We study optimal merger policy in a dynamic model in which the presence of scale economies implies that firms can … the period the merger is proposed. We also find that the abil- ity to commit can lead to a significant welfare improvement …

We find that stricter merger control legislation increases abnormal announcement returns of targets in bank mergers by … 7 percentage points. Analyzing potential explanations for this result, we document an increase in the pre-merger … other banks. Other merger properties, including the size and risk profile of targets, the geographic overlap of merging …