The persistence of market leadership: evidence from Japan

This article explores the persistence of market leadership in Japanese manufacturing industries over the period 1975–2004. By applying survival data techniques, we examine how long market leadership persists and how the duration of market leadership varies according to industry-specific characteristics. Our findings indicate that market leaders maintain their leadership positions for, on average, 20 years from 1975 in Japanese manufacturing industries. We provide evidence that market leadership tends to persist in capital-intensive and legally cartelized industries, whereas it is less likely to persist in demand-volatile, R&D-intensive, and import-intensive industries.