IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jbrese/v67y2014i12p2603-2610.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Keiretsu centrality — profits and profit stability: A power dependence perspective

Author

Listed:
  • Brouthers, Lance Eliot
  • Gao, Yan
  • Napshin, Stuart

Abstract

Prior studies compare keiretsu member firm and independent firm performance. Here, we use historical and power dependence perspectives to theorize that the Japanese keiretsu system primarily benefits the most central firms. We test this by examining the performance of two types of keiretsu firms (central firms and other member firms) within two types of keiretsu (horizontal and vertical). We hypothesize and find that: (1) central vertical keiretsu firms are more profitable than central horizontal keiretsu firms; (2) central horizontal keiretsu firms have greater profit stability than central vertical keiretsu firms; (3) central vertical keiretsu firms are more profitable than non-central vertical keiretsu firms; and (4) central horizontal keiretsu firms have greater profit stability than non-central horizontal keiretsu firms. Implications for managers and future research directions are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Brouthers, Lance Eliot & Gao, Yan & Napshin, Stuart, 2014. "Keiretsu centrality — profits and profit stability: A power dependence perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 67(12), pages 2603-2610.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:67:y:2014:i:12:p:2603-2610
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2014.03.019
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296314001167
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jbusres.2014.03.019?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. J. Robert Baum & Stefan Wally, 2003. "Strategic decision speed and firm performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(11), pages 1107-1129, November.
    2. repec:bla:jfinan:v:53:y:1998:i:2:p:635-672 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Randall K. Morck, 2005. "A History of Corporate Governance around the World: Family Business Groups to Professional Managers," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number morc05-1.
    4. Randall Morck & Masao Nakamura, 2005. "A Frog in a Well Knows Nothing of the Ocean: A History of Corporate Ownership in Japan," NBER Chapters, in: A History of Corporate Governance around the World: Family Business Groups to Professional Managers, pages 367-466, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Hui-mei Wang & Hengchiang Huang & Pratima Bansal, 2005. "What Determined Success During the Asian Economic Crisis?—The Importance of Experiential Knowledge and Group Affiliation," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 89-106, January.
    6. Yiannis E. Spanos & George Zaralis & Spyros Lioukas, 2004. "Strategy and industry effects on profitability: evidence from Greece," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(2), pages 139-165, February.
    7. J. Michael Geringer & Stephen Tallman & David M. Olsen, 2000. "Product and international diversification among Japanese multinational firms," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(1), pages 51-80, January.
    8. Jeffrey H. Dyer, 1996. "Does Governance Matter? Keiretsu Alliances and Asset Specificity as Sources of Japanese Competitive Advantage," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 7(6), pages 649-666, December.
    9. Sandra Dow & Jean McGuire & Toru Yoshikawa, 2011. "Disaggregating the group effect: Vertical and horizontal keiretsu in changing economic times," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 28(2), pages 299-323, June.
    10. Dow, Sandra & McGuire, Jean, 2009. "Propping and tunneling: Empirical evidence from Japanese keiretsu," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(10), pages 1817-1828, October.
    11. Tarun Khanna & Yishay Yafeh, 2005. "Business Groups and Risk Sharing around the World," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 78(1), pages 301-340, January.
    12. Michael Carney, 2008. "The many futures of Asian business groups," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 25(4), pages 595-613, December.
    13. Robert Z. Lawrence, 1991. "Efficient or Exclusionist: The Import Behavior of Japanese Corporate Groups," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 22(1), pages 311-341.
    14. Rakesh B. Sambharya & Kunal Banerji, 2006. "The effect of keiretsu affiliation and resource dependencies on supplier firm performance in the Japanese automobile industry," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 46(1), pages 7-37, February.
    15. Jean McGuire & Sandra Dow, 2009. "Japanese keiretsu: Past, present, future," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 26(2), pages 333-351, June.
