The paper further contributes to our understanding about the role of societal trust in influencing mergers outcome. Using a large sample of cross-border mergers across 56 countries between 1985 and 2014, we show that, conditional on announcement of cross-border mergers, larger differences of...

Firms receiving shareholder proposals are 16% more likely to become a target of acquisition. Such companies earn approximately 7.2% lower acquisition returns compared to gains for targets with no proposals. Higher acquisition likelihood and lower target returns are primarily associated with...

We use the unique setting of Malaysian mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity to test the effect of market-wide investor inattention when managers are attentive. During Ramadan, mainly Muslim investors are likely to be distracted while mainly non-Muslim managers are likely to be attentive and...

This paper studies the relationship between collective bargaining and mergers and acquisitions activity in 46 countries from the early 1990s. We find that the frequency and volume of mergers and acquisitions within industries increase in countries with powerful labor unions and high coverage of...