Long Title:
Unstash the cash! Corporate governance reform in Japan
Teaser:
Japanese corporations hold a very high level of cash on their balance sheets compared to those in other advanced countries. Such excessive corporate savings are likely to be holding back growth by preventing a more efficient use of resources. This column presents recent research showing that improving corporate governance would help unlock Japan’s corporate savings, exit deflation, and revive growth. Comprehensive corporate governance reform should be a key component of Japan’s growth strategy.
Partners:
Cash holdings by Japanese companies are very high compared to other G7 countries. As it can be seen in Figure 1, the average ratio of cash and cash equivalent holdings to market capitalisation of Japanese listed companies during 2004-2012 was above 40%, compared to values in the 15-27% range in other G7 countries.
