As the governance of financial institutions is becoming an important issue, there are many papers empirically investigating the governance issues of banks, which are stock companies. However, cooperative structured financial institutions (co-ops), which have a unique governance structure...

This paper reports a survey result conducted in May 2012. We sent a questionnaire to 3,000 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), whose main business sector is manufacture and which locate in Aichi Prefecture, one of the largest economic regions in Japan. 803 SMEs answered this...

This paper aims to assess the technical efficiency of Japanese trust banks by using the stochastic distance function approach, which is suitable for analyzing complex trust banks but has never applied for Japanese trust banks. Although the trust banking industry has been one of the most...

In this study, we investigate the market characteristics of prefectures in which non-local regional banks of other prefectures choose to enter and the motivations of such banks for doing so, considering the Japanese government’s requirements for regional financial institutions to play an...

In China, regional disparities are important. We examine the difference in the sensitivity of investment to cash flow between firms in inland regions and those in coastal regions. By using the financial data of Chinese listed firms, we found that firms in inland regions rely more on their...

Global incidents of major natural catastrophes are becoming increasingly common in recent years. Seismological research has shown earthquake-prone Japan to be at particular risk from not only inland earthquakes, but also from repeat incidents of major earthquakes such as the Tokai, Tonankai, and...

This paper has analyzed the relationship between medium/small firms and financial institutions based on the results of questionnaires prepared for medium/small firms in the Tokai and Kansai regions. With the development of telecommunication technology and progress in securities market...

This paper has analyzed the relationship between medium/small firms and financial institutions based on the results of questionnaires prepared for medium/small firms in the Tokai and Kansai regions. With the development of telecommunication technology and progress in securities market...

Recently, credit ratings have been enhancing the influence on issuers as well as the national economy. This paper explains the historical development and several current features of the Japanese bond market, and discusses why credit ratings gained a significant role in the 1990s. We also present...

The question of whether more competition among banks increases relationship banking, which is predicted to improve credit availability for informationally opaque firms in theory, is a controversial issue in the banking literature. By using firm-level survey data in Japan, this paper provides...