Sixth Annual Mergers and Acquisitions Research Centre Conference
- 27 June 2022
- •
- City, University of London
Watch the presentations here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0ysOguv9W0LjIx9h-ckWAKt9htFB_JdY
Mergers and Acquisitions Research Centre (MARC) and ECGI
2022 Sixth Annual Mergers and Acquisitions Research Centre Conference
Monday, 27 June 2022
08:30 - 17:30 BST (09:30 - 18:30 CEST)
Location
Bayes Business School (formerly Cass), London, UK
LG002 & LG003, Lower Ground Floor – 106 Bunhill Row, London EC1Y 8TZ
Organisers
Scott Moeller, Bayes Business School
Anh Tran, Bayes Business School
Paolo Volpin, Bayes Business School, Drexel University and ECGI
ABOUT THE EVENT
Since 2016, our annual M&A Research Centre (MARC) conference is among the most selective high-quality conferences in the field and has brought together cutting-edge research and practice on M&A by leading professors and industry experts around the world. The papers presented at our conference are at the forefront of knowledge and of high academic rigour, as evidenced by a high acceptance rate in the top three academic journals in accounting and finance. Topics span a broad array of issues related to M&A such as deal structure from financing to integration, activism, regulatory changes, domestic and cross border transactions and corporate social responsibility among others. Following the success of the Fifth Conference in 2021, the Sixth Mergers and Acquisitions Research Centre (MARC) Conference was held on 27 June 2022, again in cooperation with the European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI).
As of January 2021, four out of eight papers presented at our first conference in 2016 have been published in the Journal of Finance and the Review of Financial Studies. Four out of seven papers presented at our second conference in 2017 have been published in the Journal of Financial Economics, the Review of Financial Studies, and the Journal of Accounting Research.
We were happy to return in 2022 to a conference format in which all the presenters and discussants attended in person, but for those unable to travel to London were able to live stream the conference
Information
Monday, 27 June 2022 | 08.30 BST (09:30 CEST)
Registration
Conference Opening
Speakers:
Session 1 | Chaired by
Speakers:
Does Regulatory Exposure Create M&A Synergies?
“Does Regulatory Exposure Create M&A Synergies?”
Presenter: Tom Griffin (Villanova University)
Co-authors: Eli Fich (Drexel University) and Joseph Kalmenovitz (Drexel University)
Discussant: Ronald Masulis (University of New South Wales)
Paper: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3966359
Speakers
Discussants
Reputation Incentives of Independent Directors: Impacts on Board Monitoring and Adverse Corporate Actions
We find a large body of evidence that independent director reputation incentives can vary across directors and can significantly influence important...
Read more
Why CEO Option Compensation Can be a Bad Option for Shareholders: Evidence from Major Customer Relationships
We study how the existence of important production contracts affects the choice of CEO compensation contracts. We hypothesize that having major...
Read more
Comparing CEO Employment Contract Provisions: Differences between Australia and the U.S.
This study compares CEO employment contracts across two common law countries: the United States and Australia. Although the regulatory regimes of...
Read more
How Valuable are Independent Directors? Evidence from External Distractions
We provide new evidence on the value of independent directors by exploiting exogenous events that seriously distract independent directors....
Read more
Employee-Manager Alliances and Shareholder Returns from Acquisitions
We examine the potential for management-worker alliances when employees have substantial voting rights, and how such alliances affect the balance of...
Read more
Does It Pay to Go Global in the Boardroom? The Effect of Foreign Directors on Corporate Governance and Performance
We examine the benefits and costs associated with foreign independent directors (FIDs) at U.S. corporations. We find that firms with FIDs make better...
Read more
Private Benefits of Corporate Philanthropy and Distortions to Corporate Financing and Investment Decisions
We find that corporate giving represents a private benefit of control that distorts corporate investment and financing activity, consistent with free...
