IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/zbw/wzbece/fsi95310.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Corporate governance versus economic governance: banks and industrial restructuring in the US and Germany

Author

Listed:
  • Vitols, Sigurt

Abstract

This paper critically examines the debate on corporate governance and the claim (often made in Anglo-American companies) that the close links between German banks and industry are primarily responsible for the longer-term investment strategies and greater quality competitiveness of German manufacturing. Instead, it is argued here that manufacturing investment and bank behavior must be examined within a broader system of economic governance. In particular the regulation of labor markets is a key factor influencing company choices between price and quality-competitive strategies. The corporatist regulation of German labor markets has encouraged quality-competitive strategies by keeping labor costs out of competition to a greater extent than in the US, where a collapse in pattern bargaining in core manufacturing industries and the strategic use of bankruptcy was motivated by companies' attempts to gain a comparative price advantage on the basis of lower labor costs. This argument is supported through a case study of the restructuring of the steel industry in Germany and the US in the 1980s.

Suggested Citation

  • Vitols, Sigurt, 1995. "Corporate governance versus economic governance: banks and industrial restructuring in the US and Germany," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Economic Change and Employment FS I 95-310, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:wzbece:fsi95310
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/44078/1/19878208X.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. repec:bla:jfinan:v:43:y:1988:i:3:p:567-91 is not listed on IDEAS
    2. Soskice, David, 1990. "Wage Determination: The Changing Role of Institutions in Advanced Industrialized Countries," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 6(4), pages 36-61, Winter.
    3. Prowse, Stephen D., 1990. "Institutional investment patterns and corporate financial behavior in the United States and Japan," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 43-66, September.
    4. Audretsch, David B. & Elston, Julie Ann, 2002. "Does firm size matter? Evidence on the impact of liquidity constraints on firm investment behavior in Germany," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 1-17, January.
    5. Coase, R. H., 1990. "The Firm, the Market, and the Law," University of Chicago Press Economics Books, University of Chicago Press, edition 1, number 9780226111018, August.
    6. Vitols, Sigurt, 1995. "German banks and the modernization of the small firm sector: long-term finance in comparative perspective," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Economic Change and Employment FS I 95-309, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    7. Ben S. Bernanke & John Y. Campbell, 1988. "Is There a Corporate Debt Crisis?," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 19(1), pages 83-140.
    8. Mayer, Colin & Alexander, Ian, 1990. "Banks and securities markets: Corporate financing in Germany and the United Kingdom," Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, Elsevier, vol. 4(4), pages 450-475, December.
    9. Chirinko, R-S & Elston, J-A, 1997. "Finance, Control, and Profitability : An Evaluation of German Bank Influence," Papers 28, American Institute for Contemporary German Studies-.
    10. Alchian, Armen A & Demsetz, Harold, 1972. "Production , Information Costs, and Economic Organization," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 62(5), pages 777-795, December.
    11. Charles W. Calomiris, 1993. "Corporate-Finance Benefits from Universal Banking: Germany and the United States, 1870-1914," NBER Working Papers 4408, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    12. Santomero, Anthony M, 1984. "Modeling the Banking Firm: A Survey," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 16(4), pages 576-602, November.
    13. Edwards,Jeremy & Fischer,Klaus, 1996. "Banks, Finance and Investment in Germany," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521566087, January.
    14. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    15. Alexander, Ian & Mayer, Colin, 1990. "Banks and Securities Markets: Corporate Financing in Germany and the UK," CEPR Discussion Papers 433, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    16. Ben S. Bernanke & John Y. Campbell & Toni M. Whited, 1990. "U.S. Corporate Leverage: Developments in 1987 and 1988," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 21(1), pages 255-286.
    17. Roe, Mark J., 1990. "Political and legal restraints on ownership and control of public companies," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 7-41, September.
    18. Cable, John R, 1985. "Capital Market Information and Industrial Performance: The Role of West German Banks," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 95(377), pages 118-132, March.
    19. Stiglitz, Joseph E & Weiss, Andrew, 1981. "Credit Rationing in Markets with Imperfect Information," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 71(3), pages 393-410, June.
    20. Prowse, Stephen D, 1992. "The Structure of Corporate Ownership in Japan," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(3), pages 1121-1140, July.
    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. Ojo, Marianne, 2009. "The role of external auditors in corporate governance: agency problems and the management of risk," MPRA Paper 47346, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 02 Jun 2013.
    2. Dr.Muhammad Irfan Khan & Dr.Muhammad Ayub Khan Mehar & Dr.Athar Iqbal, 2016. "Development Financing And Economic Governance: Analysis Of The Liquidity Crisis And Circularity Debts In Pakistan," IBT Journal of Business Studies (JBS), Ilma University, Faculty of Management Science, vol. 12(2), pages 1-24.
    3. Sigurt Vitols, 1997. "German Industrial Policy: An Overview," Industry and Innovation, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 4(1), pages 15-36.
    4. Steven Casper & Catherine Matraves, 1997. "Corporate Governance and Firm Strategy in the Pharmaceutical Industry," CIG Working Papers FS IV 97-20, Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin (WZB), Research Unit: Competition and Innovation (CIG).
    5. Casper, Steven, 1999. "High technology governance and institutional adaptiveness: do technology policies usefully promote commercial innovation within the German biotechnology industry?," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Economic Change and Employment FS I 99-307, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.

