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The Organization of Enterprise in Japan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 June 2015

Tom Nicholas
Tom Nicholas*
Affiliation:
William J. Abernathy Professor of Business Administration in the Entrepreneurial Management Group, Harvard Business School, Soldiers Field Road, Boston, MA 02163. E-mail: tnicholas@hbs.edu.
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Abstract

Recent research indicates the joint stock form was not a superior type of business organization in many countries historically. In Japan, however, its role was more pervasive. From 1896 to 1939 joint stock enterprises accounted for 44 percent of registered businesses and 80 percent of total capital. From 1922 to 1939 these enterprises outperformed other forms and generated 94 percent of aggregate profits. External finance factors, Japan's development phase, industrial structure, public policy, and culture led to high joint stock usage. The private limited liability company, introduced in 1938, did not displace the joint stock form.

Type
Articles
Information
The Journal of Economic History , Volume 75 , Issue 2 , June 2015 , pp. 333 - 363
Copyright
Copyright © The Economic History Association 2015 

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Footnotes

For many extremely helpful comments and suggestions I thank the anonymous referees, the editors of this journal, Joan Farre-Mensa, Les Hannah, Naomi Kodama, Ramana Nanda, Nobuyuki Tamai, and Akiko Kanno and Mayuka Yamazaki from Harvard Business School's Japan Research Center in Tokyo. The Division of Research and Faculty Development at Harvard Business School provided funding.

References

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