Skip to main content

A Comparison of Mergers and Acquisitions in Japan, Europe and the United States

  • Chapter
Corporate Governance and International Business

Part of the book series: The Academy of International Business ((AIB))

Abstract

A large social science literature has emerged on the role of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in corporate strategy. Yet the frequency, motivation and type of takeover activity across countries are strongly influenced by various institutional characteristics of the national business system (Goergen et al., 2005; Hall and Soskice, 2001; Rossi and Volpin, 2003). In the United States and the United Kingdom, the level of M&A is high and hostile takeovers are seen as being common (or at least a realistic possibility). In Japan and other continental European countries such as France or Germany, the level of M&A activity has been much lower prior to the 1990s. Moreover, hostile takeovers were extremely infrequent or even perceived as being impossible to implement.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Bibliography

  • Aguilera, R. V. and Jackson, G. (2003). ‘The cross-national diversity of corporate governance: dimensions and determinants’. Academy of Management Review, 28 (3): 447–65.

    Google Scholar 

  • Amable, B. (2003). The diversity of modern capitalism ( Oxford: Oxford University Press).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Aoki, M. (2001). Toward a comparative institutional analysis ( Cambridge, MA: MIT Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Aoki, M. (2007). ‘Whither Japan’s corporate governance? Toward external monitor-ing of internal linkage’. In M. Aoki, G. Jackson and H. Miyajima (eds), Corporate governance in Japan: institutional change and organizational diversity ( Oxford: Oxford University Press ).

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Aoki, M. and Patrick, H. (eds) (1994). The Japanese main bank system: its relevance for developing and transforming economies ( Oxford: Oxford University Press ).

    Google Scholar 

  • Armour, J., Deakin, S. and Konzelmann, S. (2003). ‘Shareholder primacy and the trajectory of UK corporate governance’. British Journal of Industrial Relations, 41 (3): 531–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Baums, T. (1993). ‘Takeovers versus institutions in corporate governance in Germany’. In D. D. Prentice and P. R. J. Holland (eds), Contemporary issues in corporategovernance ( Oxford: Clarendon Press ), pp. 151–83.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burkhart, M. and Panunzi, F. (2006). ‘Takeovers’. ECGI–Finance Working Paper no. 188.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cieply, S. (2001). ‘Bridging capital gaps to promote innovation in France’. Industry amp; Innovation, 8 (2): 159–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Conyon, M. J., Girma, S., Thompson, S. and Wright, P. (2001). ‘Do hostile mergers destroy jobs?’ Journal of Economic Behavior amp; Organization, 45 (4): 427–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Conyon, M. J., Girma, S., Thompson, S. and Wright, P. (2002). ‘The impact of mergers and acquisitions on company employment in the United Kingdom’. European Economic Review, 46 (1): 31–49.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Datta, D. K, Pinches, G. P. and Narayanan, V. K. (1992). ‘Factors influencing wealth creation from mergers and acquisitions: a meta-analysis’. Strategic Management Journal, 13 (1): 67–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deakin, S., Hobbs, R., Nash, D. and Slinger, G. (2002). ‘Implicit contracts, takeovers and corporate governance: in the shadow of the city code’. ESRC Centre for Business Research, Working Paper no. 254.

    Google Scholar 

  • Deeg, R. (2005). ‘Path dependency, institutional complementarity, and change in national business systems’. In G. Morgan, R. Whitley and E. Moen (eds), Changing capitalisms? Institutional change and systems of economic organization ( Oxford: Oxford University Press ).

    Google Scholar 

  • Goergen, M., Martynova, M. and Renneboog, L. (2005). ‘Corporate governance convergence: evidence from takeover regulation reforms in Europe’. Utrecht School of Economics, Discussion Paper 05–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Goyer, M. (2003). ‘Corporate governance, employees, and the focus on core competencies in France and Germany’. In C. Milhaupt (ed.), Global markets, domestic institutions: corporate law and governance in a new era of cross-border deals ( New York: Columbia University Press ).

    Google Scholar 

  • Hackethal, A., Schmidt, R. H. and Tyrell, M. (2005). ‘Banks and German corporate governance: on the way to a capital-market based system?’ Corporate Governance: an International Review, 13 (3): 397–407.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hall, P. A. and Soskice, D. (2001). Varieties of capitalism: the institutional foundations of comparative advantage ( Oxford: Oxford University Press).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Hall, P. A. and Thelen, K. (2005). ‘The politics of change in varieties of capitalism’. Paper presented at the APSA Conference.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hancké, B. (2002). Large firms and institutional change: industrial renewal and economic restructuring in France ( Oxford: Oxford University Press).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Höpner, M. (2000). ‘Unternehmensverflechtung im zwielicht. Hans eichels plan zur auflösung der Deutschland AG’. WSI-Mitteilungen, 53 (Heft 11): 655–63.

