IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/dyncon/v152y2023ics0165188923000799.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Acquiring for innovation: Evidence from the U.S. technology industry

Author

Listed:
  • Kaufmann, Mattheo
  • Schiereck, Dirk

Abstract

We investigate the effect of corporate innovation on mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Using a sample of 786 public-to-public transactions in the U.S. technology sector, we show that acquirers are willing to pay higher premiums for more innovative target firms. This effect is amplified by the acquirer's own level of innovativeness as more innovative acquirers are willing to pay higher premiums for innovative targets than non-innovative acquirers. We further document significant strategic reactions of rival firms. In the aftermath of the M&A, all acquirer rivals increase their R&D spending but the effect is more pronounced for innovative rivals than for non-innovative ones. Innovative acquirer rivals are also more likely to acquire a technology firm in the aftermath of their competitor's M&A announcement than their non-innovative peers. The similarity between acquirers and their rivals shrinks in the post-acquisition period, which may be caused by rival firms extending the breadth of their technological search in response to the acquisition.

Suggested Citation

  • Kaufmann, Mattheo & Schiereck, Dirk, 2023. "Acquiring for innovation: Evidence from the U.S. technology industry," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:dyncon:v:152:y:2023:i:c:s0165188923000799
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jedc.2023.104673
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165188923000799
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jedc.2023.104673?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. Philippe Aghion & Nick Bloom & Richard Blundell & Rachel Griffith & Peter Howitt, 2005. "Competition and Innovation: an Inverted-U Relationship," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 120(2), pages 701-728.
    2. Daniel F. Spulber, 2013. "How Do Competitive Pressures Affect Incentives to Innovate When There Is a Market for Inventions?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 121(6), pages 1007-1054.
    3. Dimopoulos, Theodosios & Sacchetto, Stefano, 2014. "Preemptive bidding, target resistance, and takeover premiums," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(3), pages 444-470.
    4. Triguero, Ángela & Córcoles, David, 2013. "Understanding innovation: An analysis of persistence for Spanish manufacturing firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 340-352.
    5. (Jennifer) Wu, Szu-Yin & Chung, Kee H., 2019. "Corporate innovation, likelihood to be acquired, and takeover premiums," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    6. Nicholas Bloom & Mark Schankerman & John Van Reenen, 2013. "Identifying Technology Spillovers and Product Market Rivalry," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 81(4), pages 1347-1393, July.
    7. Joseph A. Clougherty & Tomaso Duso, 2009. "The Impact of Horizontal Mergers on Rivals: Gains to Being Left Outside a Merger," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(8), pages 1365-1395, December.
    8. Tseveen Gantumur & Andreas Stephan, 2012. "Mergers & acquisitions and innovation performance in the telecommunications equipment industry," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 21(2), pages 277-314, April.
    9. Gordon M. Phillips & Alexei Zhdanov, 2013. "R&D and the Incentives from Merger and Acquisition Activity," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 26(1), pages 34-78.
    10. Schwert, G. William, 1996. "Markup pricing in mergers and acquisitions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(2), pages 153-192, June.
    11. Qiu, Buhui & Trapkov, Svetoslav & Yakoub, Fadi, 2014. "Do target CEOs trade premiums for personal benefits?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 23-41.
    12. Eckbo, B. Espen, 1983. "Horizontal mergers, collusion, and stockholder wealth," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 11(1-4), pages 241-273, April.
    13. Hall, B. & Jaffe, A. & Trajtenberg, M., 2001. "The NBER Patent Citations Data File: Lessons, Insights and Methodological Tools," Papers 2001-29, Tel Aviv.
    14. Faccio, Mara & McConnell, John J. & Stolin, David, 2006. "Returns to Acquirers of Listed and Unlisted Targets," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 41(1), pages 197-220, March.
    15. Hirshleifer, David & Hsu, Po-Hsuan & Li, Dongmei, 2013. "Innovative efficiency and stock returns," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(3), pages 632-654.
