines the development of mutual shareholding between Japanese corporations. Trends of cross- shareholding are statistically documented and the factors for developments of this system are explored. These relationships are to be understood, he argues, as a fundamental characteristic of the Japanese economic system. The implications of these characteristics for the Japanese economy and the trends towards dissolution of cross- share holding are examined. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Download or read book Japanese Corporate Governance written by Kenji Kojima and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examines the corporate governance in primarily Japan, compared with that in Germany and the U.S.

Download or read book Institutional Investors Corporate Social Responsibility and Stock Price Performance written by Elizabeth Motta and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 31 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 2006, the United Nations Global Compact launched Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), and the Japanese Ministry of Environment advocated financial mechanisms for environmental protection. We find that institutional ownership in 2005 is positively related to the probability of subsequent improvements in environment ratings for Japanese firms. The result is especially evident for domestic institutional shareholders who signed up for the PRI. These results suggest that soft law aimed at institutional investors can enhance responsible business practices and that national government initiatives play an effective role. Finally, improved ratings in the environment category do not harm shareholder wealth.

Download or read book The Cambridge Handbook of Shareholder Engagement and Voting written by Harpreet Kaur and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2022-09-15 with total page 1013 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: All over the world, companies play an important role in the economy. Different types of stakeholders hold the reins in these companies. An important class are the shareholders that finance the activities of these companies. In return, stakeholders have a say on how these companies should be organized and structure their activities. This is primarily done through voting and engaging. These mechanisms of voting and engaging allow the shareholders to decide significant aspects of the company structure, from who governs it to how much directors are paid. However, how shareholders vote and engage and how far their rights stretch are organized differently in different countries. This pioneering book provides insights into what rights these shareholders have and how the shareholders of companies in nineteen different jurisdictions participate in corporate life through voting and engaging. Comparative and international in scope, it pays particular attention to how jurisdictions align and differ around the world.

Download or read book Why Firms Adopt Good Governance Practices Evidence from Stock Option Adoptions in Japan written by Shinya Shinozaki and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 61 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Japanese firms are more likely to adopt new stock option plans when they are more owned by directors and arms-length investors (institutional investors and foreigners) while the probability of adopting option plans is negatively associated with ownership by stable and controlling shareholders. Approximately 75 percent of firms adopting new stock option plans during our sample period have introduced stock options before the period. Those firms have significantly more independent boards and pay higher dividends surrounding the adoption year than their size-matched industry peers, although analyses using propensity-score matching find no evidence that stock option adoptions directly change board characteristics and dividend payments. These findings suggest that in Japan firms mainly owned by arms-length investors have good governance practices in multiple dimensions such as introduction of equity-based compensations and independent boards. The coexistence of arms-length, stable, and controlling shareholders generate the situation that stock options and outside directors are introduced but not widely used in Japan. Unlike US previous research, we do not find strong evidence that stock option adoptions increase shareholder wealth and induce managerial risk-taking behaviors.

Download or read book The Ownership Structure of Japanese Financial Institutions written by Hesna Genay and published by . This book was released on 1993 with total page 56 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Hedge Fund Activism written by Alon Brav and published by Now Publishers Inc. This book was released on 2010 with total page 76 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Hedge Fund Activism begins with a brief outline of the research literature and describes datasets on hedge fund activism.

Download or read book Financial Structure and Managerial Discretion in the Japanese Firm written by Akiyoshi Horiuchi and published by . This book was released on 1993 with total page 60 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: