Essays on Behavioral Finance: Strategic and Financial Decision-Making in Mergers and Acquisitions

The scope of this dissertation encompasses empirical studies on the decision-making behavior and interactions of advisors, executives, and investors in the MA field. The studies indicate positive effects of both target and acquirer advisors on deal completion and prices. The unexpected positive price effect of acquirer advisors is further supported by evidence for higher premiums and lower announcement bidder returns. The causal interpretation is established with instrumental-variable approaches, making use of the impact of Lehman’s collapse on former Lehman clients. The findings are explained in terms of governance: advisors’ and executives’ incentives form a potential source of value destruction. Further, the results show that advisors' industry and country experience is significantly associated with the effectiveness of buy-side advisors in terms of announcement returns for their clients