Using national elections as sources of exogenous variation in uncertainty, we show that political uncertainty affects the volume and outcome of cross-border acquisitions. When a country is about to hold a national election, this deters foreign firms' inbound acquisitions, especially when the...

We test whether geographical location, audit quality and equity offering play a role in the earnings quality of Reverse Merger (RM) firms. We provide evidence that, contrary to the popular focus by the business press, earnings management happens in both U.S. and international RM companies. We...

Using the 1996 Telecommunications Act as a natural experiment, I examine the role of competition in “how” economic shocks drive industry-level clustering of merger activity and “who buys whom?” In the telecom industry, deregulation opened both the local and long-distance markets to...

In a cross-country study, we investigate how staggered passage of national leniency programs from 1990-2012 has affected firms' margins and merger activity. We find that these programs, which give amnesty to cartel conspirators that cooperate with antitrust authorities, reduced the gross margins...

Using acquirer’s risk-factor disclosure in merger filings, we study the risks faced by acquirers in mergers and acquisitions and how these risks are associated with important merger outcomes. We first establish the validity of acquirer’s risk factor disclosure, and then employ an...

This study investigates the short term market response associated with the announcement of seven mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in the banking sector of Pakistan during the period 2003 to 2008 using the event study methodology. We categorize the sample M&A deals as (1) Acquisition of Pakistani...

The market concentration doctrine predicts that a horizontal merger is more likely to have collusive, anticompetitive effects the greater the merger-induced change in industry concentration. Since a collusive, anticompetitive merger generates an increase in the industry's quality-adjusted...

In the 1990s, European merger regulation (EMR) was biased against foreign acquirers, especially if the deal harmed domestic rivals (i.e., protectionism). In 2002, the Court of First Instance overturned three prohibitions by the European Commission (EC) and criticized its economic analysis. These...

Quality of institutions has been found to positively affect Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flows. This, however, fails to explain the flow of FDI into countries with poor quality of institutions like India and China. This paper shows that FDI flows in the form of cross border mergers and...