ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses some aspects of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in Japan and public policy towards them, chiefly the anti-monopoly regulation. The first four sections discuss the numbers, sizes, types, objectives, and other characteristics of M&As in Japan and how they are related to the structure of Japanese firms, in particular their human resource structure. The regulations on M&As are discussed in the following two sections, with the fifth section describing the regulations in the Japanese Anti-monopoly Law concerning M&As, stockholdings, and interlocking directorates, and the sixth discussing the two major merger cases-the Nippon Steel case of 1970 and two more recent mergers in the paper industry. The chapter concludes with some assessment of the policies.
