This paper develops a search and matching model of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and uses it to evaluate the implications of merger activity for aggregate economic outcomes. The theory is consistent with a rich set of micro-level facts on US M&A, including, e.g., sorting among merging firms, a...

We analyze the role of bank mergers as determinants of the evolution of branch presence at the county level. Panel regressions based on county-level branch density are used to study differences across urban versus rural counties as well as pre- and post-crisis. The results indicate that bank...

Recent evidence on the rise in markups has attracted considerable attention on potential causes and explanations. In a decomposition exercise, De Loecker et al. (2020) find that a large portion of the economy-wide increase in aggregate markups is due to the reallocation term: larger growth of...

We provide new facts about the cross-section and evolution of mergers and acquisitions for U.S. public firms. Using a general equilibrium model with a hedonic demand system and data on institutional ownership, we document that mergers are increasingly concentrated among firm pairs with a high...

The market concentration doctrine predicts that a horizontal merger is more likely to have collusive, anticompetitive effects the greater the merger-induced change in industry concentration. Since a collusive, anticompetitive merger generates an increase in the industry's quality-adjusted...

The paper examines the returns to shareholders of acquiring companies in India during the period 2003-08. The abnormal returns due to the announcement of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and return on equity funds five years before and after M&A have been examined. The study also performs a...

Globalization and liberalization have led firms from emerging markets like India to become more aggressive and opt for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) to fight the competitive battle. The present study attempts to evaluate the impact of mergers and acquisitions on the returns in the short run...

Roughly 60% of all publically announced advisors to China's "Going Out" M&A transactions from 2000 to 2014 were from international financial centres (representing over 70% of deal value). Why did advisors, located so far away from both acquirer and target, manage to dominate the M&A advisory...

We analyse the effects of monetary policy on mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity in the United States, both on the aggregate and the firm level. We find that aggregate M&A activity decreases significantly following a monetary policy shock. The aggregate results are confirmed by an analysis...

Standard welfare analysis of horizontal mergers usually refers to two effects: the anticompetitive market power effect reduces welfare by enabling firms to charge prices above marginal costs, whereas the procompetitive efficiency effect increases welfare by reducing the costs of production...