Associate Professor Ao Li, a researcher of the Base, has published a collaborative paper titled "The Impact of the 'Belt and Road' Initiative on the Performance of Cross-border Mergers and Acquisitions: A Quasi-Natural Experiment Based on National Top-Level Strategy" in the 2024 Issue 5, Volume 27 of the Journal of Management Sciences.

Journal of Management Science is recognized as a Class A (A*) journal in the management discipline by Zhongnan University of Economics and Law.

Abstract: How does the national top-level strategy affect the financial and innovation performance of micro-enterprises' cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A)? Although the study of this issue has both theoretical value and practical significance, it has long been neglected. This study constructs a quasi-natural experiment based on the introduction of the "Belt and Road" initiative, a national top-level strategy, and uses a difference-in-differences model to test the impact of the initiative on the financial and innovation performance of cross-border M&A of listed companies in China. The results show that after the initiative was proposed, compared with M&A in non-Belt and Road countries, Chinese listed companies' M&A in Belt and Road countries can significantly enhance the stock market performance, innovation output, and production efficiency post-acquisition. Further research on the impact mechanism of the "Belt and Road" initiative also reveals that the initiative mainly improves the political mutual trust and cultural exchanges between China and Belt and Road countries, optimizes the investment environment in the host countries, and introduces investment preferential policies to reduce the information communication costs and policy uncertainties in cross-border M&A, thereby enhancing the financial and innovation performance of cross-border M&A. This study not only deepens and expands the research in the field of cross-border M&A from the new perspective of national top-level strategy but also provides a scientific theoretical basis for the government to further promote the construction of the "Belt and Road".

Keywords: "Belt and Road" Initiative; Cross-border M&A; Stock Market Performance; Corporate Innovation; Production Efficiency

Link：https://jmsc.tju.edu.cn/jmsc/article/pdf/20240506

Teacher profile

Ao Li, a lecturer at the School of Finance, Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, specializes in corporate finance, corporate governance, and enterprise innovation. She graduated from the School of Management, Huazhong University of Science and Technology with a bachelor's degree in Accounting ACCA, received a master's degree in Accounting and Finance from the University of Sheffield in the UK, and completed her Ph.D. at the School of Management, Xiamen University, Department of Finance. Her papers have been published in academic journals at home and abroad, including Journal of the World Economy, Journal of Management Sciences in China, International Review of Financial Analysis, Energy Economics, International Review of Economics and Finance, Environmental Impact Assessment Review, etc. She is a member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).