Mapping the Academic Research on Mergers and Acquisition

Resumen

This paper examines the scientific production in the area of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) published in Brazil and abroad. The study period goes from 1984 to 2006, using eight international and six Brazilian periodicals, containing a total of 16,640 articles, 366 of them on mergers and acquisitions, of which 101 deal with the themes of synergy or financial performance of acquisitions. Following a similar methodology for national and international articles, we grouped the articles chosen by periodical, authors and number of authors per article. The findings show that the number of published articles on the theme increased over the study period, although with some fluctuations. Also, Lubatkin, Luo and Sing were the researchers with the largest number of articles published. Finally, Journal of International Business Studies, Strategic Management Journal and Academy of Management Journal, respectively, were the periodicals with the most articles published in the M&A area.