Japanese companies are warming to mobilizing their mountains of accumulated cash for mergers and acquisitions but remain stubbornly resistant to wage increases, a poll showed on Monday.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe¡¯s government has struggled for years to coax companies to lift wages, seen as the missing link for a sustainable growth cycle led by consumer spending. But deep-seated doubts stirred in part by the nation¡¯s shrinking population have left firms loath to take on higher fixed costs.
Instead, they have hoarded their cash or, increasingly, begun looking to overseas acquisitions as a way to escape the limitations in their home markets.
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