Abstract
This study analyzed the interdependencies between employment and accounting measures, in order to evaluate the merger effects during the period of the economic crisis in Greece. More specifically, the study analyses five accounting measures in comparison to the total number of employees, as financial ratios, from a sample of all Greek listed firms in the Athens Exchange that executed one merger in the period from 2009 to 2013 as acquirers. From the analysis of the results, it is clear that the mergers had no effect on employment and labor productivity for the whole sample firms merged from 2009 to 2013 and the productivity of workers have not improved significantly after the mergers. Lastly, the study examined the industry differentiation of labor productivity after mergers. The results reveal, in general, a better performance for the commerce and services (CMS) firms from the sample in contrast to the three other basic industry categories: Primary sector (PRI), industrial sector (IND), and constructions and building materials (CNΒ). Key words: Mergers, employment, labor productivity, ratios.
Highlights
Mergers have been a worldwide business development tactic and commonly accepted as one of the mechanisms by which firms gain access to new resources and via resource redeployment, increase revenues and reduce cost (Leepsa and Mishra, 2013; Omoye and Aniefor, 2016)
This study analyzes the effect of mergers on employment and labor productivity with the analysis of acquiring firms after the merger transactions
The final sample of the study includes thirty one Greek firms listed on the Athens Exchange (Greece) with a merger event during a five-year-period
Summary
Mergers have been a worldwide business development tactic and commonly accepted as one of the mechanisms by which firms gain access to new resources and via resource redeployment, increase revenues and reduce cost (Leepsa and Mishra, 2013; Omoye and Aniefor, 2016). There is always an impact of mergers on business activity and firms‟ human factor (the workers at every management level), which are one of the most valuable assets of an organization. While the existing literature on mergers analyzes their impact on business activity and human factor from several aspects and using several methodologies, “there is very little systematic empirical evidence on the employment effects of mergers and almost none outside the USA” (Conyon et al, 2002: 32). An explanatory study for the UK market was conducted by Conyon et al (2002), while till there are few studies outside the US and UK market that examine the impact of mergers on employment effects. There are many research methods (both qualitative and quantitative) over the last years for the examination of an empirical problem, such as the employment effects from merger activities. Conyon et al (2002) argue that the limited extant literature on US market exhibits a variety of sampling procedures and methodologies, while there is no clear consensus on research methodology, as well as on expected findings from a research
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