Evolution of the Main Bank System in Japan

Takeo Hoshi

CEPR Financial Market Papers from Centre for Economic Policy Research

Abstract: This paper examines the development of the main bank system in Japan. The pre-war system of corporate financing in Japan was very different from the main bank system in the post-war period. By the end of World War II, the transformation of corporate finance, which is characterized by a concentration of banking industry, a higher dependence on bank borrowings, the development and affirmation of close bank-firm ties, and the decline of shareholders' power, led to the creation of the prototype of the main bank system. The lack of commitment by the Japanese government and the Allied Forces to break up the close bank-firm ties ensured that many aspects of wartime corporate finance were carried over to the post-war period. During the late 1940s and the early 1950s, the banks, through their experience in the restructuring of industrial firms and in the period of severe credit crunch, gained substantial power to monitor firms, and the main bank system started to develop.

Keywords: The Main Bank System; Japanese Financial System; Evolution of Institution; Corporate Governance; Bank Monitoring (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1994-03
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cpr:ceprfm:0046

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