Takeover speculation may hurt productivity because uncertainty and threat of job loss cause anxiety, distraction, and reduced collaboration and morale among employees. Using a large panel of OECD-headquartered firms, we show that firm productivity temporarily declines after announcements of...

M&A rumors cause anxiety, distraction, and reduced employee morale due to the implicit threat of job loss. Using an international sample of rumors that do not result in public bids, we show that firm productivity temporarily declines after M&A rumors surface. This productivity dip is more...

We show that productivity at both the firm and employee (i.e., analyst and inventor) level temporarily declines upon announcements of takeover rumors that do not materialize. Such speculative news may hurt productivity because uncertainty and threat of job loss cause anxiety, distraction, and...