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The Cost of Capital in the U.S. and Japan: A Comparison

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  • Albert Ando
  • Alan J. Auerbach

Abstract

This paper uses financial statement data for large samples of U.S. and Japanese nonfinancial corporations to estimate the return to capital in each country for the period 1967-83. Interpreting these as measures of the cost of capital, we find that the before-tax cost of corporate capital was higher for U.S. firms than for their Japanese counterparts, with the average gap potentially as high as 5.8 percentage points. The use of alternative measurement techniques alters the gap slightly but does not alter the basic finding. However, market returns in the two countries were much closer during the same period. Certain potential explanations for the gap in returns are rejected by empirical evidence, including differences in corporate taxation, differences in borrowing and differences in asset mix. This leaves three potential explanations: differences in risk, differences in the tax treatment of individual capital income and imperfections in the international flow of capital

Suggested Citation

  • Albert Ando & Alan J. Auerbach, 1987. "The Cost of Capital in the U.S. and Japan: A Comparison," NBER Working Papers 2286, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:2286
    Note: PE
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    1. The bond-stock conundrum
      by JP Koning in Moneyness on 2015-03-29 01:54:00

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    Cited by:

    1. McCorriston, Steve, 1992. "An Overview of the U.S. Competitiveness Debate," Occasional Papers 233090, Regional Research Project NC-194: Organization and Performance of World Food Systems.
    2. Randall Morck & Masao Nakamura & Murray Frank, 2001. "Japanese Corporate Governance and Macroeconomic Problems," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Masao Nakamura (ed.), The Japanese Business and Economic System, chapter 12, pages 325-363, Palgrave Macmillan.
    3. Jeffrey A. Frankel., 1992. "The Evolving Japanese Financial System, and the Cost of Capital," Center for International and Development Economics Research (CIDER) Working Papers C92-002, University of California at Berkeley.
    4. Hong Bae, Kee & Kim, Jeong-Bon, 1998. "The usefulness of earnings versus book value for predicting stock returns and cross corporate ownership in Japan," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 10(4), pages 467-485, October.

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