This delay was exacerbated by the difficulties of small and medium-sized enterprises in innovating and adjusting their governance systems. These factors accompanied the long period of adverse cyclical conditions that followed the global financial crisis and the associated progressive reduction in the entry and exit dynamics of firms.
Corporate sector governance and the efficient reallocation of capital in the business sector have often been at the centre of attention in Japan too. Demographic developments contribute to a better understanding of the subdued economic performance, especially in Japan, where the problem of an ageing population emerged earlier.