Acquiring foreign firms far away might be hazardous to your share price: evidence from Germany

This paper examines shareholder wealth effects of cross-border acquisitions. In a sample of 155 large acquisitions by German corporations from 1985–2006 international transactions in total do not lead to significant announcement returns. Geography, however, makes a difference: Shareholders of acquiring firms gain 6.5% in cross-border transactions into countries that have a common border with Germany but lose 4.4% in other international transactions. We find proximity to be one of the most important success factors in cross-border mergers and acquisitions, even when we control for firm, deal and country characteristics

Private label products as experience goods

Food retailing has become more concentrated and private label goods have spread over the last 40 years. Using a two-stage model in which consumers become informed about the quality of the good only in period 2, we examine what determines the presence or absence of private label experience goods in supermarkets. Our most novel result is that in the case of products purchased infrequently, producing a reputable private label is not sustainable. Retailer bargaining power increases the likelihood of a private label good being produced. Evidence from France is consistent with the main propositions

Mechanical and Systems Biology of Cancer

Mechanics and biochemical signaling are both often deregulated in cancer, leading to cancer cell phenotypes that exhibit increased invasiveness, proliferation, and survival. The dynamics and interactions of cytoskeletal components control basic mechanical properties, such as cell tension, stiffness, and engagement with the extracellular environment, which can lead to extracellular matrix remodeling. Intracellular mechanics can alter signaling and transcription factors, impacting cell decision making. Additionally, signaling from soluble and mechanical factors in the extracellular environment, such as substrate stiffness and ligand density, can modulate cytoskeletal dynamics. Computational models closely integrated with experimental support, incorporating cancer-specific parameters, can provide quantitative assessments and serve as predictive tools toward dissecting the feedback between signaling and mechanics and across multiple scales and domains in tumor progression.Comment: 18 pages, 3 figure