The Role of National Corporate Governance in EU Acquisitions

Abstract The authors examine the role of national corporate governance characteristics on both the number of deals and the total value of acquisitions in 28 European countries between 2008 and 2015. In line with previous studies, our analysis suggests that deal value and number of acquisitions follow a cyclical trend but each with different peaks and troughs throughout the sample period. Likewise, we observe a positive relationship between the level of GDP and the number as well as the total value of acquisitions. Among the three types of corporate governance institutions, namely corporate ethics, accountability, and financial market development (efficiency), the authors find that efficiency and a relatively higher level of corporate ethics within the target country in comparison to the acquirer country are positively related to the value of acquisitions.