Aggregate Corporate Saving and Recent Changes in Capital Structures of Japanese Firms

本稿では，1990年代末の金融危機以降大幅に増加した企業貯蓄がどのように利用され，それが日本企業の資本構成にどのような影響を与えたかを，SNAデータおよび法人企業調査のデータを用いて検証する．金融危機直後の1998年から2000年頃までの企業貯蓄の増加については，金融機関の貸出し引き締めという供給側の要因が支配的だが，それ以降の企業貯蓄の増加については，かなりの部分を企業側のインセンティブに基づく負債圧縮行動が占めていた可能性が高い．また企業規模別，製造業／非製造業の分類を用いた法人企業調査のデータによる分析では，製造業と，非製造業の大企業における負債の圧縮が，70年代から続く長期的な傾向であることが示される．その一方，規模の小さい非製造業企業も，1990年代後半以降，急速に負債の圧縮を進めている．その結果，直近の日本企業の資本構成は，セミマクロのレベルで見ると1970年代よりもはるかに均質的なものになっている．また金融危機以降の日本企業のリストラクチャリングでは，雇用の削減は主に製造業の，負債の圧縮は主に非製造業の問題であり，すべての経済主体が同じような方法で経営の効率化を行っていたわけではないことが分かった．After the domestic financial crisis in the second half of 1997 and in 1998, Japanese corporate saving increased significantly and steadily. Using GDP data and Financial Statements Statistics of Corporations by Industry data, this paper investigates how Japanese firms have used their increased saving and how their capital structures have changed as a result. The initial increase of corporate saving immediately after the domestic financial crisis around from 1998 to 2000 is mostly explained by a supply side factor, a sudden sharp decline of bank lending. However, a major portion of continuing increase in the new millennium will be explained by the reduction of corporate debts by firms' own initiatives. According to the analysis of the data grouped by firm size and the manufacturing/non-manufacturing distinction, the decline of corporate debt is a long-run trend since 1970s with manufacturing firms and large non-manufacturing firms. On the other hand, smaller non-manufacturing firms have decreased their outstanding debt since the late 1990s. As a result, capital structures of Japanese firms today are much more homogenous than they were in 1970s, at least in semi-macro data. It is also found that the ways Japanese firms restructured their businesses are quite different depending on industry. While financial restructuring has been common among non-manufacturing firms, restructuring of labor force has largely happened with manufacturing firms