We provide evidence on how personal shocks that plausibly reduce a CEO's career horizon, triggered by either the CEO's diagnosis of a serious illness or an illness or death of a close relative, affect key corporate policies. We validate our identification strategy by showing that these events...

This paper provides insights into the inner workings of internal corporate M&A teams using survey evidence from 65 firms from Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. We find that internal teams create value, especially relative to external advisors, by directing transaction rationales, screening...

The purpose of this study is to review the nascent literature devoted to the private component of the takeover process. Numerous important contributions have opened the black box of merger negotiations using unique data, such as the merger background in mandated filings and survey of M&A...