How Abe's policies are improving corporate governance

Corporate profits rebounding

Among major countries, only Japan is engaged in a structural improvement in corporate governance, as the US has long had good governance and Europe's is stable at moderate levels.

This is partially due to the Abe administration's encouragement of more independent directors and other recent governance issues, but the profitability message has actually been understood by Japanese corporates for more than a decade.  GDP growth has remained subdued but profit margins have strongly trended upwards. Indeed, since the Koizumi era of the early 2000s, when Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi pushed for new ways to revitalise the economy such as privatising the postal service, Japan has embarked on major rationalisations in most industries. Legg Mason's Shiozumi: Japan s...