The Trade and Welfare Effects of Mergers in Space

This paper analyzes the consequences of cross-border mergers in a spatial framework, thereby distinguishing three channels of influence: a price increase due to the elimination of product market competition, an adjustment in plant location which reduces overall transportation cost expenditures, and a harmonization in production costs due to a technology transfer within the firm. The welfare analysis illustrates that larger countries are better off after the merger. By contrast, smaller countries may lose, if the pre-merger production cost differential across firms is negligible and/or a post-merger technology transfer across production sites is infeasible. Furthermore, the analysis provides novel insights into the trade pattern effects of a merger. In this respect, the main result of the paper is that an adjustment of plant location in space can reverse the direction of (net) trade flows.