Peer Effects in Corporate Decision Making: Mechanisms Influencing M&A Activity

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6239-672-2_44How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Peer effect; M&A decision; Information acquisition; Market competition

Abstract

This study investigates the mechanisms underlying the peer effect in merger and acquisition (M&A) decisions using a sample of Chinese A-share listed companies from 2014 to 2023. Employing a two-stage regression model, the analysis yields several key findings. First, there is a significant industry-level peer effect in M&A activities; a firm’s probability of making an M&A decision is strongly and positively influenced by the M&A activities of its industry peers. Second, the magnitude of this effect varies by firm size. Specifically, the M&A decisions of small enterprises within an industry are substantially shaped by the actions of their peers. In contrast, for large enterprises, this peer influence is not statistically significant. Third, the intensity of market competition plays a crucial moderating role. The peer effect is pronounced and highly significant in industries characterized by intense competition while this effect becomes insignificant in industries with either low levels of competition or high levels of oligopoly. These findings provide nuanced insights into corporate investment behavior.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Jingwen Chen
AU  - Yujin Shen
AU  - Yifan Zhu
AU  - Yihan Zang
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/05/12
TI  - Peer Effects in Corporate Decision Making: Mechanisms Influencing M&A Activity
BT  - Proceedings of the 2026 3rd International Conference on Applied Economics, Management Science and Social Development (AEMSS 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 465
EP  - 473
SN  - 2352-5428
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-672-2_44
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-672-2_44
ID  - Chen2026
ER  -