Read moreThe (Un)intended Consequences of M&A Regulatory Enforcements
Speakers:
Discussant:
The (Un)intended Consequences of M&A Regulatory Enforcements
“The (Un)intended Consequences of M&A Regulatory Enforcements”
Presenter: Micah Officer (Loyola Marymount University)
Co-authors: Eric de Bodt (Norwegian School of Economics), Jean-Gabriel Cousin
(Université de Lille) and Richard Roll (California Institute of Technology)
Discussant: Andrey Golubov (University of Toronto)
Research paper: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4025495
Speakers
Discussants
Post-Acquisition Performance of Private Acquirers
We provide the first evidence on the performance of private operating firms as acquirers. Private bidders experience greater post-acquisition...
Read more
Bidder-Specific Synergies and the Evolution of Acquirer Returns
Largely constant average acquirer returns over the past four decades mask fundamental changes in the takeover market. Controlling for bidder...
Read moreCoffee Break
Session 2 | Chaired by
Speakers:
Winner’s Curse in Takeovers? Evidence from Investment Bank Valuation Disagreement
Speakers:
Discussant:
Winner’s Curse in Takeovers? Evidence from Investment Bank Valuation Disagreement
“Winner’s Curse in Takeovers? Evidence from Investment Bank Valuation Disagreement”
Presenter: Tingting Liu (Iowa State University)
Co-authors: Tao Shu (Chinese University of Hong Kong) and Jasmine Wang (University
of Virginia)
Discussant: Henri Servaes (London Business School)
Research paper: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3954130
Speakers
Discussants
The Costs and Benefits of Performance Fees in Mutual Funds
Funds with performance fees have annual net risk-adjusted returns of 0.50% below other funds, a result mostly due to funds without a stochastic...
Read more
Sexism, Culture, and Firm Value: Evidence from the Harvey Weinstein Scandal and the #MeToo Movement
During the revelation of the Harvey Weinstein scandal and the subsequent re-emergence of the #MeToo movement, firms with a non-sexist corporate...
Read more
Social Capital, Trust, and Firm Performance: The Value of Corporate Social Responsibility during the Financial Crisis
We study the extent to which a firm's social capital, as measured by the intensity of a firm's corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, affects...
Read more
Vote Avoidance and Shareholder Voting in Mergers and Acquisitions
We examine whether, how, and why acquirer shareholder voting matters. We show that acquirers with low institutional ownership, high deal risk, and high...
Read more
Trust, Social Capital, and the Bond Market Benefits of ESG Performance
We investigate whether a firm’s social capital, and the trust that it engenders, are viewed favorably by bondholders. Using firms’ environmental...
Read more
The Bright Side of Fire Sales
Firms that buy assets in fire sales earn excess returns that are two percentage points higher than in regular acquisitions. The mechanism behind this...
Read moreMergers under the Microscope: Analyzing Conference Call Transcripts
Speakers:
Discussant:
Mergers under the Microscope: Analyzing Conference Call Transcripts
Presenter: Jarrad Harford (University of Washington)
Co-authors: Sudipto Dasgupta (Chinese University of Hong Kong), Fangyuan Ma (Peking
University), Daisy Wang (Ohio State University) and Haojun Xie (Chinese
University of Hong Kong)
Discussant: Peter Haslag (Vanderbilt University)
Research paper: https://mays.tamu.edu/department-of-finance/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2...
Speakers
Discussants
Who Benefits from Sustainability-linked Loans?
In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the issuance of sustainability-linked loans (SLLs), where loan contract terms depend on the...
Read moreLunch Break
Session 3 | Chaired by
Speakers:
Post-merger Restructuring of the Labor Force
Presenter: Stefan Obernberger (Erasmus University)
Co-authors: Britta Gehrke (University of Rostock), Ernst Maug (University of Manheim)
and Christoph Schneider (University of Münster)
Discussant: Dirk Jenter (London School of Economics)
Research paper: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3838865
Speakers
Discussants
CEO Compensation: Evidence From the Field
We survey directors and investors on the objectives, constraints, and determinants of CEO pay. We find that directors face constraints beyond...
