Abstract:
Using the manually collected data of CEOs' financial and accounting education experience from A-share listed companies during 2008 to 2016, we find in this paper that CEOs who had received financial and accounting education could play a professional role in M&A decision-making and improve M&A performance. The positive effect of CEOs' financial and accounting education experience on M&A performance is more significant in non-SOEs, especially those with stronger supervision and incentives to CEOs. Further tests show that CEOs with financial and accounting education experience improve the efficiency of M&A by reducing the premium, shortening the duration and promoting the synergistic effect of M&A. From the perspective of M&A performance, this paper provides empirical evidence for the economic value of financial and accounting education.