Using a large international sample of 35,798 cross-border acquisition (CBA) deals, we find strong evidence that economic freedom distance affects long-run post-acquisition performance and ownership level. We build our arguments using organizational imprinting theory to show that greater economic freedom distance leads to higher post-acquisition performance. However, our findings show that greater ownership level in the target firm adversely affects the imprinting effects in CBA deals. In addition to arbitrage advantages, higher economic freedom distance increases information asymmetry risks for MNEs, prompting them to opt for lower ownership levels. Finally, we demonstrate that ownership decisions of MNEs from emerging economies differ significantly from those that domicile in developed countries.

中文翻译：

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经济自由距离是否会影响跨国收购中的长期收购后绩效和所有权水平？

我们使用35,798个跨境并购（CBA）交易的大量国际样本，发现强有力的证据表明经济自由度会影响长期的并购后绩效和所有权水平。我们使用组织烙印理论建立论点，以表明更大的经济自由距离导致更高的收购后绩效。但是，我们的发现表明，目标公司更高的所有权水平会对CBA交易的烙印效果产生不利影响。除套利优势外，较高的经济自由距离还增加了跨国公司的信息不对称风险，促使它们选择较低的所有权水平。最后，我们证明了新兴经济体的跨国公司的所有权决定与发达国家的决定大不相同。