Research Methods and Objectives in the Study of Mergers and Acquisitions

The extensive scale of M&A transactions in the past decades originated a significant body of academic and practitioner literature examining various aspects of the mechanisms of these transactions. The research methods employed mirrored to large extent those used to investigate problems in other areas of corporate finance. Some empirical facts were consistently established in large-sample empirical studies while the answers to several key questions remain elusive. This is not surprising. Mergers and acquisitions are among the most complex transactions undertaken by corporations and the nexus of agency problems, market and operating gains, shareholder interests, financing and timing issues and organizational effort involved is not easy to analyze.