Assessing the effects of the network of strategic alliances on M&A decisions: some empirical evidence from the US semiconductor industry

Much of the literature on mergers and acquisitions focused on the motives of these transactions. The most common arguments involve transaction costs theory, the seek for synergies or market power, industry shocks, agency problems between managers and shareholders, and management's hubris. This work shifts the question from "why firms acquire" towards a "who acquires whom" framework. In doing so it leaves a single-firm focus and assumes a dyadic perspective.