IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/retrec/v84y2020ics0739885920301943.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Decomposing sources of gain from airline mergers: A model and case study from China

Author

Listed:
  • Ho, Chun-Yu
  • McCarthy, Patrick
  • Wang, Yanhao

Abstract

This paper proposes a decomposition of sources of gain of airline mergers. Economic analysis of horizontal mergers often attributes the gains of the merger to market power and productive efficiency effects. We adopt a Williamson framework to propose a decomposition analysis quantifying the relative importance of these two effects for airline mergers. First, we use an event study to compute the market power and productive efficiency wealth effects in airline mergers. Second, we use the airline's operating statistics to compute the proportion of profit gain due to market power and productive efficiency. We then apply those proportions to decompose the sources of wealth effects from the event study. In a case study, we apply this methodology to analyze the horizontal merger between China Eastern and Shanghai Airlines in 2009. Our results find that improved productive efficiency contributed about four-fifths to the merged airline's increased wealth, while increased market power contributed about one-fifth.

Suggested Citation

  • Ho, Chun-Yu & McCarthy, Patrick & Wang, Yanhao, 2020. "Decomposing sources of gain from airline mergers: A model and case study from China," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:retrec:v:84:y:2020:i:c:s0739885920301943
    DOI: 10.1016/j.retrec.2020.100996
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0739885920301943
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.retrec.2020.100996?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yan, Jia & Fu, Xiaowen & Oum, Tae Hoon & Wang, Kun, 2019. "Airline horizontal mergers and productivity: Empirical evidence from a quasi-natural experiment in China," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 358-376.
    2. Scholes, Myron & Williams, Joseph, 1977. "Estimating betas from nonsynchronous data," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(3), pages 309-327, December.
    3. Brander, James A. & Zhang, Anming, 1993. "Dynamic oligopoly behaviour in the airline industry," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 11(3), pages 407-435, September.
    4. Eckbo, B. Espen, 1983. "Horizontal mergers, collusion, and stockholder wealth," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 11(1-4), pages 241-273, April.
    5. Fama, Eugene F. & French, Kenneth R., 2012. "Size, value, and momentum in international stock returns," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(3), pages 457-472.
    6. Zhang, Qiong & Yang, Hangjun & Wang, Qiang & Zhang, Anming, 2014. "Market power and its determinants in the Chinese airline industry," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 1-13.
    7. Knapp, William, 1990. "Event Analysis of Air Carrier Mergers and Acquisitions," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 72(4), pages 703-707, November.
    8. Flouris, Triant & Swidler, Steve, 2004. "American airlines’ takeover of TWA: an ex-post analysis of financial market information," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 10(3), pages 173-180.
    9. Dimson, Elroy, 1979. "Risk measurement when shares are subject to infrequent trading," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 7(2), pages 197-226, June.
    10. Zhang, Anming & Aldridge, Derek, 1997. "Effects of merger and foreign alliance: An event study of the Canadian airline industry," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 29-42, March.
    11. James A. Brander & Anming Zhang, 1990. "Market Conduct in the Airline Industry: An Empirical Investigation," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 21(4), pages 567-583, Winter.
    12. Singal, Vijay, 1996. "Airline Mergers and Competition: An Integration of Stock and Product Price Effects," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 69(2), pages 233-268, April.
    13. John J. Binder, 1985. "Measuring the Effects of Regulation with Stock Price Data," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 16(2), pages 167-183, Summer.
    14. Ma, Wenliang & Wang, Qiang & Yang, Hangjun & Zhang, Yahua, 2020. "Evaluating the price effects of two airline mergers in China," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    15. Carhart, Mark M, 1997. "On Persistence in Mutual Fund Performance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(1), pages 57-82, March.
    16. Fama, Eugene F & French, Kenneth R, 1995. "Size and Book-to-Market Factors in Earnings and Returns," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 50(1), pages 131-155, March.
    17. Brown, Stephen J. & Warner, Jerold B., 1985. "Using daily stock returns : The case of event studies," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 3-31, March.
    18. Fama, Eugene F. & French, Kenneth R., 1993. "Common risk factors in the returns on stocks and bonds," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 3-56, February.
    19. Y. Zhang, 2015. "Merger Between Airlines in Financial Distress: Does the Merger Save Them?," Competition and Regulation in Network Industries, Intersentia, vol. 16(1), pages 66-82, March.
