Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/323771 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Citation: 
[Journal:] Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management [ISSN:] 1535-3966 [Volume:] 32 [Issue:] 4 [Publisher:] John Wiley & Sons, Inc. [Place:] Chichester, UK [Year:] 2025 [Pages:] 4448-4461
Publisher: 
John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Chichester, UK
Abstract: 
This study examines the role of a target firm's corporate social responsibility (CSR) commitment in the target selection process in mergers and acquisitions (M&A), with a particular focus on how strategic motives shape this relationship. Contrary to the extant literature, which has largely overlooked the interplay between CSR and M&A strategy, this study differentiates between horizontal (within‐industry) and diversifying (across‐industry) M&A transactions. By doing so, this study builds upon previous analyses and illuminates how CSR can be a pivotal factor in M&A decisions, contingent on the strategic motives of the acquirer. Thus, this study positions CSR as an intangible asset that can influence M&A decisions, based on the resource‐based view (RBV) of the firm. The analysis, based on a sample of 3,447 firms from 2009 to 2020, employs logistic regression models and propensity score matching (PSM) techniques to test the relationship between CSR and M&A target selection. The findings indicate that CSR commitment exerts a more substantial influence on the attractiveness of targets in horizontal M&A, compared to diversifying M&A. Furthermore, the environmental dimension of CSR has been identified to be a particularly salient factor in the context of horizontal M&A transactions.
Subjects: 
CSR
ESG
horizontal M&A
M&A
resource‐based view
target selection
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by Logo
Document Type: 
Article
Document Version: 
Published Version

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