Largely constant average acquirer returns over the past four decades mask fundamental changes in the takeover market … the 1980s. Offsetting this increase, the average bidder-specific component has declined. We propose a theory of bidder …-specific synergies to help interpret these opposing trends. In our theory and in the data, acquirer returns increase with the extent to …

-level uncertainty is characterized by a pecking order: the announcement of a domestic takeover leads to a reduction in the uncertainty …

"This paper examines the impact of mergers on default risk, finding that, on average, a merger increases the default … prior to a merger announcement. We also demonstrate higher levels of default risk are not accompanied by higher post- merger … risk of the acquiring firm. This is surprising for two reasons: risk reduction is among the reasons commonly cited for …

potential competitors yet fly under the radar of current merger control due to the features of the digital economy. We …