J. Mark Ramseyer, Explicit Reasons for Implicit Contracts: The Legal Logic to the Japanese Main Bank System, in The Japanese Main Bank System: Its Relevance for Developing and Transforming Economies 231 (Masahiko Aoki & Hugh Patrick eds., 1994).
Abstract: The Japanese main bank system is characterized by a nexus of implicit contracts.This chapter examines whether such unspoken agreements are really made, based on a comparison of Japanese and American banking systems. It is argued that if banks and firms want the arrangements stipulated by implicit contracts, then these should have been negotiated explicitly, and laid down in court-enforceable agreements. The fact that firms do not draft such agreements may indicate that they did not make them at all.