Acquisition research is intensely concerned with how acquisitions affect economic value, primarily looking at shareholder value, while overlooking or ascribing other values a subordinate role. We argue that this is unnecessarily restrictive and leaves out important values in acquisitions. To remedy this state of affairs, we critically engage with the notion of value in acquisitions with the aim of enriching acquisition research by recognizing a multitude of values present in acquisitions but largely unrecognized as such in research. Arguing value is an umbrella construct, we adopt a stakeholder approach and conduct a problematizing review focusing on key studies of economic and non-economic values in acquisitions, also enriched with other acquisition and business literature. Apart from challenging the underpinning assumptions of the dominating view of value denoting acquiring shareholders’ financial wealth, we identify non-economic marginalized values that are only rarely studied, including justice or gender equality, and pertinent neglected values, including the natural environment. We propose a research agenda around a broader range of dynamic, multifaceted values.

收购研究密切关注收购如何影响经济价值，主要着眼于股东价值，同时忽视或将其他价值置于次要地位。我们认为，这是不必要的限制，并且遗漏了收购中的重要价值。为了纠正这种状况，我们批判性地探讨收购中的价值概念，目的是通过认识到收购中存在但在研究中基本上未被认识到的多种价值来丰富收购研究。争论价值是一个伞式结构，我们采用利益相关者的方法，并进行问题审查，重点关注收购中经济和非经济价值的关键研究，同时还丰富了其他收购和商业文献。除了挑战获取股东金融财富这一主流价值观念的基本假设外，我们还发现了很少被研究的非经济边缘化价值观，包括正义或性别平等，以及相关的被忽视的价值观，包括自然环境。我们围绕更广泛的动态、多方面的价值观提出了一个研究议程。