International Deal Experience and Cross-Border Acquisitions

By tracing nearly thirty thousand directors as they move across firms during a twenty-eight year period, I show that that a firm's decision to undertake its first cross-border acquisition is positively influenced by experience with these transactions gained by its current board members during their prior service on other companies' boards. Board experience most affects acquisitions of targets headquartered in culturally or institutionally dissimilar countries, with these deals being more likely to be completed successfully and to be received favorably by financial markets. These findings imply that the geography of international fixed capital investments is influenced by the experiential human capital of a firm's board of directors. Publication Status: