IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/finana/v96y2024ipas1057521924005271.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The innovation effect of digital M&As: Evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Tang, Haodan
  • Liang, Jiaxuan
  • Fang, Senhui

Abstract

Digital mergers and acquisitions (M&As) have gained global momentum. However, whether digital M&As can effectively stimulate corporate innovation awaits further research. This paper evaluates the causal effect of digital M&As on corporate innovation using data from digital M&As and patents of Chinese A-share listed companies. Our findings indicate that digital M&As significantly promote the quantity and quality of acquirers' innovation, which still holds after various robustness tests and exhibits heterogeneity in different dimensions such as transactions, acquirers, and targets. Mechanism tests further reveal that knowledge synergy, financial synergy, and human capital structure upgrading are critical channels through which digital M&As promote the acquirers' innovation.

Suggested Citation

  • Tang, Haodan & Liang, Jiaxuan & Fang, Senhui, 2024. "The innovation effect of digital M&As: Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 96(PA).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:finana:v:96:y:2024:i:pa:s1057521924005271
    DOI: 10.1016/j.irfa.2024.103595
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1057521924005271
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.irfa.2024.103595?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. Volker Nocke & Stephen Yeaple, 2008. "An Assignment Theory of Foreign Direct Investment," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 75(2), pages 529-557.
    2. Clément de Chaisemartin & Xavier D'Haultfœuille, 2020. "Two-Way Fixed Effects Estimators with Heterogeneous Treatment Effects," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(9), pages 2964-2996, September.
    3. Dominique Guellec, 2020. "Digital Innovation and the Distribution of Income," NBER Chapters, in: Measuring and Accounting for Innovation in the Twenty-First Century, pages 323-370, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Tan, Youchao & Liu, Xiumei & Sun, Hanwen & Zeng, Cheng(Colin), 2022. "Population ageing, labour market rigidity and corporate innovation: Evidence from China," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(2).
    5. Cui, Huijie & Chi-Moon Leung, Sidney, 2020. "The long-run performance of acquiring firms in mergers and acquisitions: Does managerial ability matter?," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(1).
    6. Hainmueller, Jens, 2012. "Entropy Balancing for Causal Effects: A Multivariate Reweighting Method to Produce Balanced Samples in Observational Studies," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(1), pages 25-46, January.
    7. Stiebale, Joel, 2016. "Cross-border M&As and innovative activity of acquiring and target firms," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 1-15.
    8. Annette L. Ranft & Michael D. Lord, 2002. "Acquiring New Technologies and Capabilities: A Grounded Model of Acquisition Implementation," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 13(4), pages 420-441, August.
    9. Cohn, Jonathan B. & Liu, Zack & Wardlaw, Malcolm I., 2022. "Count (and count-like) data in finance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(2), pages 529-551.
    10. Youngjin Yoo & Richard J. Boland & Kalle Lyytinen & Ann Majchrzak, 2012. "Organizing for Innovation in the Digitized World," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(5), pages 1398-1408, October.
    11. Maria Guadalupe & Olga Kuzmina & Catherine Thomas, 2012. "Innovation and Foreign Ownership," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(7), pages 3594-3627, December.
    12. Bronwyn H. Hall & Adam Jaffe & Manuel Trajtenberg, 2005. "Market Value and Patent Citations," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 36(1), pages 16-38, Spring.
    13. Ornaghi, Carmine, 2009. "Mergers and innovation in big pharma," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 70-79, January.
    14. Stiebale, Joel & Vencappa, Dev, 2018. "Acquisitions, markups, efficiency, and product quality: Evidence from India," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 70-87.
    15. Isil Erel & Rose C. Liao & Michael S. Weisbach, 2012. "Determinants of Cross‐Border Mergers and Acquisitions," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 67(3), pages 1045-1082, June.
    16. Jeffrey M Wooldridge, 2010. "Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 2, volume 1, number 0262232588, December.
    17. 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.
