IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/cpr/ceprdp/15113.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Shelving or developing? Optimal policy for mergers with potential competitors

Author

Listed:
  • Fumagalli, Chiara
  • Motta, Massimo
  • Tarantino, Emanuele

Abstract

A start-up and an incumbent negotiate over an acquisition price under asymmetric information about the start-up's ability to succeed in the market. The acquisition may result in the shelving of the start-up's project or the development of a project that would otherwise never reach the market because of financial constraints. Despite this possible pro-competitive effect, the optimal merger policy commits to standards of review that prohibit high-price takeovers, even if they may be welfare-beneficial ex post. Ex ante this pushes the incumbent to acquire start-ups lacking the financial resources to develop independently, and increases expected welfare.

Suggested Citation

  • Fumagalli, Chiara & Motta, Massimo & Tarantino, Emanuele, 2022. "Shelving or developing? Optimal policy for mergers with potential competitors," CEPR Discussion Papers 15113, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
  • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:15113
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://cepr.org/publications/DP15113
    Download Restriction: CEPR Discussion Papers are free to download for our researchers, subscribers and members. If you fall into one of these categories but have trouble downloading our papers, please contact us at subscribers@cepr.org
    ---><---

    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. Stewart C. Myers & Nicholas S. Majluf, 1984. "Corporate Financing and Investment Decisions When Firms Have InformationThat Investors Do Not Have," NBER Working Papers 1396, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Myers, Stewart C. & Majluf, Nicholas S., 1984. "Corporate financing and investment decisions when firms have information that investors do not have," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 187-221, June.
    3. Farrell, Joseph & Shapiro, Carl, 1990. "Horizontal Mergers: An Equilibrium Analysis," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 80(1), pages 107-126, March.
    4. Volker Nocke & Michael D. Whinston, 2010. "Dynamic Merger Review," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 118(6), pages 1201-1251.
    5. Besanko, David & Spulber, Daniel F, 1993. "Contested Mergers and Equilibrium Antitrust Policy," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 9(1), pages 1-29, April.
    6. Volker Nocke & John Thanassoulis, 2014. "Vertical Relations Under Credit Constraints," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 12(2), pages 337-367, April.
    7. Bengt Holmstrom & Jean Tirole, 1997. "Financial Intermediation, Loanable Funds, and The Real Sector," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(3), pages 663-691.
    8. Igor Letina & Armin Schmutzler & Regina Seibel, 2024. "Killer Acquisitions And Beyond: Policy Effects On Innovation Strategies," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 65(2), pages 591-622, May.
    9. Brander, James A. & Lewis, Tracy R., 1986. "Oligopoly and Financial Structure: The Limited Liability Effect," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(5), pages 956-970, December.
    10. Giacinta Cestone & Lucy White, 2003. "Anticompetitive Financial Contracting: The Design of Financial Claims," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(5), pages 2109-2141, October.
    11. Pehr-Johan Norbäck & Lars Persson, 2009. "The Organization of the Innovation Industry: Entrepreneurs, Venture Capitalists, and Oligopolists," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 7(6), pages 1261-1290, December.
    12. Cabral, Luís, 2021. "Merger policy in digital industries," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    13. repec:bla:jfinan:v:58:y:2003:i:5:p:2109-2142 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Joseph Farrell & Michael Katz, 2006. "The Economics of Welfare Standards in Antitrust," CPI Journal, Competition Policy International, vol. 2.
    15. Gilbert, Richard J. & Katz, Michael L., 2022. "Dynamic merger policy and pre-merger product choice by an entrant," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    16. Giacinta Cestone & Chiara Fumagalli, 2005. "The Strategic Impact of Resource Flexibility in Business Groups," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 36(1), pages 193-214, Spring.
