Record linkage algorithms typically find matches by comparing records on the fields they share. However, PATSTAT shares very little information with company databases. We introduce REMERGE: a flexible, open-source algorithm that allows PATSTAT, the worldwide patent database, to be intelligently...

This paper investigates the merger wave hypothesis for the US and the UK employing a Markov regime switching model. Using quarterly data covering the last thirty years, for the US, we identify the beginning of a merger wave in the mid 1990s but not the much-discussed 1980s merger wave. We argue...