    18. Szücs, Florian, 2014. "M&A and R&D: Asymmetric Effects on acquirers and targets?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(7), pages 1264-1273.
    19. Block, Joern & Fisch, Christian & Vismara, Silvio & Andres, René, 2019. "Private equity investment criteria: An experimental conjoint analysis of venture capital, business angels, and family offices," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 329-352.
    20. Erik Brynjolfsson & Tom Mitchell & Daniel Rock, 2018. "What Can Machines Learn, and What Does It Mean for Occupations and the Economy?," AEA Papers and Proceedings, American Economic Association, vol. 108, pages 43-47, May.
    21. Denicolò, Vincenzo & Polo, Michele, 2018. "Duplicative research, mergers and innovation," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 56-59.
    22. Brucal, Arlan & Javorcik, Beata & Love, Inessa, 2019. "Good for the environment, good for business: Foreign acquisitions and energy intensity," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    23. Doruk Cengiz & Arindrajit Dube & Attila Lindner & Ben Zipperer, 2019. "The Effect of Minimum Wages on Low-Wage Jobs," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 134(3), pages 1405-1454.
    24. Stiebale, Joel, 2013. "The impact of cross-border mergers and acquisitions on the acquirers' R&D — Firm-level evidence," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 307-321.
    25. Iacus, Stefano M. & King, Gary & Porro, Giuseppe, 2011. "Multivariate Matching Methods That Are Monotonic Imbalance Bounding," Journal of the American Statistical Association, American Statistical Association, vol. 106(493), pages 345-361.
    26. Edwards, Alexander & Todtenhaupt, Maximilian, 2020. "Capital gains taxation and funding for start-ups," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(2), pages 549-571.
    27. Wang, Zhe & Jiang, Dianchun & Zhang, Ming, 2024. "Seeking new location advantages: Analysis of emerging digital cross-border M&As—Based on TIMG index," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 33(2).
    28. Marianna Makri & Michael A. Hitt & Peter J. Lane, 2010. "Complementary technologies, knowledge relatedness, and invention outcomes in high technology mergers and acquisitions," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(6), pages 602-628, June.
    29. Federico, Giulio & Langus, Gregor & Valletti, Tommaso, 2018. "Reprint of: Horizontal mergers and product innovation," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 590-612.
    30. Kong, Dongmin & Zhang, Bohui & Zhang, Jian, 2022. "Higher education and corporate innovation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    31. Federico, Giulio & Langus, Gregor & Valletti, Tommaso, 2018. "Horizontal mergers and product innovation," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 1-23.
    32. Sternal, M. & Schiereck, D., 2019. "Do Digital Giants Create Value by Mergers and Acquisitions?," Publications of Darmstadt Technical University, Institute for Business Studies (BWL) 117126, Darmstadt Technical University, Department of Business Administration, Economics and Law, Institute for Business Studies (BWL).
    33. Gautam Ahuja & Riitta Katila, 2001. "Technological acquisitions and the innovation performance of acquiring firms: a longitudinal study," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(3), pages 197-220, March.
    34. John Qi Dong & Chia-Han Yang, 2019. "Information technology and innovation outcomes: is knowledge recombination the missing link?," European Journal of Information Systems, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(6), pages 612-626, November.
    35. Baker, Andrew C. & Larcker, David F. & Wang, Charles C.Y., 2022. "How much should we trust staggered difference-in-differences estimates?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(2), pages 370-395.
    36. Lu, Jin & Li, Yaling, 2024. "How does corporate venture capital enhance incumbents' innovation? Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    37. Callaway, Brantly & Sant’Anna, Pedro H.C., 2021. "Difference-in-Differences with multiple time periods," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 225(2), pages 200-230.
    38. Tang, Haodan & Fang, Senhui & Jiang, Dianchun, 2022. "The market value effect of digital mergers and acquisitions: Evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    39. Liu, Guanchun & Liu, Hangjuan & Liu, Yuanyuan & Yang, Jinyu & Zhang, Yanren, 2024. "Personal income tax and corporate innovation: The key role of inventors’ financial incentives," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    40. Fuchs, Florian & Füss, Roland & Jenkinson, Tim & Morkoetter, Stefan, 2021. "Winning a deal in private equity: Do educational ties matter?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    41. Li, Pei & Lu, Yi & Wang, Jin, 2016. "Does flattening government improve economic performance? Evidence from China," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 18-37.
