Sales-Maximization vs. Profit-Maximization: Managerial Behavior at Japanese Regional Banks 1980-2009

In this paper, we analyze the managerial behavior of firms by estimating a nested objective function consistent with the framework of Fershtman and Judd (1987). Using data for Japanese regional banks for FY 1980-FY 2009, we focus on oligopolistic behavior in the domestic loan market and examine the intensity with which managers attempt to maximize sales and profits. We find that sales-maximization explains the behavior of Japanese regional banks more adequately and appropriately than profit-maximization. In particular, yearly fluctuations of the degree of managerial objectives suggest that the effort to maximize sales has intensified after full-scale liberalization of interest rates.