A new, inclusive collection of 11,000 agricultural biotechnology utility patents issued between 1988 and 2002 is related to characteristics of agbiotech, seed, chemical, diversified multinational and European firms. The patents are classified into nine technologies, and mergers and acquisitions...

Tobin’s Q-theory of investment has been linked to firm merger activity by Jovanovic and Rousseau. They showed that firms with higher Q-values, that is the ratio of market to book values, tend to be the ones buying other firms and not the ones being acquired. Market values should theoretically...