ANDREW CARNEGIE, a 19th-century tycoon, famously said that "inherited wealth deadens talents and energies"—one reason why he gave most of his fortune to charity. Business research tends to support the Carnegie thesis. Companies controlled by heirs often underperform competitors that have professional managers. Except, apparently, in Japan. A forthcoming paper in the Journal of Financial Economics finds not only that inherited family control is still common in Japanese business, but that family firms are "puzzlingly competitive" , outperforming otherwise similar professionally managed companies. ? These results suggest family control 'causes' good performance rather than the converse,'' say the authors. Japan boasts some of the world's oldest family-run businesses, and many family firms—-Suzuki, Matsui Securities, Suhtory—break the rule of steady dynastic decline. So how do Japanese firms do it? The answer, says the paper, is adoption. Last year more than 81,000 people were adopted in Japan, one of the highest rates in the world. But, amazingly, over 90% of those adopted were adults. The practice of adopting men in their 20s and 30s is used to rescue biologically ill-fated families and ensure a business heir, says Vikas Mehrotra, of the University of Alberta, the paper's lead author. "We haven't come across this custom in any other part of the world." Though the phenomenon has been previously documented, its impact on a company's competitiveness has not. Japan's sliding birth rate has created many one-child families, and although daughters can manage the company back-office, in Japan its outward face must still be male, says Chieko Date. She is one of several marriage consultants who help match ambitious young men and the marriageable daughters of business families. If the meetings go well, the men agree to drop their own surname and are adopted by their new bride's family, becoming both the head of the clan and of its business. Ms. Date's consultancy claims to have brokered 600 of these marriages, known in Japan as mukoyoshi (literally "son-in-law adoption"). Most of her clients are families who own small and medium-sized businesses. She says the union cannot be just a business transaction. If the couples do not like each other, both marriage and business will fail. In theory, this gives family businesses access to the same-sized talent pool as a professionally managed firm would have, he writes, and may even induce a sturdier work ethic among biological children. Frustratingly, the paper's research stops in 2000. Mariko Fujiwara, a sociologist, says more Japanese parents are now willing to accept the end of the family line. But she adds that Japanese marriages will always have cultural and legal implications because the future of so many businesses depends on who takes them over.
单选题
What does the author say about companies controlled by heirs?
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】解析：细节推断题。根据题干关键词companies controlled by heirs可将答案定位在第一段，该段明确指出，由继承者管理的公司在与职业经理人管理的公司竞争中处于劣势。然而在日本，事情并不是这样。因此选项B正确。A和C选项是一位企业大亨的理论，并非作者的意思。选项D文中未提及。
单选题
The practice of adopting men in Japanese 20s and 30s contributes to________.
【正确答案】
A
【答案解析】解析：细节推断题。根据题干关键词adopting men in Japanese 20s and 30s可将答案定位在第四段，该段明确指出，日本收养20至30多岁的男性是为了改善基因以拯救具有遗传病史的家庭并确立企业继承人。因此选项A正确。B选项夸大了收养的作用，C和D文中未提及。
单选题
How do many Japanese family firms break the rule of steady dynastic decline?
【正确答案】
C
【答案解析】解析：细节推断题。根据题干关键词break the rule of steady dynastic decline可将答案定位在第三段，该段明确指出，日本家族企业打破了一贯的家族企业更迭没落的规律是领养在起作用。涉及领养的选项有A和C，第四段第二句话说明90％以上被领养者都是成年人，因此选项C正确。
单选题
Chieko Date specialize in________.
【正确答案】
D
【答案解析】解析：同义互换题。根据题干关键词Chieko Date可将答案定位在第五段，“…one of several marriage consultants who help match ambitious young men and the marriageable daughters…”根据句意，她是一名婚姻咨询顾问，帮助很多有志向的年轻人和适合结婚的女企业继承人喜结良缘，因此选项D正确。选项B中，她虽然是婚姻咨询顾问，但并非专注于夫妻关系调节。