Quarterly Survey of Overseas Subsidiaries

Outline of the Survey

1. Objectives of the Survey

   The objectives of the survey were to dynamically grasp the business performances of Japanese incorporated enterprises engaged extensively in the business operations domestically and overseas, and to obtain the materials and data useful for the government to formulate its industrial policies and trade policies.

2. Legal foundations for the survey

   This survey was legally endorsed and authenticated by the Article 4 of the Statistical Report Adjustment Law.
   Prior to the commencement of this survey, a pilot or test survey was consecutively conducted in the forth quarter of 1996 and in the first quarter of 1997. The findings obtained from those pilot surveys will also be published together with this survey findings after approval from the Management and Coordination Agency.

3. Timing of the survey

   The survey was conducted at the end of the survey quarter.

4. Coverage of the survey

   (1)Parent companies

   This survey covered Japanese manufacturing companies with 50 or more employees and capitalization of more than 30 million yen as of the end of March 1998 which have reported or supplied notification of foreign currency denominated securities as specified by the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Control Law and which own affiliated companies operating overseas.

   (2)Overseas subsidiaries

   This survey covered manufacturing companies with 50 employees or more owned by Japanese parent companies as specified in item (1) and operating overseas, where investment by the parent companies, both direct and indirect, exceeds 50% of total invested funds (also including those overseas subsidiaries established during the term of the survey).

5. Method of the survey

   A survey by mail was employed as survey method. Based on a self-administered questionnaire filled out by parent companies chosen as respondent.

6. Method of tabulating data

   Data for parent companies and overseas subsidiaries were complied separately. Data that were not provided at the time of tabulation were estimated using the following formula.

   Current estimated data for companies that failed to provide relevant data = Previously provided data of the companies * Currently provided data consolidated with the data from the companies that provided data both in the current survey and in the previous survey / Previously provided data consolidated with the data from the companies that provided data both in the current survey and in the previous survey

   What were included into data estimation were as follows:

   Parent companies: sales, exports, exports to overseas subsidiaries, purchases, imports, imports from overseas subsidiaries, number of employees;

   Overseas subsidiaries: sales, sales to Japan, local sales, number of employees/

7. Classification of business category

   In principle, according to the Japan Standard Industrial Classification, the business category that has the largest share of the sales was recognized as the major business of each parent company and each subsidiary.

8. Country Classifications (Regions)

   Classification of overseas subsidiaries by region based on country of residence was carried out as follows. (Countries arranged in alphabetical order.)

North America

America, Canada

Asia

Asean 4

Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia

NIES 3

Singapore, Taiwan, Republic of Korea

China and other Asian countries

India, Viet Num, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Nnepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Brunei, Myanmar, Laos, People's Republic of China (including Hong Kong)

Europe

Iceland, Ireland, Azerbaijan, Armenia, United Kingdom, Italy, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Estonia, Austria, Netherlands, Kazakhstan, Greece, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia (Gruziya), Cyprus, Switzerland, Spain, Tadzyhikstan, Denmark, Germany, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Norway, Hungary, Finland, France, Belarus, Belgium, Poland, Portugal, Malta, Mordavia, Latvia, Lithuania, Rumania, Luxembourg, Russia

Other

Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Egypt, ElSalvador, Guatemala, Ivory Coast, Mexico, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Puerto Rico, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, United Arab Emirate, Venezuela