    17. Jean Tirole, 2006. "The Theory of Corporate Finance," Post-Print hal-00173191, HAL.
    18. Shelegia, Sandro & Motta, Massimo, 2021. "The "kill zone": Copying, acquisition and start-ups' direction of innovation," CEPR Discussion Papers 16151, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    19. Gilbert, Richard J & Newbery, David M G, 1982. "Preemptive Patenting and the Persistence of Monopoly," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 72(3), pages 514-526, June.
    20. Giacinta Cestone & Chiara Fumagalli, 2005. "The Strategic Impact of Resource Flexibility in Business Groups," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 36(4), pages 193-214, Winter.
    21. Paul J Eliason & Benjamin Heebsh & Ryan C McDevitt & James W Roberts, 2020. "How Acquisitions Affect Firm Behavior and Performance: Evidence from the Dialysis Industry," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 135(1), pages 221-267.
    22. McAfee, R Preston & Williams, Michael A, 1992. "Horizontal Mergers and Antitrust Policy," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(2), pages 181-187, June.
    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. Vaziri, M., 2022. "Antitrust Law and Business Dynamism," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 2243, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    2. Gilbert, Richard J. & Katz, Michael L., 2022. "Dynamic merger policy and pre-merger product choice by an entrant," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    3. Pauline Affeldt & Reinhold Kesler, 2021. "Competitors’ Reactions to Big Tech Acquisitions: Evidence from Mobile Apps," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1987, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    4. Jean-Michel Benkert & Igor Letina & Shuo Liu, 2023. "Startup Acquisitions: Acquihires and Talent Hoarding," Papers 2308.10046, arXiv.org, revised Jul 2024.
    5. Christian Fons-Rosen & Pau Roldan-Blanco & Tom Schmitz, 2022. "The Effects of Startup Acquisitions on Innovation and Economic Growth," Working Papers 944, Queen Mary University of London, School of Economics and Finance.
    6. Motta, Massimo & Peitz, Martin, 2021. "Big tech mergers," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    7. Igor Letina & Armin Schmutzler & Regina Seibel, 2024. "Killer Acquisitions And Beyond: Policy Effects On Innovation Strategies," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 65(2), pages 591-622, May.
    8. Prado, Tiago S. & Bauer, Johannes M., 2022. "Big Tech platform acquisitions of start-ups and venture capital funding for innovation," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    9. Geoffrey Parker & Georgios Petropoulos & Marshall Van Alstyne, 2021. "Platform mergers and antitrust," Working Papers 43276, Bruegel.
    10. Jean-Michel Benkert, Igor Letina, Shuo Liu, 2023. "Startup Acquisitions: Acquihires and Talent Hoarding," Diskussionsschriften dp2309, Universitaet Bern, Departement Volkswirtschaft.
    11. Klaus Gugler & Florian Szücs & Ulrich Wohak, 2023. "Start-up Acquisitions, Venture Capital and Innovation: A Comparative Study of Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft," Department of Economics Working Papers wuwp340, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Department of Economics.
    12. Haucap, Justus & Stiebale, Joel, 2023. "Non-price effects of mergers and acquisitions," DICE Discussion Papers 402, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE).
    13. Geoffrey Parker & Georgios Petropoulos & Marshall Van Alstyne, 2021. "Platform mergers and antitrust [Ex-post assessment of merger control decisions in digital markets]," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 30(5), pages 1307-1336.
    14. Esmée Dijk & José Luis Moraga-González & Evgenia Motchenkova, 2023. "Start-up Acquisitions and the Entrant’s and Incumbent’s Innovation Portfolios," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 23-047/VII, Tinbergen Institute.
    15. Laureen de Barsy & Axel Gautier, 2024. "Big Tech Acquisitions and Innovation: An Empirical Assessment," CESifo Working Paper Series 11025, CESifo.
    16. Iñigo Herguera, 2021. "Competencia y regulación de (algunas) plataformas digitales en la UE," Working Papers 2021-10, FEDEA.

