Improving shareholder value has often been cited as a merger determinant. Since mergers create larger firms and less competition, they may increase shareholder value through higher market share and stock-market value. We investigate merger impacts on firms' stock-market value and market share....

A higher fragmentation of patent ownership following the recent U.S. pro-patent shifts has built overlapping property rights or patent thickets for firms with cumulative innovations. This has made the use of other firms' innovations costlier, due to higher transaction costs, licensing fees, and...