    16. Fulghieri, Paolo & Sevilir, Merih, 2009. "Organization and Financing of Innovation, and the Choice between Corporate and Independent Venture Capital," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 44(6), pages 1291-1321, December.
    17. Mulherin, J. Harold & Boone, Audra L., 2000. "Comparing acquisitions and divestitures," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 6(2), pages 117-139, July.
    18. Han, John & Jo, Gil S. & Kang, Jina, 2018. "Is high-quality knowledge always beneficial? Knowledge overlap and innovation performance in technological mergers and acquisitions," Journal of Management & Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 24(2), pages 258-278, March.
    19. Hackbarth, Dirk & Miao, Jianjun, 2012. "The dynamics of mergers and acquisitions in oligopolistic industries," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 585-609.
    20. Gustavo Grullon & Yelena Larkin & Roni Michaely, 2019. "Are US Industries Becoming More Concentrated?," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 23(4), pages 697-743.
    21. Jan Bena & Kai Li, 2014. "Corporate Innovations and Mergers and Acquisitions," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 69(5), pages 1923-1960, October.
    22. Samina Karim & Will Mitchell, 2000. "Path‐dependent and path‐breaking change: reconfiguring business resources following acquisitions in the U.S. medical sector, 1978–1995," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(10‐11), pages 1061-1081, October.
    23. Desyllas, Panos & Hughes, Alan, 2010. "Do high technology acquirers become more innovative?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(8), pages 1105-1121, October.
    24. Moeller, Sara B. & Schlingemann, Frederik P. & Stulz, Rene M., 2004. "Firm size and the gains from acquisitions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(2), pages 201-228, August.
    25. Panos Desyllas & Alan Hughes, 2009. "The revealed preferences of high technology acquirers: An analysis of the innovation characteristics of their targets," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 33(6), pages 1089-1111, November.
    26. Fee, C. Edward & Thomas, Shawn, 2004. "Sources of gains in horizontal mergers: evidence from customer, supplier, and rival firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(3), pages 423-460, December.
    27. Eckbo, B. Espen, 2009. "Bidding strategies and takeover premiums: A review," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 15(1), pages 149-178, February.
    28. Giovanni Valentini, 2012. "Measuring the effect of M&A on patenting quantity and quality," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(3), pages 336-346, March.
    29. Shahrur, Husayn, 2005. "Industry structure and horizontal takeovers: Analysis of wealth effects on rivals, suppliers, and corporate customers," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(1), pages 61-98, April.
    30. 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.
    31. Gerard Hoberg & Gordon Phillips, 2010. "Product Market Synergies and Competition in Mergers and Acquisitions: A Text-Based Analysis," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(10), pages 3773-3811, October.
    32. Rita Gunther McGrath & Ming-Hone Tsai & S. Venkataraman & I. C. MacMillan, 1996. "Innovation, Competitive Advantage and Rent: A Model and Test," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 42(3), pages 389-403, March.
    33. Robin Kleer & Marcus Wagner, 2013. "Acquisition through innovation tournaments in high-tech industries: a comparative perspective," Economics of Innovation and New Technology, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 22(1), pages 73-97, January.
    34. Cai, Ye & Sevilir, Merih, 2012. "Board connections and M&A transactions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(2), pages 327-349.
    35. McGahan, Anita M. & Silverman, Brian S., 2006. "Profiting from technological innovation by others: The effect of competitor patenting on firm value," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(8), pages 1222-1242, October.
    36. Lukas, Elmar & Pereira, Paulo J. & Rodrigues, Artur, 2019. "Designing optimal M&A strategies under uncertainty," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 1-20.
    37. Kevin H. Kim & Derek K. Oler & Juan Manuel Sanchez, 2021. "Examining the stock performance of acquirers where the acquirer or target hold patents," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 56(1), pages 185-217, January.
    38. Alberto Abadie & Guido W. Imbens, 2006. "Large Sample Properties of Matching Estimators for Average Treatment Effects," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 74(1), pages 235-267, January.