Read more
The Market for CEOs
We study the market for CEOs of large publicly-traded US firms, analyze new CEOs’ prior connections to the hiring firm, and explore how hiring choices...
Read more
Does Board Size Matter?
This paper uses legal board size requirements to test whether board size affects firm performance and value. Since 1976, the minimum size of German...
Read more
Executive Compensation: A Survey of Theory and Evidence
This paper reviews the theoretical and empirical literature on executive compensation. We start by presenting data on the level of CEO and other top...
Read moreKeynote Speech Introduction
Speakers:
Keynote speech: H2 Trends on M&A, Debt Issuance and Fund Raising
Speakers:
Keynote speech: H2 Trends on M&A, Debt Issuance and Fund Raising
Speakers
Coffee break
Session 4 | Chaired by
Speakers:
Climate Laws and Cross-border Mergers and Acquisitions
Speakers:
Discussant:
Climate Laws and Cross-border Mergers and Acquisitions
Presenter: Fei Xie (University of Delaware)
Co-authors: Dragon Yongjun Tang (University of Hong Kong) and Tong Li (University of
Hong Kong)
Discussant: Filippos Papakonstantinou (King’s College London)
Research paper: https://ecgi.global/sites/default/files/litangxie-climateandcrossborderm...
Speakers
Discussants
The Dark Side of Industry Tournament Incentives
We find that firms whose CEOs face stronger industry tournament incentives, measured by their pay gap relative to the highest industry CEO pay, engage in...
Read more
Common Business Group Affiliation, Media Reporting, and Firm Real Effects
We examine whether common business group affiliation affects media reporting on firms and whether firms experience any real effects as a result. We find...
Read more
Trust, Incomplete Contracting, and Corporate Innovation
Innovation is a contract intensive economic activity in a world of incomplete contracts. We show that trust mitigates incomplete contracting and...
Read more
Employee-Manager Alliances and Shareholder Returns from Acquisitions
We examine the potential for management-worker alliances when employees have substantial voting rights, and how such alliances affect the balance of...
Read more
Does It Pay to Go Global in the Boardroom? The Effect of Foreign Directors on Corporate Governance and Performance
We examine the benefits and costs associated with foreign independent directors (FIDs) at U.S. corporations. We find that firms with FIDs make better...
Read more
Directors: Older and Wiser, or Too Old to Govern?
An unintended consequence of recent governance reforms in the U.S. is firms’ greater reliance on older director candidates, resulting in noticeable...
Read more
The Innovation Arms Race
Presenter: Muhammad Farooq Ahmad (SKEMA Business School) Co-authors: Eric de Bodt (Norwegian School of Economics) and Jarrad Harford (University of Washington) Discussant: Juanita Gonzalez-Uribe (London School of Economics)Presenter: Muhammad Farooq Ahmad (SKEMA Business School)
Co-authors: Eric de Bodt (Norwegian School of Economics) and Jarrad Harford
(University of Washington)
Discussant: Juanita Gonzalez-Uribe (London School of Economics)
Research paper: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3698936
Speakers
Discussants
Conference close
Dinner
Speakers
Presentations
Conference Opening
Conference Opening
Speakers
Session 1 | Chaired by
Session 1 | Chaired by
Speakers
Does Regulatory Exposure Create M&A Synergies?
Does Regulatory Exposure Create M&A Synergies?
“Does Regulatory Exposure Create M&A Synergies?”
Presenter: Tom Griffin (Villanova University)
Co-authors: Eli Fich (Drexel University) and Joseph Kalmenovitz (Drexel University)
Discussant: Ronald Masulis (University of New South Wales)
Paper: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3966359
Speakers
Discussants
Director Liability Protection and the Quality of Outside Directors
We investigate how state Universal Demand statutes (UD) that lower the risk of shareholder derivative lawsuits affect recruiting and retention of...
Read more
Directors: Older and Wiser, or Too Old to Govern?
An unintended consequence of recent governance reforms in the U.S. is firms’ greater reliance on older director candidates, resulting in noticeable...
