Do frequent acquirers learn from their experience in serial mergers? A recent stream of literature has proposed that the generally observed declining investor response (cumulative abnormal returns) to successive acquisitions by frequent acquirers may be evidence of learning, rather than the result of commonly attributed causes such as managerial hubris or empire building. We examine the learning hypothesis on a global scale, using a sample of 13,326 publicly listed acquiring firms representing 72 nations conducting 27,305 acquisitions over the period 1984–2014. Our results provide evidence of institutional-based differences in acquirer learning on a global scale in the valuation of private targets. In contrast, we find evidence of hubris in takeovers of public targets, especially in the United States, and other competitive takeover markets, where acquirers experience persistent, significant losses over successive acquisitions, while targets continue to reap significant gains throughout the acquisition sequence.

中文翻译：

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串行合并中的学习：来自全球样本的证据

频繁的收购者是否会从他们在连续并购中的经验中吸取教训？最近的一系列文献提出，普遍观察到的投资者对频繁收购者连续收购的反应下降（累积异常回报）可能是学习的证据，而不是通常归因于管理狂妄或帝国建设等原因的结果。我们使用代表 72 个国家的 13,326 家公开上市收购公司的样本在 1984 年至 2014 年期间进行了 27,305 次收购，在全球范围内检验了学习假设。我们的结果提供了证据，证明在全球范围内收购方在私有目标估值方面的学习存在基于制度的差异。相比之下，我们发现在收购公共目标时存在狂妄自大的证据，尤其是在美国和其他竞争性收购市场，