TY - BOOK ID - 8285185 TI - Hometown investment trust funds : a stable way to supply risk capital AU - Yoshino, Naoyuki AU - Kaji, Sahoko. PY - 2013 SN - 4431547533 4431543082 4431543090 PB - Tokyo ; New York : Springer, DB - UniCat KW - Economics. KW - Finance. KW - Investments -- Japan. KW - Investments, Foreign -- Japan. KW - Political Science KW - Law, Politics & Government KW - Public Finance KW - Investments KW - Stock exchanges KW - Bulls and bears KW - Commercial corners KW - Corners, Commercial KW - Equity markets KW - Exchanges, Securities KW - Exchanges, Stock KW - Securities exchanges KW - Stock-exchange KW - Stock markets KW - Investing KW - Investment management KW - Portfolio KW - Entrepreneurship. KW - Business ethics. KW - Macroeconomics. KW - Public finance. KW - Public Economics. KW - Finance, general. KW - Macroeconomics/Monetary Economics//Financial Economics. KW - Business Ethics. KW - Capital market KW - Efficient market theory KW - Speculation KW - Finance KW - Disinvestment KW - Loans KW - Saving and investment KW - Business KW - Businesspeople KW - Commercial ethics KW - Corporate ethics KW - Corporation ethics KW - Professional ethics KW - Wealth KW - Entrepreneur KW - Intrapreneur KW - Capitalism KW - Business incubators KW - Economics KW - Funding KW - Funds KW - Currency question KW - Cameralistics KW - Public finance KW - Moral and ethical aspects KW - Public finances UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:8285185 AB - This book records the first success stories of a new form of financial intermediation, the hometown investment fund, that has become a national strategy in Japan, partly to meet the need to finance small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) after the devastating earthquake and tsunami in March 2011. The hometown investment fund has three main advantages. First, it contributes to financial market stability by lowering information asymmetry. Individual households and firms have direct access to information about the borrowing firms, mainly SMEs, that they lend to. Second, it is a stable source of risk capital. The fund is project driven. Firms and households decide to invest by getting to know the borrowers and their projects. In this way the fund distributes risk but not so that it renders risk intractable, which was the problem with the “originate and distribute” model. Third, it contributes to economic recovery by connecting firms and households with SMEs that are worthy of their support. It also creates employment opportunities, at the SMEs as well as for the pool of retirees from financial institutions who can help assess the projects. Introduction of the hometown investment fund has huge global implications. The world is seeking a method of financial intermediation that minimizes information asymmetry, distributes risk without making it opaque, and contributes to economic recovery. Funds similar to Japan’s hometown investment fund can succeed in all three ways. After all, the majority of the world’s businesses are SMEs. The first chapter explains the theory behind this method, and the following chapters relate success stories from Japan and other parts of Asia. This book should encourage policymakers, economists, lenders, and borrowers, especially in developing countries, to adopt this new form of financial intermediation, thus contributing to global economic stability. ER -