Read more
Comparing CEO Employment Contract Provisions: Differences between Australia and the U.S.
This study compares CEO employment contracts across two common law countries: the United States and Australia. Although the regulatory regimes of...
Read more
Reputation Incentives of Independent Directors: Impacts on Board Monitoring and Adverse Corporate Actions
We find a large body of evidence that independent director reputation incentives can vary across directors and can significantly influence important...
Read more
Shareholder Wealth Consequences of Insider Pledging of Company Stock as Collateral for Personal Loans
We study a wide-spread yet unexplored corporate governance phenomenon: the pledging of company stock by insiders as collateral for personal bank...
Read more
Crises as Opportunities for Growth: The Strategic Value of Business Group Affiliation
We document a novel strategic motive for family business groups to utilize their internal capital markets (ICMs) during financial crises. We find that...
Read moreThe (Un)intended Consequences of M&A Regulatory Enforcements
The (Un)intended Consequences of M&A Regulatory Enforcements
“The (Un)intended Consequences of M&A Regulatory Enforcements”
Presenter: Micah Officer (Loyola Marymount University)
Co-authors: Eric de Bodt (Norwegian School of Economics), Jean-Gabriel Cousin
(Université de Lille) and Richard Roll (California Institute of Technology)
Discussant: Andrey Golubov (University of Toronto)
Research paper: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4025495
Speakers
Discussants
Post-Acquisition Performance of Private Acquirers
We provide the first evidence on the performance of private operating firms as acquirers. Private bidders experience greater post-acquisition...
Read more
Bidder-Specific Synergies and the Evolution of Acquirer Returns
Largely constant average acquirer returns over the past four decades mask fundamental changes in the takeover market. Controlling for bidder...
Read moreSession 2 | Chaired by
Session 2 | Chaired by
Speakers
Winner’s Curse in Takeovers? Evidence from Investment Bank Valuation Disagreement
Winner’s Curse in Takeovers? Evidence from Investment Bank Valuation Disagreement
“Winner’s Curse in Takeovers? Evidence from Investment Bank Valuation Disagreement”
Presenter: Tingting Liu (Iowa State University)
Co-authors: Tao Shu (Chinese University of Hong Kong) and Jasmine Wang (University
of Virginia)
Discussant: Henri Servaes (London Business School)
Research paper: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3954130
Speakers
Discussants
Vote Avoidance and Shareholder Voting in Mergers and Acquisitions
We examine whether, how, and why acquirer shareholder voting matters. We show that acquirers with low institutional ownership, high deal risk, and high...
Read more
Sexism, Culture, and Firm Value: Evidence from the Harvey Weinstein Scandal and the #MeToo Movement
During the revelation of the Harvey Weinstein scandal and the subsequent re-emergence of the #MeToo movement, firms with a non-sexist corporate...
Read more
The Bright Side of Fire Sales
Firms that buy assets in fire sales earn excess returns that are two percentage points higher than in regular acquisitions. The mechanism behind this...
Read more
Trust, Social Capital, and the Bond Market Benefits of ESG Performance
We investigate whether a firm’s social capital, and the trust that it engenders, are viewed favorably by bondholders. Using firms’ environmental...
Read more
Social Capital, Trust, and Firm Performance: The Value of Corporate Social Responsibility during the Financial Crisis
We study the extent to which a firm's social capital, as measured by the intensity of a firm's corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, affects...
Read more
The Costs and Benefits of Performance Fees in Mutual Funds
Funds with performance fees have annual net risk-adjusted returns of 0.50% below other funds, a result mostly due to funds without a stochastic...
Read moreMergers under the Microscope: Analyzing Conference Call Transcripts
Mergers under the Microscope: Analyzing Conference Call Transcripts
Presenter: Jarrad Harford (University of Washington)
Co-authors: Sudipto Dasgupta (Chinese University of Hong Kong), Fangyuan Ma (Peking
University), Daisy Wang (Ohio State University) and Haojun Xie (Chinese
University of Hong Kong)
Discussant: Peter Haslag (Vanderbilt University)
Research paper: https://mays.tamu.edu/department-of-finance/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2...
