Mergers and Acquisitions, Employment, Wages and Plant Closures in the U.S. Meat Product Industries: Evidence from Micro Data

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the impact of mergers and acquisitions (M&As)on wages and employment and plant closures in the meat packing, prepared meat products, and poultry slaughter and processing industries over 1977-87 and 1982-92. The analysis relies on a balanced panel dataset of all plants owned by meat and poultry firms that existed over 1977-87 or 1982-92. We find that (1) M&As are positively associated with wages in the meat packing and prepared meat products industries over 1977-87, but not over 1982-92; (2) changes in employment are positively related to M&As in all three meat and poultry industries over 1977-87, but only in the poultry industry over 1982-92; and (3) M&As are negatively associated with plant closures.

Keywords: mergers and acquisitions, wages, employment, meat industry, poultry industry

JEL Classification: J630