How has the Nikkei Described Medium-Sized Enterprises? : A Text-Mining Based Analysis

In recent years, Japanese policymakers have shown increasing interest in medium-sized enterprises (MSEs). However, the latest literature review indicates that a common theoretical perspective is being lost in MSE studies in Japan. The purpose of this paper is to reveal what topics have been mentioned in Japan's leading economic newspapers, using text-mining methods, and to identify research agendas that MSE studies in the future should address.The analysis covers 626 articles published in the Nihon Keizai Shimbun (known as Nikkei) and its affiliate newspapers from 1981 to 2020. According to the results of the analysis, the topics that lack adequate academic research despite the practical and policy demands are as follows. 1) Top management related issues, especially the training of executive candidates and recruiting professional managers. 2) Strategic management, including internationalization and growth strategies of companies from medium-sized to large.