Speakers
Discussants
Who Benefits from Sustainability-linked Loans?
In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the issuance of sustainability-linked loans (SLLs), where loan contract terms depend on the...
Read moreSession 3 | Chaired by
Session 3 | Chaired by
Speakers
Post-merger Restructuring of the Labor Force
Post-merger Restructuring of the Labor Force
Presenter: Stefan Obernberger (Erasmus University)
Co-authors: Britta Gehrke (University of Rostock), Ernst Maug (University of Manheim)
and Christoph Schneider (University of Münster)
Discussant: Dirk Jenter (London School of Economics)
Research paper: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3838865
Speakers
Discussants
Does Board Size Matter?
This paper uses legal board size requirements to test whether board size affects firm performance and value. Since 1976, the minimum size of German...
Read more
The Market for CEOs
We study the market for CEOs of large publicly-traded US firms, analyze new CEOs’ prior connections to the hiring firm, and explore how hiring choices...
Read more
CEO Compensation: Evidence From the Field
We survey directors and investors on the objectives, constraints, and determinants of CEO pay. We find that directors face constraints beyond...
Read more
Executive Compensation: A Survey of Theory and Evidence
This paper reviews the theoretical and empirical literature on executive compensation. We start by presenting data on the level of CEO and other top...
Read moreKeynote Speech Introduction
Keynote Speech Introduction
Speakers
Keynote speech: H2 Trends on M&A, Debt Issuance and Fund Raising
Keynote speech: H2 Trends on M&A, Debt Issuance and Fund Raising
Speakers
Session 4 | Chaired by
Session 4 | Chaired by
Speakers
Climate Laws and Cross-border Mergers and Acquisitions
Presenter: Fei Xie (University of Delaware)
Co-authors: Dragon Yongjun Tang (University of Hong Kong) and Tong Li (University of
Hong Kong)
Discussant: Filippos Papakonstantinou (King’s College London)
Research paper: https://ecgi.global/sites/default/files/litangxie-climateandcrossborderm...
Speakers
Discussants
Does It Pay to Go Global in the Boardroom? The Effect of Foreign Directors on Corporate Governance and Performance
We examine the benefits and costs associated with foreign independent directors (FIDs) at U.S. corporations. We find that firms with FIDs make better...
Read more
The Dark Side of Industry Tournament Incentives
We find that firms whose CEOs face stronger industry tournament incentives, measured by their pay gap relative to the highest industry CEO pay, engage in...
Read more
Trust, Incomplete Contracting, and Corporate Innovation
Innovation is a contract intensive economic activity in a world of incomplete contracts. We show that trust mitigates incomplete contracting and...
Read more
Common Business Group Affiliation, Media Reporting, and Firm Real Effects
We examine whether common business group affiliation affects media reporting on firms and whether firms experience any real effects as a result. We find...
Read more
Directors: Older and Wiser, or Too Old to Govern?
An unintended consequence of recent governance reforms in the U.S. is firms’ greater reliance on older director candidates, resulting in noticeable...
Read more
Employee-Manager Alliances and Shareholder Returns from Acquisitions
We examine the potential for management-worker alliances when employees have substantial voting rights, and how such alliances affect the balance of...
Read moreThe Innovation Arms Race
The Innovation Arms Race
Presenter: Muhammad Farooq Ahmad (SKEMA Business School) Co-authors: Eric de Bodt (Norwegian School of Economics) and Jarrad Harford (University of Washington) Discussant: Juanita Gonzalez-Uribe (London School of Economics)Presenter: Muhammad Farooq Ahmad (SKEMA Business School)
Co-authors: Eric de Bodt (Norwegian School of Economics) and Jarrad Harford
(University of Washington)
Discussant: Juanita Gonzalez-Uribe (London School of Economics)
Research paper: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3698936