The Unwinding of Cross-Shareholding in Japan: Causes, Effects, and Implications

Abstract

Considering that the ownership structure of Japanese corporations has changed dramatically in the 1990s, this paper address a series of questions related to these changes: Why is cross-shareholding, which has been in place for almost three decades, now beginning to unwind (and what are the mechanisms of the unwinding)? What explains the increasing diversity in the patterns of cross-shareholding among Japanese firms? Lastly, what are the implications of the changing ownership structure on firm performance? Using detailed and comprehensive data on ownership structure including individual cross-shareholding relationships and other variables (Tobin's q) developed by Nissai Life Insurance Research Institute and Waseda University, we highlight the determinants of the choice between holding or selling shares for both banks and firms. We show that profitable firms with easy access to capital markets and high foreign ownership prior to the banking crisis have tended to unwind cross-shareholdings, while low-profit firms with difficulty accessing capital markets and low foreign ownership in the early 1990s have tended to keep their cross-shareholding relationships with banks. We also show that high intuitional shareholding and, somewhat surprisingly, block shareholding by corporations have positive effects on firm performance, while bank ownership has had a consistently negative effect on firm performance since the mid-1980s. We use these findings to address some policy implications and to provide some perspectives on the future of the ownership structure of Japanese firms.