Taking Stock of What We Know About Mergers and Acquisitions: A Review and Research Agenda

Abstract:     
Scholars from multiple fields have shown increasing interest in the causes and consequences of mergers and acquisitions (M&A). While this proliferation of research has the potential to significantly improve our understanding of M&A activity, absent is the necessary step of consolidating and integrating extant knowledge. Accordingly, we develop a framework to organize and review recent empirical findings principally from management, economics and finance in which interest in acquisition behavior is high, but also from other areas that have tangentially explored acquisition activity such as accounting and sociology. We identify patterns and theoretical gaps and provide recommendations for future research aimed at developing a more integrated M&A research agenda for management scientists.

Keywords: mergers, acquisitions, IPO, review

JEL Classifications: M1, M2, F3, G3

Accepted Paper Series