日本财阀系列企业体系Keiretsu历史背景和面临问题.docx

日本财阀系列企业体系Keiretsu历史背景和面临问题.docx

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日本财阀系列企业体系Keiretsu历史背景和面临问题

QuestionOne:

Comparethepost-warKeiretsuinter-firmstructureinJapanwiththepre-warZaibatsus.ExplainthereasonswhytheKeiretsuwereimportanttoJapan’seconomyinthe1950-1990period,andwhytheyarenowconsideredtobeamajorcauseofitscurrentstructuralproblems.

Introduction

ThispaperreviewsmajortheoreticalandempiricalworkoncomparingtheKeiretsuandZaibatsusaswellastheimportanceofKeiretsusintheprocessofJapandevelopmentduringthe1950stoearly1990s.Firstly,Icomparethepre-warZaibatsuswiththepost-warKeiretsuinconcepts,history,structuresandgovernanceperspectives.ThisarticlewillreviewsmajortheoreticalandempiricalworkonverticalandhorizontalJapanesekeiretsu.IthendiscusschangesintheJapaneseeconomyduringthepost-warperiodfrom1950still1992Japaneseeconomicdeclineandtheirimplicationsforthepersistenceandcontinuedbenefitsofeachformofinter-corporategroupingfollowedbyadiscussionoffactsregardingtheroleofkeiretsuintheJapaneseeconomy.Thirdly,thisarticlewillanalysethestructuralproblemsofKeiretsusontheglobalisationcontext.

BackgroundsofZaibatsusandKeiretsusinJapan

JapaneseZaibatsusdevelopedmostlyfromtheMeijiera（1868-1912）.Bytheturnofthecentury,Japanhadgivenbirthtoseveralgroupsofwidelydiversifiedcompanies,eachofthemownedandoperatedbyasinglefamily.Withthewealthexpansionofthesefamilies,theybecamethenation’snewaristocracy,the“financialcliques”ortheZaibatsus.TheZaibatsuisgenerallyunderstoodtobeadiversegroupoflargeindustriescontrolledbyasinglefamily,usuallythroughacentralholdingcompany.AccordingtoMiyashitaandRussell（1994）,aZaibatsuis“nothingmorethanalargeindustrialcombine”onitsinitialstrcuture.TheactualgrowthoftheZaibatsusbeganin1914,WorldWarⅠ,JapansuppliedmunitionsandothergoodstotheAllies.WithoutthecompetitionfromEuropeancompanies,Japanesefirmswerefreetoexpandinternationally.Duringthatfiveyears,theexportofJapanincreased266%.TheBigFour----ZaibatsusareMitsui,Sumitomo,MitsubishiandYasudausedtheirprofitstostarttheirownbank.TheAmericansinitiallywantedtodissolveallthezaibatsuafterWorldWarⅡ,astheysawthemasundemocraticandthefinancebehindthemilitaristicgovernmentofthe1930's（see

EventhoughJapan'seconomymadehugestridesineconomicreformationaftertheWWⅠ,theZaibatsuinterestsbegantoenterthepoliticalarenatosupporttheirinterests.TheiractivitiesbecameentwinedwiththegovernmentinwartimeJapan.Eventually,thePotsdamDeclarationthatwassignedin1945requiredtheliquidationoftheZaibatsutodemocratizeJapan'spost–wareconomy.Asexplainedinthepreviousarticle,by1945thezaibatsuhadgrowntocontrolasignificantportionofJapanesetradeandindustry.Inaddition,forthepurposeofcontrollingeconomicpower,specialprovisionswereincludedinJapan'sAntimonopolyActforthespecificpurposeofforbiddingholdingcompaniesandlimitingtheacquisitionbyfinancialenterprisesofstockofothercompanies.InhindsighttheseprovisionsmightappeartohavebeenineffectivebarrierstothecreationofexcessiveeconomiccontrolandequallyineffectiveasmeasurestoensurecompetitioninJapan'seconomy.TheseargumentsweremadewhenJapanenactedtheActforpartialAmendmentoftheAntimonopolyActin1997bywhichactJapanfinallyeliminatedthe50–yearoldbanonholdingcompanies.

Comparepre-warZaibatsuswiththepost-warKeiretsus

Thezaibatsuisadiversifiedgroupofbusinessesownedbyafamily.Mostlyhadoriginsinnon-manufacturingsectorsinmining,shippingandmostimportantly,banking.ThendiversifiednotbyintegrationbutbyshareholdingsandrepresentativesonBoardsofDirectorsofseparatefirms.TheKeiretsusareconglomeratessimilartopre-warZaibatsusbutnotfamilyownedandwithabankatitsheartandwithoneofthefollowingforms（Miwa,2003）:

1.Generaltradingcompanyabletohandlegiganticanddiversevolumeofcommerce

2.Productionorientedgroup

3.Distributionorientedgroupbasedonnetworkofsmallretailers

4.LargeretailorRRcompanies

WithinyearsofdismantlingtheZaibatsu,changesonboththedomesticandinternationalfrontsarethoughttohaveledtoarelaxationofregulationsupontheconcentrationofeconomicpowerinJapan.Onthelatterfront,followingtheestablishmentofcommunistChina,.foreignpolicytowardJapancouldbeseenshiftingtoonesupportingashoringupofJapan'seconomicpower.Secondly,industrialgrowthandincreasedproductioncapacityinJapansupportedthe.needforsuppliesduringtheKoreanWar.Underthiscircumstance,theMinistryofInternationalTradeandIndustry（MITI）helpedZaibatsustoreformwithpersonnelandneworganizationalstructure.Thepersonnelsystemincludingdispatchingseniormanagersformmainbanksandsogoshoshatosmallerfirmsaimstotightthehorizontalconnectionsinordertokeepacontrolleddecisionmakingprocess.Keiretsusincludehorizontalandverticalcompanyrelationships,andsometimesbusinesstiesthatareheldtogethernotbycapitalbutbymeretransactionalrelationshipsamongenterprises.ThecentralroleofmainbanksincorporategovernancegreatlydistinguishesthesegroupsfromtheZaibatsus.