    39. Colombo, Massimo G. & Rabbiosi, Larissa, 2014. "Technological similarity, post-acquisition R&D reorganization, and innovation performance in horizontal acquisitions," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(6), pages 1039-1054.
    40. Hsu, Po-Hsuan & Huang, Peng & Humphery-Jenner, Mark & Powell, Ronan, 2021. "Cross-border mergers and acquisitions for innovation," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. (Jennifer) Wu, Szu-Yin & Chung, Kee H., 2019. "Corporate innovation, likelihood to be acquired, and takeover premiums," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    2. Dou, Winston Wei & Ji, Yan & Wu, Wei, 2021. "Competition, profitability, and discount rates," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(2), pages 582-620.
    3. Larkin, Yelena & Lyandres, Evgeny, 2019. "Inefficient mergers," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    4. Marco Testoni, 2022. "The market value spillovers of technological acquisitions: Evidence from patent‐text analysis," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(5), pages 964-985, May.
    5. Chondrakis, George, 2016. "Unique synergies in technology acquisitions," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(9), pages 1873-1889.
    6. Gao, Ning & Peng, Ni & Zhang, Yi, 2021. "Distributive inefficiency in horizontal mergers: Evidence from wealth transfers between merging firms and their customers," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    7. Kooli, Maher & Zhang, Aoran & Zhao, Yunfei, 2022. "How IPO firms' product innovation strategy affects the likelihood of post-IPO acquisitions?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    8. Kanungo, Rama Prasad, 2021. "Uncertainty of M&As under asymmetric estimation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 774-793.
    9. Mahdiyeh Entezarkheir & Saeed Moshiri, 2021. "Innovation spillover and merger decisions," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 61(5), pages 2419-2448, November.
    10. Renneboog, Luc & Vansteenkiste, Cara, 2019. "Failure and success in mergers and acquisitions," Other publications TiSEM 9baa3ffc-67cb-4647-9da5-a, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    11. Haucap, Justus & Rasch, Alexander & Stiebale, Joel, 2019. "How mergers affect innovation: Theory and evidence," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 283-325.
    12. Yang Zhang, 2018. "Corporate Governance Effects on Risk Management and Shareholder Wealth: The Case of Mergers and Acquisitions," PhD Thesis, Finance Discipline Group, UTS Business School, University of Technology, Sydney, number 4-2018.
    13. M. D. Beneish & C. R. Harvey & A. Tseng & P. Vorst, 2022. "Unpatented innovation and merger synergies," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 27(2), pages 706-744, June.
    14. Renneboog, Luc & Vansteenkiste, Cara, 2019. "Failure and success in mergers and acquisitions," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 650-699.
    15. Hsu, Po-Hsuan & Huang, Peng & Humphery-Jenner, Mark & Powell, Ronan, 2021. "Cross-border mergers and acquisitions for innovation," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    16. Hu, Xiaoxue & Li, Dongxu, 2022. "Do horizontal mergers affect rivals’ cash holdings?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 275-298.
    17. Fathollahi, Maryam & Harford, Jarrad & Klasa, Sandy, 2022. "Anticompetitive effects of horizontal acquisitions: The impact of within-industry product similarity," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(2), pages 645-669.
    18. Saad Alnahedh & Bader Alhashel, 2021. "Political ideology in M&A," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(9-10), pages 1711-1746, October.
    19. Yongqiang Chu & Xuan Tian & Wenyu Wang, 2019. "Corporate Innovation Along the Supply Chain," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(6), pages 2445-2466, June.
    20. Udichibarna Bose, 2023. "Does green transition promote green innovation and technological acquisitions?," Working Papers w202305, Banco de Portugal, Economics and Research Department.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Innovation; Patents; Mergers and acquisitions (M&A); Takeover premium;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • O32 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D

    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:dyncon:v:152:y:2023:i:c:s0165188923000799. 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/locate/jedc .

    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.