TY  - JOUR
AU  - Mitchener,Kris J.
AU  - Ohnuki,Mari
TI  - Institutions, Competition, and Capital Market Integration in Japan
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 14090
PY  - 2008
Y2  - June 2008
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w14090
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w14090.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Kris J. Mitchener
Department of Economics
Leavey School of Business
Santa Clara University
Santa Clara, CA 95053
Tel: 408/554-4340
Fax: 408/554-2331
E-Mail: kmitchener@scu.edu

Mari Ohnuki
Institute for Monetary and Economic Studies
Bank of Japan
Tokyo 103-8660
Japan
E-Mail: marioonuki@boj.or.jp
AB  - Using a newly-constructed panel data set which includes annual estimates of lending rates for 47 Japanese prefectures, we analyze why interest rates converged over the period 1884-1925. We find evidence that technological innovations and institutional changes played an important role in creating a national capital market in Japan. In particular, the diffusion in the use of the telegraph, the growth in commercial branch banking networks, and the development of Bank of Japan's branches reduced interest-rate differentials. Bank regulation appears to have played little role in impeding financial market integration.
ER  -