The Q-theory of investment says that a firm's investment rate should rise with its Q. We argue here that this theory … also explains why some firms buy other firms. We find that 1. A firm's merger and acquisition (Mamp;A) investment responds … investment, i.e., the 'Free-Cash Flow' story works, but explains a small fraction of mergers only, and 3. The merger waves of …

The Q-theory of investment says that a firm's investment rate should rise with its Q. We argue here that this theory … also explains why some firms buy other firms. We find that 1. A firm's merger and acquisition (M&A) investment responds to … its Q more -- by a factor of 2.6 -- than its direct investment does, probably because M&A investment is a high fixed cost …