ViewingthisdevelopmentfromZaibatsutheKeiretsuasawhole,thefollowingtwopointsseencharacteristic.First,inthepre-warZaibatsuthelinksintheenterprisegroupswerecentredonthecommercialsectoroftheirbusinesses.Onthecontrast,thepost-warKeiretsuswerepayingattentionsonheavyandchemicalindustrysector.Second,theZaibatsuslinkedverticallyandtoppedbyaholdingfamilyforthewholegroup.Bycomparison,theKeiretsusarecentredonfinancialinstitutions（mainbanks）andlinkedtheenterpriseshorizontallywithnewlyformedenterprisegroups.

PESTanalysisontheimportanceofKeiretsusinJapan’spost-wardevelopment

Political:

CompetitionsamongcountrieshadagreatimpactonthedevelopmentofJapan.Thegovernmentsettheindustrialstructureofthecountrywithhigh-standardprocessingtrade（Russell,1994）.Keiretsus’horizontalnetworkscanbeacompetitiveadvantageduetothenetworkscansupervisethewholeprocessfrommanufacturingtoretailing.Withtheassistanceofsogoshosha’sentrytocertaincountry-widemarkets,Japancaneasilysustainthis“input-outputsynergies”competitiveadvantage.TheMitsuiChinaRepresentativeofficevicepresidentWeiofoncementionedinaninterview“Wewon’tmanufactureillegalthings,butweareabletomanufactureanythingelsewiththeKeiretsunetworks.”（seeDuringthe1950sto1990s,Japanexperiencedthreedepressions:

theoilpriceincreasedinthe1970smadetheGDPgrowthrateinJapancametoanegativegrowthin1974（seeThePlazaAccordindirectlylettothebubbleeconomyinJapan.Facedarelativelyunfavourabledomesticeconomicalcontext,thecompetitiveadvantageofKeiretsusincludingtheBigSixandotherfirmsaremakingeffortstostrengthentheirowngroups,andatthefrontiersofthenewindustrieswhichhavebeendevelopedinJapansincethewar,theyhavebeencompetingagainstoneanotherwithoutquarterinequipmentinvestment.Thisisnotonlyinthecaseofoil-chemicalsindustrybutalsointhemotorvehicles.NinemanufacturersinadditiontoToyotaandNissanarecompetingtoincreasetheirsharesinthemarket.Inthiscase,Japan’sproductivepotentialhasrisenrapidlyandhasrealizedadegreeofhighgrowthwhichisliterallythehighestIntheworld.

Apartfromexternalcompetitiveadvantages,theinternalfinancialnetworksalsomadeagreatcontributiontotherapidgrowthofKeiretsusandinreturntothewholeJapaneconomy.Theinput-outputsynergiesmadetheprofit-trappingpossible.What’smore,themainbankfinancingandcross-shareholdingpromotedthecapitalmarketofJapandevelopedfastaswellaswaytomaintainanti-takeoverandencouragingrisktakingsituation.

Socialandtechnological:

ThelabourforceassessmentofKeiretsuscanbeidentifiedasfollow,untilquiterecently,acontinualsupplyofsuperiorlabourofbothwithgoodqualityandreadilyadaptabletomoderntechnologywasavailable.Additionally,theKeiretsus’tendencytoinvestwasneversubjecttorestrictionfromthisaspect.Thenewpersonnelrotationandloanofpersonnelsystemmakesuretheconnectionbetweenbanksandfirms.Thissystemenablethebankstosupervisethedebtsandoperationsofthefirms.Asforthefirms,theymayobtaintheessentialfinancialsupportsandadvancedmanagement.

Insum,thesituationofJapanpost-wareconomygrowthwasowingtothenetworkstructuralprotectionanddevelopment.TheseKeiretsusmadeeffortsinequipmentinvestment,intendingtogetpracticallyallnewindustriesintotheirhandsonthebasisoffundscollectedfromthepipelinesofthepowerfulfinancialKeiretsus,sothattheymightstrengthentheircontroloftheindustries.

Thechangingglobalcontext

TheburstingofJapan’s‘‘bubbleeconomy’’ledtoaneconomicdownturninthe1990s.Becauseofdeflation,decreasingconsumerdemand,stagnationofrealGDP,afallinpropertyandlandpricesby80%between1991and1998aswellasarapidgrowthofunemployment.Widespreadchangesincapitalmarketsandinter-firmnetworksinJapanwereaccompaniedbymorefundamentalrestructuringsofcorporateperformancesystems,labourrelationsandemploymentpractices.Competitionfromcheaperimportsincreasedatthesametimeasdomesticdemandfelloverall.AsaresulttherewereunprecedenteddeclinesinJapan’soverallindustrialproductionratein1997and1998.Thekeiretsusystem