    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. Marc Goergen & Christine A. Mallin & Eve Mitleton-Kelly & Ahmed Al-Hawamdeh & Iris H-Y Chiu, 2010. "Corporate Governance and Complexity Theory," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 13927.
    2. Stephen Prowse, 1996. "Alternative Models of Financial System Development," RBA Annual Conference Volume (Discontinued), in: Malcom Edey (ed.),The Future of the Financial System, Reserve Bank of Australia.
    3. Goergen, Marc & Manjon, Miguel C. & Renneboog, Luc, 2008. "Recent developments in German corporate governance," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(3), pages 175-193, September.
    4. Vitols, Sigurt, 1995. "Financial systems and industrial policy in Germany and Great Britain: the limits of convergence," Discussion Papers, Research Unit: Economic Change and Employment FS I 95-311, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.
    5. Brichs Serra, Elisabet & Buch, Claudia M. & Nienaber, Thomas, 1997. "The role of banks: Evidence from Germany and the US," Kiel Working Papers 802, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    6. Philip Lowe & Thomas Rohling, 1993. "Agency Costs, Balance Sheets and the Business Cycle," RBA Research Discussion Papers rdp9311, Reserve Bank of Australia.
    7. Gene C. Lai & Piman Limpaphayom, 2003. "Organizational Structure and Performance: Evidence From the Nonlife Insurance Industry in Japan," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 70(4), pages 735-757, December.
    8. Butzbach Olivier & von Mettenheim Kurt E., 2015. "Alternative Banking and Theory," Accounting, Economics, and Law: A Convivium, De Gruyter, vol. 5(2), pages 105-171, July.
    9. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1997. "A Survey of Corporate Governance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(2), pages 737-783, June.
    10. Klaus Gugler, 2003. "Corporate governance and investment," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 10(3), pages 261-289.
    11. Behr Andreas, 2005. "Investment, Q and Liquidity / Investitionen, Q und Liquidität: Evidence for Germany Using Firm Level Balance Sheet Data / Empirische Ergebnisse auf Basis von Unternehmensdaten," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 225(1), pages 2-21, February.
    12. Kenneth A. Kim & John R. Nofsinger, 2005. "Institutional Herding, Business Groups, and Economic Regimes: Evidence from Japan," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 78(1), pages 213-242, January.
    13. Limpaphayom, Piman & Rogers, Daniel A. & Yanase, Noriyoshi, 2019. "Bank equity ownership and corporate hedging: Evidence from Japan," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 765-783.
    14. Sanjiva Prasad & Christopher J. Green & Victor Murinde, 2005. "Company Financial Structure: A Survey and Implications for Developing Economies," Chapters, in: Christopher J. Green & Colin Kirkpatrick & Victor Murinde (ed.), Finance and Development, chapter 12, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    15. Stuart L. Gillan & Laura T. Starks, 2002. "Institutional Investors, Corporate Ownership, and Corporate Governance: Global Perspectives," WIDER Working Paper Series DP2002-09, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    16. Jankovic Ivan & Block Walter, 2019. "Private Property Rights, Government Interventionism and Welfare Economics," Review of Economic Perspectives, Sciendo, vol. 19(4), pages 365-397, December.
    17. Luigi Zingales, 2000. "In Search of New Foundations," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(4), pages 1623-1653, August.
    18. Laura T. Starks, 2000. "Corporate Governance And Institutional Investors: Implications For Latin America," Abante, Escuela de Administracion. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile., vol. 2(2), pages 161-181.
    19. Konrad, Kai A., 1992. "Equilibrium corporate ownership structure with free-riding," EconStor Research Reports 112692, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics.
    20. Vincent O. Ongore & Peter O. K'Obonyo, 2011. "Effects of Selected Corporate Governance Characteristics on Firm Performance: Empirical Evidence from Kenya," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 1(3), pages 99-122, September.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:zbw:wzbece:fsi95310. 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: ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/wzbbbde.html .

    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.