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Why Did ‘Zombie’ Firms Recover in Japan?

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  • Shin‐ichi Fukuda
  • Jun‐ichi Nakamura

Abstract

The Japanese economy experienced prolonged recessions during the 1990s. Previous studies suggest that evergreen lending to troubled firms known as "zombie firms" distorted market discipline in terms of stabilizing the Japanese economy and caused significant delays in the economy's recovery. However, the eventual bankruptcy of zombies was rare. In fact, a majority of the "zombie" firms substantially recovered during the first half of the 2000s. The purpose of this paper is to investigate why zombie firms recovered in Japan. We first extend the method of Caballero, Hoshi, and Kashyap (2008) and identify zombies from among the listed firms. Subsequently, we investigate the nature of corporate restructuring that was effective in reviving zombie firms. Our multinomial logistic regressions suggest that reducing the employee strength of zombie firms and selling its fixed assets were beneficial in facilitating their recovery. However, corporate restructuring without accounting transparency or by discouraging incentives for managers was ineffective. In addition, corporate restructuring lacked effectiveness in the absence of favorable macroeconomic environment as well as substantial external financial support.
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Suggested Citation

  • Shin‐ichi Fukuda & Jun‐ichi Nakamura, 2011. "Why Did ‘Zombie’ Firms Recover in Japan?," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34, pages 1124-1137, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:worlde:v:34:y:2011:i::p:1124-1137
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ricardo J. Caballero & Takeo Hoshi & Anil K. Kashyap, 2008. "Zombie Lending and Depressed Restructuring in Japan," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(5), pages 1943-1977, December.
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    5. Shin‐Ichi Fukuda & Satoshi Koibuchi, 2006. "The Impacts Of “Shock Therapy” Under A Banking Crisis: Experiences From Three Large Bank Failures In Japan," The Japanese Economic Review, Japanese Economic Association, vol. 57(2), pages 232-256, June.
    6. Hanazaki, Masaharu & Horiuchi, Akiyoshi, 2003. "A review of Japan's bank crisis from the governance perspective," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 11(3), pages 305-325, July.
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    9. Sekine, Toshitaka & Kobayashi, Keiichiro & Saita, Yumi, 2003. "Forbearance Lending: The Case of Japanese Firms," Monetary and Economic Studies, Institute for Monetary and Economic Studies, Bank of Japan, vol. 21(2), pages 69-92, August.
    10. Fukuda, Shin-ichi & Kasuya, Munehisa & Akashi, Kentaro, 2009. "Impaired bank health and default risk," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 145-162, April.
    11. Fukuda, Shin-ichi & Koibuchi, Satoshi, 2007. "The impacts of "shock therapy" on large and small clients: Experiences from two large bank failures in Japan," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 15(5), pages 434-451, November.
    12. Boot, Arnoud W. A., 2000. "Relationship Banking: What Do We Know?," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 7-25, January.
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