Unexpected corporate outcomes from hedge fund activism in Japan

Bibliographic Data

ID4237260
AuthorsJohn Buchanan (0000-0001-6454-2296, University of Cambridge), Dominic Heesang Chai (0009-0001-5805-7160, University of Cambridge, corresponding author), Simon Deakin (0000-0002-1725-5216, University of Cambridge)
Year2020
Volume18
Issue1
Pages31-52
Publication date2020-01-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocio-Economic Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1475-1461 • E-ISSN: 1475-147X
DOI10.1093/ser/mwy007
OpenAlexW2789400142
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited38

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

Business · Capitalism · Corporate governance · Economics · Financial crisis · Financial market · Hedge · Hedge fund · Macroeconomics · Perception · Political science · Corporate Finance and Governance · Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism · Psychology · Social Policy and Reform Studies · Accounting · Finance

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Open DOISci-HubOpen Access