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The Oscar goes to…: High-tech firms’ acquisitions in response to rivals’ technology breakthroughs

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  • Chen, I-Ju
  • Hsu, Po-Hsuan
  • Officer, Micah S.
  • Wang, Yanzhi

Abstract

We examine how firms react to their competitors’ highly publicized technology breakthroughs measured by the renowned R&D 100 Award. These awards have been granted to top 100 technological inventions every year since 1965 and have come to be known as the “Oscar of Invention” (e.g., Verhoeven et al., 2016). We find that a firm's propensity to acquire another firm significantly increases after its competitors win these awards. A causal interpretation of our finding is supported by instrumental variable analysis, coarsened exact matched samples, and differential effects of award winners vs. finalists. Such award-driven acquisitiveness is more pronounced among firms with more confident CEOs or in industries with a shorter technology lifecycle and a higher R&D intensity. Moreover, the acquirers with rivals winning awards pursue innovative targets whose products overlap with those rivals, confirming these acquirers’ catch-up purpose.

Suggested Citation

  • Chen, I-Ju & Hsu, Po-Hsuan & Officer, Micah S. & Wang, Yanzhi, 2020. "The Oscar goes to…: High-tech firms’ acquisitions in response to rivals’ technology breakthroughs," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(7).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:respol:v:49:y:2020:i:7:s0048733320301566
    DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2020.104078
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Mergers and acquisitions; Peer pressure; R&D; Innovation; Patents; R&D 100 Award;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting
    • O32 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D

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