Institutional Herding, Business Groups, and Economic Regimes: Evidence from Japan

We study institutional herding in Japan. Japanese firms are primarily owned by financial institutions and other corporations, they may belong to a business group (the keiretsu), and they have experienced several distinct economic regimes in its recent past. Overall, we find herding in Japan occurs on a lower level than in the United States but with a large impact on price movements. The price impact is even greater for keiretsu-affiliated firms. We also find the effects and behavior of institutional herding depends on the economic condition and the regulatory environment.