Publications
Publications
- Keizaikei [Kanto Gakuin Journal of Economics and Management]
B Corps: Can It Remake Capitalism in Japan?
By: Geoffrey Jones
Abstract
This article examines the B Corporation movement that originated in the United States in 2006. The founders sought to create a new type of company whose governance structure mandated them to consider financial, social and environmental performance. A certification scheme was also introduced. In 2012 a group of Latin American business leaders took the concept to that region and widened its scope. Sistema B sought to engage policy makers, educators and other stakeholders in supporting a system-wide change to a more responsible form of capitalism. Although there were thousands of B Corporations by 2021, there were only seven based in Japan. This article explores the reasons for this low take-up of the new organizational form, including limited recognition of the concept, and overlap with traditional Japanese practices which made the cost of certification appear superfluous. The article concludes by placing the B Corps movement in a wider context of an ongoing paradigm shift away from the era of shareholder capitalism. The low take-up of B Corps in Japan reflected Japan's delayed engagement with the new trends which were shifting the nature of global capitalism.
Keywords
Corporate Responsibility; Sustainability; B Corporations; Stakeholder Capitalism; Governance; Organizational Structure; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Japan
Citation
Jones, Geoffrey. "B Corps: Can It Remake Capitalism in Japan?" Keizaikei [Kanto Gakuin Journal of Economics and Management] 284 (November 2021): 1–12.