Corporate Governance in the 21st Century

Japan’s Gradual Transformation

Corporations, Globalisation and the Law series

由卢克Nottage编辑,专业fessor of Comparative and Transnational Business Law, University of Sydney Law School, and Special Counsel, Williams Trade Law, Australia, Leon Wolff, Graduate School of Law, Hitotsubashi University, Japan and Kent Anderson, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, University of Western Australia, Australia

The ‘lost decade’ of economic stagnation in Japan during the 1990s has become a ‘found decade’ for regulatory and institutional reform. Nowhere is this more evident than in corporate law. In 2005, for example, a spate of reforms to the Commercial Code culminated in the new Company Act, a statute promising greater organisational flexibility and shareholder empowerment for Japanese corporations competing in a more globalised economy. But does this new law herald a more ‘Americanised’ system of corporate governance? Has Japan embraced shareholder primacy over its traditional loyalty to other key stakeholders such as ‘main banks’, core employees, and partners within diffuse corporate (keiretsu) groups? This book argues that a more complex ‘gradual transformation’ is unfolding in Japan – a process evident in many other post-industrial economies.

‘Corporate Governance in the 21st Century is a very useful addition to the literature on corporate governance in Japan. It is worth reading simply because it updates many of the ongoing issues – such as adoptions of takeover defenses, appointments of independent directors, and increases in foreign direct investment. It is also useful because it examines corporate governance from the perspectives of business as well as law. Furthermore, it provides the beginnings of a framework through which to understand the process of gradual transformation.’
– Christina L. Ahmadjian, Journal of Japanese Studies

‘An invaluable set of resources for everyone with an interest in corporate governance in Japan. Covering both basic information and recent developments, the collection provides readers with an excellent survey of the complexity of modern corporate governance and its legal setting. . . in Japan.’
– Hideki Kanda, University of Tokyo, Japan

‘The essays in this collection approach Japanese corporate governance in the 2000s from a variety of novel perspectives – novel in terms of subject matter, methodology, and points of comparison. The result is a comprehensive portrait of the current dynamics of change and stasis in the institutional environment for Japanese firms.’
– Curtis Milhaupt, Columbia Law School, US