1. Discuss the effect of the following variables on merger activity:

The growth rate of GDP

Interest rate levels

Interest rate risk premiums

Monetary stringency

2. What percentage of gross domestic product is represented by M&A activity?

3. How do bidder returns vary with (1) the mode of payment and (2) the presence of single versus multiple bidders?

4. How does the presence of single versus multiple bidders affect the returns to the target (1) on the announcement date versus (2) subsequent to the announcement date?

5. Define target run-up? What are some possible reasons for run-up?

6. How might a premium paid for target firms be expected to vary with single versus multiple bidders?

7. How do bidder returns vary with (1) the mode of payment and (2) the presence of single versus multiple bidders?

8. What is the evidence on postmerger operating performance? How does this evidence relate to the event study results for combined returns at merger announcement?

9. What does the evidence of merger returns around banking deregulation say about the source of gains from takeover activity?

10. What are the theoretical predictions on combined merger returns for the (1) efficiency and (2) entrenchment theories? Which theory is supported by the empirical evidence on combined returns?

11. What are some possible reasons for the decline in takeover activity at the end of the 1980s and beginning of the 1990s

12. What is the evidence on postmerger operating performance? How does this evidence relate to the event study results for combined returns at merger announcement?

13. How do the estimation issues differ between event studies of merger announcement and the analysis of the long-term performance following mergers?

14. What is the evidence on the market power explanation for merger announcement gains?

15. What are some reasons why deregulation is associated with heightened merger activity?