  Network analysis techniques remain rarely used for understanding
international management strategies. Our paper highlights their value as
research tool in this field of social science using a large set of micro-data
(20,000) to investigate the presence of networks of subsidiaries overseas. The
research question is the following: to what extent did/do global Japanese
business networks mirror organizational models existing in Japan? In
particular, we would like to assess how much the links building such business
networks are shaped by the structure of big-size industrial conglomerates of
firms headquartered in Japan, also described as HK. The major part of the
academic community in the fields of management and industrial organization
considers that formal links can be identified among firms belonging to HK. Miwa
and Ramseyer (Miwa and Ramseyer 2002; Ramseyer 2006) challenge this claim and
argue that the evidence supporting the existence of HK is weak. So far,
quantitative empirical investigation has been conducted exclusively using data
for firms incorporated in Japan. Our study tests the Miwa-Ramseyer hypothesis
(MRH) at the global level using information on the network of Japanese
subsidiaries overseas. The results obtained lead us to reject the MRH for the
global dataset, as well as for subsets restricted to the two main
regions/countries of destination of Japanese foreign investment. The results
are robust to the weighting of the links, with different specifications, and
are observed in most industrial sectors. The global Japanese network became
increasingly complex during the late 20th century as a consequence of increase
in the number of Japanese subsidiaries overseas but the key features of the
structure remained rather stable. We draw implications of these findings for
academic research in international business and for professionals involved in
corporate strategy.
