Our work provides refined tests of the source of merger gains in a neglected industry: utilities. Utilities offer fertile ground for analysis of traditional theories: synergy, collusion, hubris, and anticipation. Utility mergers create wealth for the combined firm, consistent with both the...

We study the utility industry from 1980 to 2004 to discern the time series impact of industry shocks and their relation to mergers as modeled by Gort (1969) and Jensen (1993). Our sample period permits tests of the effect of utility deregulation in 1992 and related industry shocks on the rate of...