    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. Chiara Fumagalli & Massimo Motta & Emanuele Tarantino, 2020. "Shelving or Developing? The Acquisition of Potential Competitors under Financial Constraints," Working Papers 1197, Barcelona School of Economics.
    2. Aron Berg & Pehr-Johan Norbäck & Lars Persson, 2017. "Cross-border mergers & acquisitions with financially constrained owners," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 153(3), pages 433-456, August.
    3. Jovanovic, Dragan & Wey, Christian, 2012. "An equilibrium analysis of efficiency gains from mergers," DICE Discussion Papers 64, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE).
    4. Norbäck, Pehr-Johan & Persson, Lars & Tåg, Joacim, 2018. "Does the debt tax shield distort ownership efficiency?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 299-310.
    5. Stepanov, Sergey & Suvorov, Anton, 2017. "Agency problem and ownership structure: Outside blockholder as a signal," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 87-107.
    6. Matthias Fahn & Valeria Merlo & Georg Wamser, 2019. "The Commitment Role of Equity Financing," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 17(4), pages 1232-1260.
    7. Giacinta Cestone & Lucy White, "undated". "Anti-Competitive Financial Contracting: The Design Of Financial Claims," UFAE and IAE Working Papers 453.00, Unitat de Fonaments de l'Anàlisi Econòmica (UAB) and Institut d'Anàlisi Econòmica (CSIC).
    8. David B. Audretsch & Erik E. Lehmann, 2013. "Corporate governance in newly listed companies," Chapters, in: Mario Levis & Silvio Vismara (ed.), Handbook of Research on IPOs, chapter 9, pages 179-206, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    9. Mason, Robin & Weeds, Helen, 2013. "Merger policy, entry, and entrepreneurship," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 23-38.
    10. Jean Tirole, 2011. "Illiquidity and All Its Friends," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 49(2), pages 287-325, June.
    11. Sumit K. Majumdar & Rabih Moussawi & Ulku Yaylacicegi, 2018. "Capital Structure and Mergers: Retrospective Evidence from a Natural Experiment," Journal of Industry, Competition and Trade, Springer, vol. 18(4), pages 449-472, December.
    12. Sharon Belenzon & Tomer Berkovitz & Luis A. Rios, 2013. "Capital Markets and Firm Organization: How Financial Development Shapes European Corporate Groups," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 59(6), pages 1326-1343, June.
    13. Ben Mermelstein & Volker Nocke & Mark A. Satterthwaite & Michael D. Whinston, 2020. "Internal versus External Growth in Industries with Scale Economies: A Computational Model of Optimal Merger Policy," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 128(1), pages 301-341.
    14. Anastasios Dosis, 2019. "Interest Rates and Investment Under Competitive Screening and Moral Hazard," Working Papers hal-02130434, HAL.
    15. von Thadden, Ernst-Ludwig & Perotti, Enrico, 2001. "Outside Finance, Dominant Investors and Strategic Transparency," CEPR Discussion Papers 2733, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    16. Kaplow, Louis, 2021. "Horizontal merger analysis," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    17. Gilbert Mbaraa & Ryszard Kokoszczyński, 2018. "Corporate governance, tax evasion and business cycles," Working Papers 2018-10, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw.
    18. Jozsef Molnar, 2002. "Preemptive Horizontal Mergers: Theory and Evidence," CERS-IE WORKING PAPERS 0213, Institute of Economics, Centre for Economic and Regional Studies.
    19. PRAO YAO Seraphin & Kamalan Eugène, 2018. "Bank Capital and Credit Supply in Ivory Coast: Evidence from an ARDLBounds Testing Approach," International Journal of Economics and Financial Research, Academic Research Publishing Group, vol. 4(5), pages 99-106, 05-2018.
    20. Kabbach-de-Castro, Luiz Ricardo & Kirch, Guilherme & Matta, Rafael, 2022. "Do internal capital markets in business groups mitigate firms' financial constraints?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Optimal merger policy; Selection effect; Nascent competitors;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L41 - Industrial Organization - - Antitrust Issues and Policies - - - Monopolization; Horizontal Anticompetitive Practices
    • L13 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Oligopoly and Other Imperfect Markets
    • K21 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - Antitrust Law

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:cpr:ceprdp:15113. 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: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cepr.org .

    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.