Sources of value in takeovers: Synergy or restructuring–implications for target and bidder firms

Advocates of the market for corporate control argue that takeover bids should be accepted because unsuccessful targets tend to lose market value. Other researchers argue that takeover bids should be rejected because the combined firms often perform poorly. However, missing in this debate is the influence of the source of takeover gains on the decision to reject or accept takeover bids. This study posits that value from takeovers can be created by synergy or restructuring. The study suggests that only if the synergy component is dominant should the target firm agree to be taken over. The study then tests the dominance of the source of value in takeovers by examining takeovers that were unsuccessful. The study concludes that, first, restructuring, not synergy, motivated the sample studied and target firms can create the same value independently. Second the need for restructuring was industry-wide. However, even if restructuring is the motive behind a takeover, the target firm has to carry out the restructuring, failing which it does not create any value. The study also suggests reasons for the ambiguous findings in the strategic management merger literature.     

Paying the expected externality for a price quote achieves bargaining efficiency

A seller and buyer have reservation prices x and y. Each has a subjective distribution on the other's reservation price. Paying an offer or the expected benefit the other participant receives from his offer induces honest price quotations, hence efficiency: sale iff y> x.     

Channel design,coordination, and performance: Future research directions

The marketing literature has made significant progress toward a better understanding of how firms can effectively design and manage their channels of distribution. However, the complexity of today’s channel systems raises additional issues that remain unaddressed. The purpose of this article is to suggest promising research directions in this domain. We suggest several possible avenues to relate multiple channel design and management to channel-system, channel-relationship, and customer-level outcomes. In particular, we see a great opportunity to integrate multichannel customer management and traditional channel design research. We argue that future research should account for cross-level effects and incorporate variables at more than one relationship level.     

EXTREMIST PLATFORMS: POLITICAL CONSEQUENCES OF PROFIT-SEEKING MEDIA

We analyze how information about candidate quality affects the choice of electoral platforms made by an office-motivated political challenger. The incumbent is of known quality and located at the ideal policy of the voter. The voter cares for both policy and the candidates' quality and can learn about the challenger's quality by buying information. A high-quality challenger then has an incentive to signal her quality by choosing a policy that induces the voter to buy information. We first study the benchmark case in which the information is supplied exogenously, and its quality is independent of the challenger's platform; this yields multiple equilibria and indeterminacy of equilibrium platforms. By contrast, when the information is supplied by a profit-maximizing media outlet, its quality depends on the challenger's platform and we obtain a unique equilibrium platform. In particular, when the incumbent's quality is relatively low, the media coverage rises and the challenger's platform diverges further from the voter's ideal policy as the voter's preference for quality increases.     

流行文化批判(节选)

文化批评1992年,在纪念伯明翰学派文化研究十周年的研讨会上,斯图尔特霍尔(StuartHall)以批判的口吻说起美国文化研究在理论上已变得流利无比。他说他并不是要英国同行向美国文化研究学习。问题不在于美国文化研究没有能力对文化领域的权力进行理论分析和总结,也不在于它把历史和政治关系从文化领域剥离。相反,他认为美国文化研究现在可以无边际、无休止地从理论上论述权力——政治、种族、阶级、性别、征服、统治、排斥、边缘化、     

Financial literacy: A comparative study across four countries

This study analysed differences in financial literacy across four countries: Canada, Italy, the UK and the US. The purpose was to understand whether factors associated with financial literacy in one country can be generalized to other countries as well or whether unique national characteristics make it necessary to examine financial literacy in each country individually. A financial literacy index, based on the number of correct answers to four multiple‐choice questions, was used to test the relevance of country of origin to financial literacy. Results suggest significant differences among countries indicating that there are national and cultural differences in what households know and need to know about their personal finances. Policy makers should consider these differences when developing financial literacy assessment tools for their respective countries.     

Failed takeover attempts,corporate governance and refocusing

Hostile takeover attempts oftentimes signal that a target firm has an over‐diversified and ineffective corporate strategy. What does this signal mean when takeover attempts fail? Drawing from agency theory, we argue that target firms managed by independent directory boards are likely to ignore the takeover attempt and not refocus their firms' strategy. Conversely, target firms managed by nonindependent boards are more likely to view the failed takeover attempt as a ‘wake‐up call’ and will refocus their firms' strategy so as to preserve the firm's survival. These arguments are tested using a sample of 76 firms that were targets of failed hostile takeover attempts. Logistic regression analyses confirm the predictions. This study suggests that in the aftermath of a failed takeover attempt board of director characteristics can help predict changes in corporate strategies. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.