Determinants of Cross-Border Mergers & Acquisitions

Abstract

Ever since the first wave of Cross-border Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A’s) introduced the world to the large deal values and subsequent impact on the world economy, research on the topic has tried to give society more insight into the different sides of the phenomenon. Through a Heckman Sample Selection Estimated gravity model, this research expands on the existing body of literature by taking a macroeconomic perspective, by analyzing the importance of different variables from both the acquirer- and target perspective, and by incorporating the effect of human- and physical capital on cross-border M&A’s. I find robust evidence of a relationship between certain bilateral, financial, institutional, openness, and macroeconomic variables and cross-border M&A’s. I also find evidence of a relationship between human- and physical capital and cross-border M&A’s, though this relationship is not robust to industry level tests.