Do Employee Interests Affect Target Board Decisions About Acquisition Offers? Evidence from Changes in Unemployment Insurance

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Guo, Lixiong; Kong, Jing; Masulis, Ronald W.
• 署名单位: University of Mississippi; University of Michigan System; University of Michigan; University of New South Wales Sydney
• 刊物名称: MANAGEMENT SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0025-1909
• DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2022.01379
• 发表日期: 2024
• 关键词: Mergers and acquisitions; Board of directors; stakeholder orientation; employee interests; unemployment insurance

摘要

We explore whether employee interests affect the evaluation of acquisition offers by target boards of directors. Exploiting changes in state unemployment insurance (UI) as sources of exogenous variation in worker unemployment costs, we find that lower unemployment costs increase acquisition activity. The adoption of state constituency statutes strengthens this relation. Boards of target firms having high labor intensity, low short-term institutional ownership, headquartered in low population or high social capital counties, and with female independent directors, more often strongly weight employee interests. Higher UI levels are also associated with larger postacquisition layoffs. Our evidence supports theories rationalizing target boards' consideration of employee interests.