Understanding Mergers and Acquisitions in the 21st Century

Exploring mergers and acquisitions (MAs) in the 21st century, the authors systematically introduce, characterize and evaluate these mergers, discussing the methodologies that can be employed to measure them, and considering a number of factors relevant to their performance. They analyze the economic, managerial, legal, and psychological factors. Given that up to US$10 billion a day is spent on mergers and acquisitions, and that approximately 70% of these fail, while the practice spreads internationally, this study into their performance and the impacting factors of M&As is much overdue.

KILLIAN MCCARTHY is an assistant professor at the University of Groningen School of Economics and Business, the Netherlands and an economist and strategist. His research interests include business and industrial organization, and strategy. He has also published on the topics of corporate tax competition, money laundering and criminal finance, as well as the influence of media power on both consumer and business sentiment.

WILFRED DOLFSMA, economist and philosopher, is professor of strategy and innovation at the University of Groningen School of Economics and Business, the Netherlands. He authored Institutional Economics and the Formation of Preferences (2004), Knowledge Economies (2008), The Elgar Companion to Social Economics (ed. with John Davis, 2008), Institutions, Communication and Values (2009), and The Nature of the New Firm (ed. With Killian McCarthy, Maya Violet; 2011). His articles have featured in, A.O., the Journal of Economics Issues, the Journal of Evolutionary Economics, the Journal of Economic and Social Geography, the Journal of Business Ethics, The Information Society, and Research Policy.