I. Internal capital markets and bank relationship: Evidence from Japanese corporate spin-offs. II. Internal capital markets, investment, and bank relationship: Evidence from Japanese corporate spin-offs

This dissertation consists of two studies related to internal capital markets and bank relationship using Japanese corporate spin-offs. The first study analyzes the relation between internal capital markets and banks by examining 137 Japanese corporate spin-offs created between the years 2001 and 2003 (since the establishment of new spinoffs law in 2001). In a univariate analysis, we find significant positive average cumulative abnormal returns around the announcements, market-adjusted excess returns after the spin-offs, an increase of the Herfindahl index, and a reduction in the diversification discount after the spin-offs. In a cross-sectional analysis, we find that bank-related governance variables such as the keiretsu-affiliation indicator, bank loan to total asset ratio, main bank ownership, and indicator variable of the existence of a bank-appointed director on the board indicator variables are significantly positively related to cumulative average abnormal returns around the announcements, market-adjusted excess returns after the spin-offs, an increase in focus of firms in terms of the Herfindahl index, and a reduction in the diversification discount. Therefore, we conclude that there is a significant relationship between internal capital markets and banks in Japan; after the internal capital market reorganization through spin-offs the closer relationship with banks creates shareholder wealth and increases the focus of firms. This paper is now co-authored with Professor Yoon K. Choi.;The second study analyzes the investment policy changes in internal capital markets and the effect of banks' monitoring on the investment changes using Japanese corporate spin-offs, including merger-facilitated spin-offs within conglomerates. We find that investment sensitivity increases significantly after internal restructuring through spin-offs, consistent with Gertner et al. (2002). Furthermore, our results show that bank-related spin-offs' investments are more sensitive to investment opportunities, Tobin's Q, after being spun off. This suggests that the efficiency of Japanese internal capital markets has increased through spin-offs after the financial deregulation in 2001. We conclude that banks seem to play significant monitoring roles in internal capital markets to increase the investment efficiency after spin-offs. This paper is now co-authored with Professor Yoon K. Choi.