This study examines the formalization of banking supervision in Japan and Sweden that occurred in the decades around 1900. Using an incremental change approach, we examine the respective cases along three dimensions: (a) the legal framework, (b) the banking supervisory agency, and (c) bank supervisory activities. Through this comparative analysis, we find several similarities and differences. The most important similarity we find is that financial crises—generally considered to be a primary driver of major regulatory and supervisory reforms—did not play a main role in the formalization of supervision in either Japan or Sweden. Rather, formalization was an incremental change process closely linked to the organic development of the banking sector, the general public’s increasing exposure to the banks as deposit holders and borrowers, and the increased need for professionalization of the banking sector. This finding suggests that our approach is applicable to any country where the formalization of supervision took place without being prompted by a specific event such as a financial crisis.

中文翻译：

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日本和瑞典银行监管的正规化

本研究考察了日本和瑞典在 1900 年左右的几十年间银行监管的正规化。使用渐进式变革方法，我们从三个维度考察了各自的案例：(a) 法律框架，(b) 银行监管机构， (c) 银行监管活动。通过这个对比分析，我们发现了几个相同点和不同点。我们发现的最重要的相似之处是，金融危机——通常被认为是重大监管改革的主要驱动因素——在日本或瑞典的监管正规化中都没有发挥主要作用。相反，正规化是一个渐进的变化过程，与银行业的有机发展密切相关，公众作为存款持有人和借款人对银行的敞口越来越大，以及对银行业专业化的需求增加。这一发现表明，我们的方法适用于监管正规化而不受金融危机等特定事件推动的任何国家。