Although the empirical evidence for Japan has been somewhat mixed, on balance it suggests that membership in stable shareholding agreements is associated with lower profitability and higher interest rates on loans. Studies of German firms show less of a consensus - some studies suggest that firms with closer ties to banks are less profitable, whereas other studies suggest the opposite.
Other observers have raised a more fundamental question about the role banks play in governing nonfinancial firms in Germany and Japan. They point out that banks are subject to the same moral hazard issues that firms face - without sufficient monitoring, managers may not apply sufficient effort or may waste firm resources.