UNIONIZATION AND ACQUISITIONS

This article explores the question of whether unionization influences the decision of a firm to merge with another firm. We combine merger d ata, taken from COMPUSTAT, with firm-specific union data obtained from several sources. An econometric matching model allows us to isolate t he effects of unionization on the probability that the firms studied w ill be involved in a merger. We find that unionization increases the l ikelihood that a firm will enter the acquisition market and that firms with similar union statuses tend to merge with one another.