    16. Hicheon Kim & Robert E. Hoskisson & William P. Wan, 2004. "Power dependence, diversification strategy, and performance in keiretsu member firms," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(7), pages 613-636, July.
    17. Lai, George Ming-Hong, 1999. "Knowing who you are doing business with in Japan: a managerial view of keiretsu and keiretsu business groups," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 34(4), pages 423-448, January.
    18. Constantinos C. Markides & Peter J. Williamson, 1994. "Related diversification, core competences and corporate performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(S2), pages 149-165, June.
    19. Bernotas, David, 2005. "Ownership structure and firm profitability in the Japanese keiretsu," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 533-554, June.
    20. Berthon, Pierre & Pitt, Leyland F. & Ewing, Michael T. & Bakkeland, Gunnar, 2003. "Norms and power in marketing relationships: Alternative theories and empirical evidence," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 56(9), pages 699-709, September.
    21. J McGuire & S Dow, 2003. "The persistence and implications of Japanese keiretsu organization," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 34(4), pages 374-388, July.
    22. McGuire, Jean & Dow, Sandra, 2002. "The Japanese keiretsu system: an empirical analysis," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 55(1), pages 33-40, January.
    23. Sadahiko Suzuki & Richard W Wright, 1985. "Financial Structure and Bankruptcy Risk in Japanese Companies," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 16(1), pages 97-110, March.
    24. Prowse, Stephen D, 1992. "The Structure of Corporate Ownership in Japan," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(3), pages 1121-1140, July.
    25. Peng, Mike W. & Lee, Seung-Hyun & Tan, J. Justin, 2001. "The keiretsu in Asia: Implications for multilevel theories of competitive advantage," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 7(4), pages 253-276.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Megan Min Zhang & Paul W. Beamish, 2019. "An institutional response model to economic liberalization: Japanese MNEs’ ownership choices in China," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 36(1), pages 33-59, March.
    2. Sakawa, Hideaki & Watanabel, Naoki, 2018. "Parent control and ownership monitoring in publicly listed subsidiaries in Japan," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 7-14.
    3. Jun Xie & Wataru Nozawa & Shunsuke Managi, 2023. "The nexus of top executives’ attributes, firm strategies, and outcomes: Large firms versus SMEs," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-15, December.
    4. Carnes, Christina Matz & Cavanaugh, Jeffrey & David, Parthiban & O'Brien, Jonathan, 2023. "Cash creates value for supply chain systems, but who appropriates that value?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    5. Powell, K. Skylar & Lim, Eunah, 2018. "Motive meets experience: Cultural distance, motive, related experience, and foreign subsidiary ownership structure," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 81-92.
    6. Hideaki Sakawa & Naoki Watanabel, 2022. "Accounting Frauds and Main-Bank Monitoring in Japanese Corporations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 180(2), pages 605-621, October.
    7. Tomeczek, Artur F., 2022. "The evolution of Japanese keiretsu networks: A review and text network analysis of their perceptions in economics," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    8. Yamamoto, Satoshi & Kan, Viktoriya & Bartnik, Roman, 2018. "Going Abroad to Innovate? The Role of Entrepreneurial Orientation in Foreign Business Expansion for Japanese Small and Medium-Sized Manufacturers," CIS Discussion paper series 668, Center for Intergenerational Studies, Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University.
    9. Bruno F. Abrantes, 2020. "Are Neoclassic Internationalization Models Enduring? A Case-Review of the Uppsala Paradigm," SAGE Open, , vol. 10(2), pages 21582440209, June.
    10. Genjiro Kosaka & Koichi Nakagawa & Seiji Manabe & Mizuki Kobayashi, 2020. "The vertical keiretsu advantage in the era of Westernization in the Japanese automobile industry: investigation from transaction cost economics and a resource-based view," Asian Business & Management, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 19(1), pages 36-61, February.
