ABSTRACT

Against the background of increasingly serious goodwill impairment, it is important to explore the comprehensive effects triggered by goodwill impairment. This paper explores the economic consequences of goodwill impairment from the perspective of subsequent merging and acquisition (M&A) decision, and attempts to interpret it from the psychological theory of loss aversion effects. The empirical results show that: (1) the firms with goodwill impairment experience decreasing significantly M&A scale and frequency in the future; (2) the results above are more pronounced for the corporates with those managers who are not over-confident, and have more defensive strategies, and higher financing constraints; (3) goodwill impairment improves firm’s investment efficiency by reducing over-investment, and improves subsequent M&A performance. Above results imply that goodwill impairment may prompt managers to be more cautious in M&A activities, and make more value-added subsequent acquisitions. Our findings have important implications for understanding the comprehensive impact of goodwill impairment on corporate M&A decision-making.

摘要

在商誉减值问题日益严重的背景下，探讨商誉减值引发的综合影响显得尤为重要。本文从后续并购决策的角度探讨商誉减值的经济后果，并尝试从损失厌恶效应的心理学理论对其进行解释。实证结果表明：（1）有商誉减值经历的企业未来并购规模和频率显着下降；(2)上述结果对于管理者不过度自信、防御策略较多、融资约束较高的公司更为显着；(3)商誉减值通过减少过度投资提高企业投资效率，提高后续并购绩效。以上结果暗示商誉减值可能促使管理者在并购活动中更加谨慎，并进行更多增值的后续收购。我们的研究结果对于理解商誉减值对企业并购决策的综合影响具有重要意义。