    20. David M. Kreps & Jose A. Scheinkman, 1983. "Quantity Precommitment and Bertrand Competition Yield Cournot Outcomes," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 14(2), pages 326-337, Autumn.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kotcharin, Suntichai & Maneenop, Sakkakom & Jaroenjitrkam, Anutchanat, 2023. "The impact of government policy responses on airline stock return during the COVID-19 crisis," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ho, Chun-Yu & McCarthy, Patrick & Wang, Yanhao, 2021. "Competition and countervailing power: Evidence from the China Eastern and Shanghai Airlines merger," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    2. Kothari, S. P., 2001. "Capital markets research in accounting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1-3), pages 105-231, September.
    3. Linnenluecke, Martina K. & Chen, Xiaoyan & Ling, Xin & Smith, Tom & Zhu, Yushu, 2017. "Research in finance: A review of influential publications and a research agenda," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 188-199.
    4. Nicolau, Juan Luis & Sharma, Abhinav, 2022. "A review of research into drivers of firm value through event studies in tourism and hospitality: Launching the Annals of Tourism Research curated collection on drivers of firm value through event stu," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    5. Kiesel, Florian & Ries, Jörg M. & Tielmann, Artur, 2017. "Reprint of “The impact of mergers and acquisitions on shareholders' wealth in the logistics service industry”," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 194(C), pages 261-277.
    6. Jennifer N. Carpenter & Fangzhou Lu & Robert F. Whitelaw, 2015. "The Real Value of China's Stock Market," NBER Working Papers 20957, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Carpenter, Jennifer N. & Lu, Fangzhou & Whitelaw, Robert F., 2018. "The real value of China's stock market," BOFIT Discussion Papers 2/2018, Bank of Finland Institute for Emerging Economies (BOFIT).
    8. repec:zbw:bofitp:2018_002 is not listed on IDEAS
    9. Kiesel, Florian & Ries, Jörg M. & Tielmann, Artur, 2017. "The impact of mergers and acquisitions on shareholders' wealth in the logistics service industry," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 193(C), pages 781-797.
    10. De Moor, Lieven & Sercu, Piet, 2013. "The smallest firm effect: An international study," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 129-155.
    11. Doumet, Markus & Limbach, Peter & Theissen, Erik, 2015. "Ich bin dann mal weg: Werteffekte von Delistings deutscher Aktiengesellschaften nach dem Frosta-Urteil," CFR Working Papers 15-14, University of Cologne, Centre for Financial Research (CFR).
    12. Carpenter, Jennifer N. & Lu, Fangzhou & Whitelaw, Robert F., 2018. "The real value of China’s stock market," BOFIT Discussion Papers 2/2018, Bank of Finland, Institute for Economies in Transition.
    13. Alshammari, Saad & Goto, Shingo, 2022. "What factors drive Saudi stock markets? – Firm characteristics that attract retail trades," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 994-1011.
    14. Carpenter, Jennifer N. & Lu, Fangzhou & Whitelaw, Robert F., 2018. "The real value of China’s stock market," BOFIT Discussion Papers 2, Bank of Finland, Institute for Economies in Transition.
    15. repec:zbw:bofitp:002 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Stephen X. H. Gong, 2008. "Event Study in Transport Research: Methodology and Applications," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(2), pages 207-222, May.
    17. Turan G. Bali & Robert F. Engle & Yi Tang, 2017. "Dynamic Conditional Beta Is Alive and Well in the Cross Section of Daily Stock Returns," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(11), pages 3760-3779, November.
    18. Vinay Patel, 2015. "Price Discovery in US and Australian Stock and Options Markets," PhD Thesis, Finance Discipline Group, UTS Business School, University of Technology, Sydney, number 27, July-Dece.
    19. Fernando Rubio, 2005. "Estrategias Cuantitativas De Valor Y Retornos Por Accion De Largo," Finance 0503029, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Kanungo, Rama Prasad, 2021. "Uncertainty of M&As under asymmetric estimation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 774-793.
    21. Walkshäusl, Christian, 2015. "Equity financing activities and European value-growth returns," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 27-40.
    22. Ho, Kin-Yip & An, Jiyoun, 2020. "Decomposing the value premium: The role of intangible information in the Chinese stock market," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 44(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Merger; Shareholder wealth; Market power; Efficiency; Decomposition;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • L22 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Organization and Market Structure
    • L41 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies - - - Monopolization; Horizontal Anticompetitive Practices
    • L43 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies - - - Legal Monopolies and Regulation or Deregulation
    • L93 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Air Transportation
    • L98 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Transportation and Utilities - - - Government Policy

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:retrec:v:84:y:2020:i:c:s0739885920301943. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/620614/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.