How Country Reputation Differentials Influence Market Reaction to International Acquisitions
基于社会认同理论，研究了收购方与目标方国家声誉差异对市场反应的影响，发现收购方国家声誉更好时市场反应更积极，且这种影响在信息充分时减弱。
Abstract This study investigates the influence of country reputation differentials on market reaction to international acquisitions. Building on social identity theory, we argue that market reactions are more positive when the reputation of the acquirer’s country is better than that of the target’s, since a country’s reputation imprints on its firms due to social categorization. Thus, firms from countries with better reputations are perceived as having superior skills/capabilities and the reputation difference suggests that the acquirer is able to identify/exploit undervalued targets and leverage synergies. The influence of country reputation should be weaker when additional information on the merging firms is present, through news media reporting and analyst coverage of the merging firms as well as the acquirer’s prior acquisition track record, since market investors will rely less on country reputation. We find support for our hypotheses for a sample of 4,792 international acquisitions across 48 countries from 2009 to 2017.