Unexpected Corporate Outcomes from Hedge Find Activism in Japan

John Buchanan, Dominic H. Chai and Simon Deakin

Working Papers from Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge

Abstract: Hedge fund activism has been identified in the USA as a driver of enduring corporate governance change and market perception. We investigate this claim in an empirical study to see whether activism produced similar results in Japan in four representative areas: management effectiveness, managerial decisions, labour management, and market perception. Experience from the USA would predict positive changes at Japanese target companies in these four areas. However, analysis of financial data shows that no enduring changes were apparent in the first three areas, and that market perception was consistently unfavourable. Our findings demonstrate that the same pressures need not produce the same results in different markets. Moreover, while the effects of the global financial crisis should not be ignored, we conclude that the country-level differences in corporate governance identified in the varieties of capitalism literature are robust, at least in the short term.

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Japan; Institutions; Finance (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: G23 K22 P52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cfn and nep-law
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cbr:cbrwps:wp494

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