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Success in cross-border M&A deals: Can ESG performance be a countervailing force against political risk?

  • Boying Xu
  • , Abay Mulatu

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    102 Downloads (Pure)

    Abstract

    This paper explores how acquiring firms from emerging markets can mitigate political-risk concerns from host countries in Cross-Border Mergers & Acquisitions (CBM&As) deals by leveraging their Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) practices. Utilizing data from Chinese CBM&As activities from 2010 to 2018, we find that while relative political risk concerns deter deal completion rate, higher ESG standards of acquirer firms reduce this deterrence effect. The results remain robust to considering ‘duration of deal completion’ as an alternative variable and when splitting the target sample countries into developed and emerging economies. The key conclusion is that emerging market multinational companies can effectively employ ESG as a strategic tool for internationalisation, enabling them to overcome some of the inherent ‘liabilities of origin’.
    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)146-155
    Number of pages10
    JournalEconomics and Business Letters
    Volume14
    Issue number3
    Early online date23 Jun 2025
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Sept 2025

    Bibliographical note

    Publisher Copyright:
    © 2025, Oviedo University Press. All rights reserved.
    The works are published in the online edition of the journal under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-Non Derives 3.0 Spain (legal text). You can copy, use, distribute, transmit and publicly display, provided that: i) you cite the author and the original source of publication (journal, publisher and URL of the work), ii) they are not used for commercial purposes, iii) mentions the existence and specifications of this license.

    Keywords

    • Mergers & acquisitions; Deal completion; Political risk; ESG

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