Research Associate
Projects
Research into the impact of Japan’s Corporate Governance Code
Personal background
John Buchanan has a degree in Oriental Studies (Japanese) and a PhD in Management Studies, both from the University of Cambridge. He worked as a commercial banker in Brazil, Japan, and Spain with Lloyds Bank group from 1974 until 1987, and as an investment banker with SG Warburg, Sumitomo Bank, and Daiwa SMBC from 1987 until 2002, specialising in Japan-related mergers and acquisitions. His current main area of study is corporate governance, with particular emphasis on the impact of new governance structures in Japan and lessons from activist hedge fund interventions there.
Selected publications
Buchanan, J. (with Chai, D. and Deakin, S.) (2019) ‘Taking a horse to water: prospects for the Japanese corporate governance code’ (Zeitschrift für Japanisches Recht/Journal of Japanese Law: Vol.24, No.47).
Buchanan, J. (with Chai, D. and Deakin, S.) (2018) ‘Unexpected corporate outcomes from hedge fund activism in Japan’ SSRN (University of Cambridge Faculty of Law Research Paper 10/2018: January 2018; and Socio-Economic Review: February 2018).
Buchanan, J. (2015) 不安定なシステムへの局所的な対応策としての企業統治 (Translation of paper originally entitled ‘Corporate governance as a local remedy for an unstable system: a demonstration from Japan’) in 企業統治の法と経済 (Law and Economics of Corporate Governance) edited by Tanaka Wataru and Nakabayashi Masaki (Yūhikaku, Tokyo).
Buchanan, J. (with Chai, D. and Deakin, S.) (2014) ‘Agency theory in practice: a qualitative study of hedge fund activism in Japan’ (Corporate Governance: An International Review, Vol.22, Issue 4).
Buchanan, J. (2013) ‘Corporate governance as a local remedy for an unstable system: a demonstration from Japan’ (Tokyo University, ISS Research Series No.55).
Buchanan, J. (with Chai, D. and Deakin, S.) (2012) Hedge fund activism in Japan: the limits of shareholder primacy (Cambridge University Press).
Buchanan, J. (with Deakin, S.) (2009) ‘In the Shadow of Corporate Governance Reform: Change and Continuity in Managerial Practice at Listed Companies in Japan’ (in Corporate Governance and Managerial Reform in Japan edited by Whittaker, D.H. and Deakin, S., Oxford University Press).
Buchanan, J. (with Deakin, S.) (2007 and 2008) ‘Japan’s Paradoxical Response to the New ‘Global Standard’ in Corporate Governance’ (ECGI Law Working Paper No.87/2007; and Zeitschrift für Japanisches Recht/Journal of Japanese Law Vol.13, No.26 (2008)).
Buchanan, J. (2007) ‘Japanese Corporate Governance and the Principle of ‘Internalism” (Corporate Governance: An International Review, Volume 15, Issue 1).