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Political corruption shielding and corporate acquisitions

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  • Ashrafee Tanvir Hossain
  • Lawrence Kryzanowski

Abstract

Corruption includes rent‐seeking behavior by public officials (e.g., lavish in‐kind benefits and monetary kickbacks for contracts/permits/regulatory leniency, improper political contributions/support, etc.) that can negatively affect firm valuations, performances, and strategic choices. Shielding strategies are used to diminish rent‐seeking attractiveness of firms. Acquisitions provide a better channel than cash or leverage for assessing the wealth effects of shielding strategies. We find that the mean 3‐day announcement returns for acquirers for a large sample of U.S. domestic acquisitions between 1990 and 2014 is significantly lower for firms headquartered in relatively higher corruption states. Our results survive an array of robustness tests.

Suggested Citation

  • Ashrafee Tanvir Hossain & Lawrence Kryzanowski, 2021. "Political corruption shielding and corporate acquisitions," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 56(1), pages 55-83, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:finrev:v:56:y:2021:i:1:p:55-83
    DOI: 10.1111/fire.12247
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