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Mergers and capital flight in unionised oligopolies: Is there scope for a "national champion" policy?

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  • Lommerud, Kjell Erik
  • Meland, Frode
  • Straume, Odd Rune

Abstract

Many policy makers seem to prefer domestic alternatives to cross-border mergers. We construct a model where cross-border mergers drive down union-set wages, domestic mergers have non-labour cost synergies and policy evaluators care more about workers than capital owners. Apparently, the stage is set for "national champion" policies to be sensible. However, we also introduce the possibility of capital flight by allowing a domestic firm to move production abroad. Restrictive cross-border merger policies can then seriously backfire, since they do not necessarily bring about a domestic merger -- but capital flight instead.

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  • Lommerud, Kjell Erik & Meland, Frode & Straume, Odd Rune, 2011. "Mergers and capital flight in unionised oligopolies: Is there scope for a "national champion" policy?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 325-341, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:reveco:v:20:y:2011:i:2:p:325-341
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    Cited by:

    1. Maria Bas & Juan Carluccio, 2009. "Wage Bargaining and the Boundaries of the Multinational Firm," CEP Discussion Papers dp0963, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    2. Fernando Alexandre & Miguel Portela & Carla Sá, 2008. "Admission conditions and graduates' employability," NIPE Working Papers 16/2008, NIPE - Universidade do Minho.
    3. Kjell Lommerud & Trond Olsen & Odd Straume, 2010. "Company Taxation and Merger Incentives in International Oligopoly: on International Policy Coordination with Strategic Trade," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 10(2), pages 161-186, June.
    4. Paulo Bastos & Natália P. Monteiro, 2011. "Managers and Wage Policies," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(4), pages 957-984, December.
    5. Domenico Buccella, 2011. "Labor unions and economic integration: A review," Económica, Instituto de Investigaciones Económicas, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, vol. 0, pages 25-89, January-D.
    6. Alcalde, Nuria & Powell, Ronan, 2022. "Government intervention in European mergers and acquisitions," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Cross-border merger National champions Greenfield FDI Trade unions;

    JEL classification:

    • F16 - International Economics - - Trade - - - Trade and Labor Market Interactions
    • F21 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Investment; Long-Term Capital Movements
    • J51 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Trade Unions: Objectives, Structure, and Effects
    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets

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