A certified "public interest" nonprofit
”…………..Productivity has become a unifying theme for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) work in recent years. Productivity determines wage growth and living standards, and as populations in many developed countries have found, the only real source of growth is productivity growth. Today, I would like to look at recent trends in productivity, the causes of declining productivity, and some ideas on how to revive productivity growth.
IRRC INSTITUTE New Report by Annalisa Barrett, Founder and CEO of Board Governance Research LLC. Successful CEO transitions Correlate with More Robust Disclosure, but Succession Planning Disclosure Frequently is Non Existent and Often Inconsistent – A US perspective Executive Summary: ”Shareowners and other stakeholders have been calling for more information about CEO succession planning. This […]
”The outcome of the acceptance by Japanese electronics giant Sharp of a USD $4.3bn takeover bid by Taiwanese multinational Foxconn remains to be seen. Its symbolic significance however could be quite extraordinary: will Japan’s notoriously insular economy, notably its notoriously ultra-insular electronics industry, be opening up to the outside world and especially to its East Asian neighbors?
”The Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) is a government-related organization promoting mutual trade and investment between Japan and the rest of the world. It offers foreign investors abundant information on all aspects of doing business in Japan, by providing expert consultation and offering free temporary office space in major business areas across the country.
Last week, JETRO published the first issue of its JETRO Invest Japan Report (2015).
This report is a comprehensive survey on the attractiveness of the Japanese market and activities and perceptions of foreign affiliates in Japan. It also introduces the situation of foreign direct investment in Japan, trends on policies related to investment promotion and improvement of business environment, as well as JETRO’s activities to promote foreign direct investment.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has vowed to put corporate governance at the heart of his economic reforms.
Nicholas Pratt interviews the OECD’s Fianna Jurdant and charts the development of corporate governance across Asia amid a growing recognition of its importance.
”Japanese firms invest in research and development (R&D) on a level comparable to that of their U.S. counterparts. They possess a high-quality workforce and receive decent management practice scores for organizational and human resource (HR) management. Yet, they fall significantly behind U.S. firms when it comes to earning power.
”Upwards and onwards … how can we make 21st century governance more more accountable, inclusive and efficient?”
Now at 127 million, Japan’s population is forecast to fall to about 83 million by 2100
”Japan’s population has fallen by nearly 1 million in the past five years, in the first decline since the census began in 1920. This is bad news for the country’sshrinking economy, which is unable to depend on an expanding labour force to drive growth.
”Mark Carney rejects idea that central bankers have ‘used all ammunition’ against downturn but says system remains strong”
”Shinzo Abe and Haruhiko Kuroda shouldn’t look to spring wage talks for much help in spurring inflation and economic growth in Japan.
If anything, the picture emerging from the negotiations between some of Japan’s biggest companies and their unions is one of stagnation and slim raises. And the talks, most of which conclude next month, are taking place as a strengthening yen risks pushing down the earnings growth — and stock prices — of Japanese exporters.