    11. Hideaki Sakawa & Naoki Watanabel, 2020. "Institutional Ownership and Firm Performance under Stakeholder-Oriented Corporate Governance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-21, January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jean McGuire & Sandra Dow, 2009. "Japanese keiretsu: Past, present, future," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 26(2), pages 333-351, June.
    2. Tomeczek, Artur F., 2022. "The evolution of Japanese keiretsu networks: A review and text network analysis of their perceptions in economics," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    3. Sandra Dow & Jean McGuire & Toru Yoshikawa, 2011. "Disaggregating the group effect: Vertical and horizontal keiretsu in changing economic times," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 28(2), pages 299-323, June.
    4. Luis Alfonso Dau & Randall Morck & Bernard Yin Yeung, 2021. "Business groups and the study of international business: A Coasean synthesis and extension," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 52(2), pages 161-211, March.
    5. Dow, Sandra & McGuire, Jean, 2009. "Propping and tunneling: Empirical evidence from Japanese keiretsu," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(10), pages 1817-1828, October.
    6. George, Rejie & Kabir, Rezaul, 2008. "Business groups and profit redistribution: A boon or bane for firms?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 61(9), pages 1004-1014, September.
    7. Kan Nakajima & Takafumi Sasaki, 2022. "Business group affiliation, corporate diversification, and cash holdings," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 39(1), pages 173-199, March.
    8. Aggarwal, Raj & Dow, Sandra M., 2012. "Dividends and strength of Japanese business group affiliation," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 64(3), pages 214-230.
    9. Mike Peng & Andrew Delios, 2006. "What determines the scope of the firm over time and around the world? An Asia Pacific perspective," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 23(4), pages 385-405, December.
    10. Holmes, R. Michael & Hoskisson, Robert E. & Kim, Hicheon & Wan, William P. & Holcomb, Tim R., 2018. "International strategy and business groups: A review and future research agenda," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 53(2), pages 134-150.
    11. Choi, Yoon K. & Han, Seung Hun, 2013. "Corporate restructuring, financial deregulation, and firm value: Evidence from Japanese “spin-ins”," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 22(C), pages 1-13.
    12. Randall Morck & Bernard Yeung, 2017. "East Asian Financial and Economic Development," NBER Working Papers 23845, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Yafeh, Yishay & Kandel, Eugene & ,, 2013. "The Great Pyramids of America: A Revised History of US Business Groups, Corporate Ownership and Regulation, 1930-1950," CEPR Discussion Papers 9759, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    14. Tarun Khanna & Yishay Yafeh, 2007. "Business Groups in Emerging Markets: Paragons or Parasites?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 45(2), pages 331-372, June.
    15. Saul Estrin & Martha Prevezer, 2011. "The role of informal institutions in corporate governance: Brazil, Russia, India, and China compared," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 28(1), pages 41-67, March.
    16. Nan Jia & Jing Shi & Yongxiang Wang, 2013. "Coinsurance Within Business Groups: Evidence from Related Party Transactions in an Emerging Market," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 59(10), pages 2295-2313, October.
    17. Kito, Tomomi & New, Steve & Reed-Tsochas, Felix, 2018. "Disentangling the complexity of supply relationship formations: Firm product diversification and product ubiquity in the Japanese car industry," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 206(C), pages 159-168.
    18. Sougata Ray & Bikramjit Ray Chaudhuri, 2018. "Business Group Affiliation and Corporate Sustainability Strategies of Firms: An Investigation of Firms in India," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 153(4), pages 955-976, December.
    19. Yoshida, Kenichi & Iino, Yoshiaki & Managi, Shunsuke, 2022. "Do Japanese keiretsu promote better CSR activities?," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 452-475.
    20. Hideaki Sakawa & Naoki Watanabel, 2020. "Institutional Ownership and Firm Performance under Stakeholder-Oriented Corporate Governance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-21, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:67:y:2014:i:12:p:2603-2610. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jbusres .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.