Does the cost of capital differ across countries? An agency perspective*
从代理视角出发，认为代理成本会提高资本成本，并因公司治理差异导致各国资本成本不同，比较了日本和美国的代理调整后资本成本。
Abstract In this keynote speech, I ask the question: Does the cost of capital differ for firms located in different countries? I argue that there are two ways to look at the cost of capital. First, there is the neoclassical perspective, which assumes that there are no agency problems. In integrated markets, the neoclassical cost of capital is the same in every country. Second, there is the agency perspective. Agency costs increase the cost of capital understood as the expected rate of return necessary for an investment to leave the value of the firm unaffected. Adjusting the cost of capital for agency costs, I argue that it differs across countries because of differences in corporate governance. I then provide a comparison of the agency‐adjusted cost of capital between Japan and the US.