    Google Scholar 

  • Höpner, M. and Jackson, G. (2001). ‘An emerging market for corporate control? The case of Mannesmann and German corporate governance’. Köln, Max-PlanckInstitut für Gesellschaftsforschung, Discussion Paper 01 /4.

    Google Scholar 

  • Höpner, M. and Jackson, G. (2006). ‘Revisiting the Mannesmann takeover: how markets for corporate control emerge’. European Management Review, 3: 142–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Höpner, M. and Krempel, L. (2003). ‘The politics of the German company network’. Köln, Max-Planck-Institut für Gesellschaftsforschung, Working Paper 2003 /09.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoshi, T. and Kashyap, A. (2001). Corporate financing and governance in Japan: the road to the future ( Cambridge, MA: MIT Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Howell, C. (2003). ‘Varieties of capitalism: and then there was one?’ Comparative Politics, 36 (1): 103–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, G. (2005). ‘Stakeholders under pressure: corporate governance and labour management in Germany and Japan’. Corporate Governance: an International Review, 13 (3): 419–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, G. (2007). ‘An emerging market for corporate control in Japan? Hostile takeover bids in comparison’. RIETI Discussion Paper, forthcoming.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kester, W. C. (1990). Japanese takeovers: the global contest for corporate control ( Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • King, D. R., Dalton, D. D., Daily, C. M. and Covin, J. G. (2004). ‘Meta-analysis of post-acquisitions performance: indications of unidentified moderators’. Strategic Management Journal, 25 (2): 187–200.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kuroki, F. (2003). ‘The relationship of companies and banks as cross-shareholdings unwind: fiscal 2002 cross-shareholding survey’. NLI Research, 157.

    Google Scholar 

  • La Porta, R., Lopez-de-Silanes, F., Schleifer, A. and Vishny, R. W. (1998). ‘Law and finance’. Journal of Political Economy, 106(6): 1113–55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mahoney, J. (2000). ‘Path dependence in historical sociology.’ Theory and Society, 29 (4) 507–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Manne, H. (1965). ‘Mergers and the market for corporate control.’ Journal of Political Economy, 73 (2): 110–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Martynova, M. and Renneboog, L. (2005). ‘Takeover waves: triggers, performance and motives’. ECGI–Finance Working Paper no. 97.

    Google Scholar 

  • Milhaupt, C. (2005). ‘In the shadow of Delaware? The rise of hostile takeovers in Japan’. Columbia Law School, Center for Law and Economic Studies, Working Paper no. 278.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pagano, M. and Volpin, P. (2005). ‘The political economy of corporate governance’. American Economic Review, 95 (4): 1005–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paunescu, M. and Schneider, M. (2004). ‘Wettbewerbsfaehigkeit und dynamik institutioneller standortbedingungen: ein empirischer test des “varieties of capitalism”’. Ansatzes: University of Trier.

    Google Scholar 

  • Podolny, J. M. (2001). ‘Networks as the pipes and prisms of the market’. American Journal of Sociology, 107(1): 33–60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rossi, S. and Volpin, P. (2003). ‘Cross-country determinants of mergers and acquisitions’. ECGI–Finance Working Paper no. 25.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schnitzer, M. (1995). ‘“Breach of trust” in takeovers and the optimal corporate charter’. Journal of Industrial Economics, 43 (3): 29–259.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vitols, S. (2001). ‘The origins of bank-based and market-based financial systems: Germany, Japan, and the United States’. In W. Streeck and K. Yamamura (eds), The origins of nonliberal capitalism: Germany and Japan in comparison ( Ithaca: Cornell University Press ).

    Google Scholar 

  • Vitols, S. (2005). ‘Changes in Germany’s bank-based financial system: implications for corporate governance’. Corporate Governance: an International Review, 13 (3): 386–96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White, H. C. (2002). Markets from networks: socioeconomic models of production ( Prince-ton, NJ: Princeton University Press).

    Google Scholar 

  • Yamamura, K. and Streeck, W. (eds) (2003). The end of diversity? Prospects of German and Japanese capitalism ( Ithaca: Cornell University Press ).

    Google Scholar 

  • Yanagawa, N. (2007). ‘The rise of bank-related corporate revival funds’. In M. Aoki, G. Jackson and H. Miyajima (eds), Corporate governance in Japan: institutional change and organizational diversity ( Oxford: Oxford University Press ).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Copyright information

© 2008 Gregory Jackson and Hideaki Miyajima

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Jackson, G., Miyajima, H. (2008). A Comparison of Mergers and Acquisitions in Japan, Europe and the United States. In: Strange, R., Jackson, G. (eds) Corporate Governance and International Business. The Academy of International Business. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230285743_11

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics