The state of case study approach in mergers and acquisitions literature : a bibliometric analysis

The purpose of this paper is to survey the state of case study research in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) literature. Thus, it is an original attempt at presenting the current state and review of the case method in M&A research, provided no earlier study claims this. The stylized review reveals that 93 journal articles adopted the case method of which 66 (27) articles examined developed (emerging) markets, and single (multiple) case based studies were 44 (46) and remaining three adopted survey and interview method during survey period 1991-2015. Albeit, very few studies accomplished the purpose of case study research in business management, that is, testing extant theory and building new theory. Lastly, we recall various methodological guidelines to establish the sound research environment in the qualitative case method.