    42. Sathyajit R Gubbi & Preet S Aulakh & Sougata Ray & M B Sarkar & Raveendra Chittoor, 2010. "Do international acquisitions by emerging-economy firms create shareholder value? The case of Indian firms," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 41(3), pages 397-418, April.
    43. Lattanzio, Gabriele & Ma, Yue, 2023. "Cybersecurity risk and corporate innovation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 82(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. Tang, Haodan & Fang, Senhui & Jiang, Dianchun, 2022. "The market value effect of digital mergers and acquisitions: Evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    2. García-Vega, María & Gupta, Apoorva & Kneller, Richard, 2023. "Is acquisition-FDI during an economic crisis detrimental for domestic innovation?," DICE Discussion Papers 403, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE).
    3. Haucap, Justus & Stiebale, Joel, 2023. "Non-price effects of mergers and acquisitions," DICE Discussion Papers 402, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE).
    4. Liang, Peng & Liang, Lin & Tang, Xinhui, 2024. "The impact of digital-oriented mergers and acquisitions on enterprise labor demand," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 96(PB).
    5. García-Vega, María & Hofmann, Patricia & Kneller, Richard, 2019. "Multinationals and the globalization of R&D," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 583-614.
    6. Qiao, Lu & Dong, Weijia & Lv, Xin, 2023. "The heterogeneous impacts of M&As on renewable energy firms’ innovation: Comparative analysis of China, the US and EU," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 306-323.
    7. Xiaoxu Zhang & Yu Song & Hongyu Liu, 2023. "Too Much of a Good Thing? The Impact of Serial M&A on Innovation Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(12), pages 1-23, June.
    8. 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.
    9. Lefouili, Yassine & Madio, Leonardo, 2025. "Mergers and Investments: Where Do We Stand?," TSE Working Papers 25-1617, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE).
    10. Joel Stiebale & Florian Szücs, 2022. "Mergers and market power: evidence from rivals' responses in European markets," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 53(4), pages 678-702, December.
    11. Stiebale, Joel, 2016. "Cross-border M&As and innovative activity of acquiring and target firms," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 1-15.
    12. Cabolis, C. & Manasakis, C. & Moreno, D. & Petrakis, E., 2021. "The interactions of R&D investments and horizontal mergers," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 187(C), pages 507-534.
    13. Son, Sung Hyun & Kim, Young-Han, 2024. "Does cross-border M&A improve merging firms’ domestic performances?," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    14. Castelnovo, Paolo & Clò, Stefano & Florio, Massimo, 2023. "A quasi-experimental design to assess the innovative impact of public procurement: An application to the Italian space industry," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    15. Bennato, Anna Rita & Davies, Stephen & Mariuzzo, Franco & Ormosi, Peter, 2021. "Mergers and innovation: Evidence from the hard disk drive market," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    16. Wu, Xianming & Wang, Maoqiong & Cui, Victor, 2024. "Are proactive outbound cross-border mergers and acquisitions effective for firms' R&D? New evidence from emerging market enterprises," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 30(4).
    17. Calvano, Emilio & Polo, Michele, 2021. "Market power, competition and innovation in digital markets: A survey," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    18. Liu, Chen & Yang, Wei, 2023. "Does social insurance stimulate business creation? Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    19. Heller, David, 2024. "Financial market integration and the effects of financing constraints on innovation," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(4).
    20. Duan, Wenqi & Jiang, Mingming & Qi, Jianhong, 2024. "Poverty or pollution: The environmental cost of E-commerce for poverty reduction in China," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Digital M&As; Corporate innovation; Knowledge synergy; Financial synergy; Human capital;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives

    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:finana:v:96:y:2024:i:pa:s1057521924005271. 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/inca/620166 .

    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.