IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/jomstd/v56y2019i1p234-269.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Viceroys or Emperors? An Institution‐Based Perspective on Merger and Acquisition Prevalence and Shareholder Value

Author

Listed:
  • A. J. J. (Ron) Maas
  • P. P. M. A. R. (Pursey) Heugens
  • Taco H. Reus

Abstract

We study how cross‐country variance in institutions that aim to address core agency problems influences consequential strategic decisions of firms around the world. Scholars frequently argue that the interests of minority shareholders are threatened by merger and acquisitions (M&As) due to principal‐agency problems. Rather than acting in shareholders’ best interests, managers potentially act as viceroys, using M&As to cushion themselves from risk and extract more pay. Yet equally salient is the issue of principal‐principal agency, where controlling shareholders can behave as emperors who use M&As to siphon off assets and profits, and appropriate wealth of shareholders with fewer control rights. Taking an institution‐based perspective on these ‘viceroy’ and ‘emperor’ problems, we conjecture that institutions aimed to address these agency problems can generate the desired outcome regarding M&A prevalence, but may also produce unintentional negative consequences for shareholder value as a side‐effect. Empirical evidence covering M&As from 73 countries supports our hypotheses.

Suggested Citation

  • A. J. J. (Ron) Maas & P. P. M. A. R. (Pursey) Heugens & Taco H. Reus, 2019. "Viceroys or Emperors? An Institution‐Based Perspective on Merger and Acquisition Prevalence and Shareholder Value," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(1), pages 234-269, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jomstd:v:56:y:2019:i:1:p:234-269
    DOI: 10.1111/joms.12335
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12335
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/joms.12335?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
    ---><---

    Citations

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


    Cited by:

    1. Oh, Hyunjin & Chung, Chune Young & Fard, Amirhossein, 2023. "Tacit vigilance in an emerging economy: An institution-based perspective of passive blockholder monitoring," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    2. Birhanu, Addis Gedefaw & Geiler, Philipp & Renneboog, Luc & Zhao, Yang, 2021. "Acquisition experience and director remuneration," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    3. David R. King & Gang Wang & Mehdi Samimi & Andres Felipe Cortes, 2021. "A Meta‐Analytic Integration of Acquisition Performance Prediction," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(5), pages 1198-1236, July.
    4. Birhanu, Addis & Geiler, Philipp & Renneboog, Luc & Zhao, Yang, 2021. "Acquisition experience and director remuneration," Other publications TiSEM 6c1d41ae-5e2a-4868-b1af-1, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    5. Andrikopoulos, Andreas & Merika, Anna & Merikas, Andreas & Sigalas, Christos, 2021. "Related party transactions and principal-principal conflicts in public companies: Evidence from the maritime shipping industry," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    6. Andrei Filip & Gerald J. Lobo & Luc Paugam & Hervé Stolowy, 2022. "Disclosures About Key Value Drivers in M&A Announcement Press Releases: An Exploratory Study," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 58(1), pages 62-104, March.
    7. Chengguang Li & Oded Shenkar & William E. Newburry & Yinuo Tang, 2021. "How Country Reputation Differentials Influence Market Reaction to International Acquisitions," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(6), pages 1609-1639, September.

    More about this item

    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:bla:jomstd:v:56:y:2019:i:1:p:234-269. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0022-2380 .

    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.