{"id":{"repo_id":"vu-aus","oai_identifier":"oai:eprints.vu.edu.au:15969"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/vu-aus/oai:eprints.vu.edu.au:15969","repository":{"repo_id":"vu-aus","name":"Victoria University (Australia)","base_url":"https://vuir.vu.edu.au/cgi/oai2"},"display":{"title":"Mergers and acquisitions in Australia: reasons and timing","abstract":"This study addresses mergers and acquisitions in Australia, particularly fluctuations in the merger rate, the role of the business cycle in such fluctuations, the reasons for mergers and their role in explaining any cyclical variability and the parallels between the timing of merger fluctuations in Australia and in USA and UK. The international and Australian merger literature is reviewed, consistent merger data for Australia for 1949-2007 are assembled for the first time and both qualitative and econometric analyses are undertaken of merger trends and business cycles in the three countries. Six main conclusions are reached. First, the Australian merger rate has had a significant downward trend over 1949-2007, with pronounced periods of variability over time. Secondly, these fluctuations in the merger rate show clear pro-cyclical behaviour in some cycles but limited or no pro-cyclical variation in other cycles, a phenomenon we refer to as selective cyclical sensitivity. Thirdly, this finding is confirmed by simple econometric analyses: there are limited signs of the significance of a cyclical measure over the full period, but when the 1972-1984 period is excluded the cyclical variable is significant at the 5% level. Fourthly, merger reason variables do not appear to explain selective nature of cyclical sensitivity nor, fifthly, is there any evidence that merger reasons can explain the overall temporal pattern of merger waves in a systematic fashion. Finally, merger activity in Australia is closely correlated with that in UK, while there is no significant relationship between mergers patterns in Australia and USA.","abstract_html":"This study addresses mergers and acquisitions in Australia, particularly fluctuations in the merger rate, the role of the business cycle in such fluctuations, the reasons for mergers and their role in explaining any cyclical variability and the parallels between the timing of merger fluctuations in Australia and in USA and UK. The international and Australian merger literature is reviewed, consistent merger data for Australia for 1949-2007 are assembled for the first time and both qualitative and econometric analyses are undertaken of merger trends and business cycles in the three countries. Six main conclusions are reached. First, the Australian merger rate has had a significant downward trend over 1949-2007, with pronounced periods of variability over time. Secondly, these fluctuations in the merger rate show clear pro-cyclical behaviour in some cycles but limited or no pro-cyclical variation in other cycles, a phenomenon we refer to as selective cyclical sensitivity. Thirdly, this finding is confirmed by simple econometric analyses: there are limited signs of the significance of a cyclical measure over the full period, but when the 1972-1984 period is excluded the cyclical variable is significant at the 5% level. Fourthly, merger reason variables do not appear to explain selective nature of cyclical sensitivity nor, fifthly, is there any evidence that merger reasons can explain the overall temporal pattern of merger waves in a systematic fashion. Finally, merger activity in Australia is closely correlated with that in UK, while there is no significant relationship between mergers patterns in Australia and USA.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Karagiannidis, Socrates"],"institution":"Victoria University","degree_name":"other","degree_level":"other","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2010,"date_issued":"2010","date_published":"2010","updated_at":"2026-07-24T06:33:20Z","subjects":["1402 Applied Economics","Centre for Strategic Economic Studies (CSES)","1503 Business and Management"],"languages":["en"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":null,"outbound_label":null,"outbound_source":null},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Karagiannidis, Socrates"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2010"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2010"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.department","label":"Dc Publisher Department","values":["Centre for Strategic Economic Studies"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.institution","label":"Dc Publisher Institution","values":["Victoria University"]},{"key":"dc:relation.isreferencedby","label":"Dc Relation Isreferencedby","values":["https://vuir.vu.edu.au/15969/"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationlevel","label":"Dc Type Qualificationlevel","values":["other"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationname","label":"Dc Type Qualificationname","values":["other"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["1402 Applied Economics","Centre for Strategic Economic Studies (CSES)","1503 Business and Management"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://vuir.vu.edu.au/15969/3/KARAGIANNIDIS%20Socrates-thesis_nosignature.pdf"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This study addresses mergers and acquisitions in Australia, particularly fluctuations in the merger rate, the role of the business cycle in such fluctuations, the reasons for mergers and their role in explaining any cyclical variability and the parallels between the timing of merger fluctuations in Australia and in USA and UK. The international and Australian merger literature is reviewed, consistent merger data for Australia for 1949-2007 are assembled for the first time and both qualitative and econometric analyses are undertaken of merger trends and business cycles in the three countries. Six main conclusions are reached. First, the Australian merger rate has had a significant downward trend over 1949-2007, with pronounced periods of variability over time. Secondly, these fluctuations in the merger rate show clear pro-cyclical behaviour in some cycles but limited or no pro-cyclical variation in other cycles, a phenomenon we refer to as selective cyclical sensitivity. Thirdly, this finding is confirmed by simple econometric analyses: there are limited signs of the significance of a cyclical measure over the full period, but when the 1972-1984 period is excluded the cyclical variable is significant at the 5% level. Fourthly, merger reason variables do not appear to explain selective nature of cyclical sensitivity nor, fifthly, is there any evidence that merger reasons can explain the overall temporal pattern of merger waves in a systematic fashion. Finally, merger activity in Australia is closely correlated with that in UK, while there is no significant relationship between mergers patterns in Australia and USA."]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["text"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Mergers and acquisitions in Australia: reasons and timing"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Karagiannidis, Socrates"],"dc:date":["2010"],"dc:date.issued":["2010"],"dc:description.abstract":["This study addresses mergers and acquisitions in Australia, particularly fluctuations in the merger rate, the role of the business cycle in such fluctuations, the reasons for mergers and their role in explaining any cyclical variability and the parallels between the timing of merger fluctuations in Australia and in USA and UK. The international and Australian merger literature is reviewed, consistent merger data for Australia for 1949-2007 are assembled for the first time and both qualitative and econometric analyses are undertaken of merger trends and business cycles in the three countries. Six main conclusions are reached. First, the Australian merger rate has had a significant downward trend over 1949-2007, with pronounced periods of variability over time. Secondly, these fluctuations in the merger rate show clear pro-cyclical behaviour in some cycles but limited or no pro-cyclical variation in other cycles, a phenomenon we refer to as selective cyclical sensitivity. Thirdly, this finding is confirmed by simple econometric analyses: there are limited signs of the significance of a cyclical measure over the full period, but when the 1972-1984 period is excluded the cyclical variable is significant at the 5% level. Fourthly, merger reason variables do not appear to explain selective nature of cyclical sensitivity nor, fifthly, is there any evidence that merger reasons can explain the overall temporal pattern of merger waves in a systematic fashion. Finally, merger activity in Australia is closely correlated with that in UK, while there is no significant relationship between mergers patterns in Australia and USA."],"dc:format":["text"],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://vuir.vu.edu.au/15969/3/KARAGIANNIDIS%20Socrates-thesis_nosignature.pdf"],"dc:language":["en"],"dc:publisher.department":["Centre for Strategic Economic Studies"],"dc:publisher.institution":["Victoria University"],"dc:relation.isreferencedby":["https://vuir.vu.edu.au/15969/"],"dc:subject":["1402 Applied Economics","Centre for Strategic Economic Studies (CSES)","1503 Business and Management"],"dc:title":["Mergers and acquisitions in Australia: reasons and timing"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"dc:type.qualificationlevel":["other"],"dc:type.qualificationname":["other"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T06:33:20Z"}