Mr. John M. Taylor Principal Researcher, Global Shareholder Service (Japan) Investor Responsibility Research Center

As principal researcher and Japan specialist in IRRC's Global Shareholder Service, John Taylor monitors international shareholder rights developments for leading institutional investors, including pension funds, money managers, foundations and universities. He has reported to investors on corporate governance developments in international markets including Japan since joining IRRC in 1990.

Since 1997 he has developed a variety of new projects in Japan, with possible applications in the broader global market. Fluent in Japanese, John’s responsibilities also include research and reporting on shareholder issues in Japan. He regularly reports to Governance Research Service subscribers on developments in Japan and other parts of the Pacific Rim, and on U.S. and European developments to IRRC information service clients in the Japanese market.

John serves on the advisory board of Japan’s MEC Co., an electronics technology firm, and has been nominated to the board of directors of at least one other Japanese firm, where other board members will seek his input on institutional investor expectations and recent thinking on corporate governance. John has spoken to gatherings of Japanese stock issuers on international corporate governance trends and developments, addressing representatives from more than 1000 firms since 1998. His speeches, and numerous articles in the Japanese press, have influenced Japanese policy on corporate information disclosure and board independence. As one example, his presentations appear to have been the main reason that more than 14 percent of Japanese firms disclosed biographical information to identify corporate insiders subject to board bonus proposals in 2000. Such disclosure was almost unprecedented in previous years. John joined IRRC in 1990 as a senior analyst. Before joining IRRC, he was an economic policy advisor for former New Jersey Governor Tom Kean. For more than five years John held positions in finance, R&D and marketing at a leading Japanese health care firm and at its U.S. subsidiary, and for two of those years he lived and worked in Osaka. During 1985 he worked for the U.S. Trade Representative, contributing to the U.S. negotiating agenda with Japan concerning pharmaceutical trade.

John graduated cum laude from Cornell University, with a major in Anthropology and Biology. He earned a master’s degree in Economics and Public Policy from Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School.