The DOI matches its OpenAlex record; 56 of the 56 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Human Capital, Shared Expertise, and the Likelihood of Impasse in Corporate Acquisitions
Abstract
Human capital often cannot be acquired in efficient labor markets due to poor information or firm-specific skills that develop over time. Since such knowledge may be critical to firms building a strategic capability, it is not surprising that many acquisitions occur in human capital-intensive industries. Yet, the uncertainty associated with human capital increases the risk of overbidding. If the buyer bids conservatively, the target may reject the offer or rival bidders may emerge. In contrast, aggressive bidders may need to back out of the transaction if due diligence reveals unanticipated risks. Either way, impasse is more likely for targets in human capital-intensive industries. This study explores whether a shared expertise mitigates these hazards. Findings suggest that similar expertise is particularly important when acquiring human capital-intensive targets. Transactions involving unrelated buyers of such targets are less likely to close. This has implications for diversification theory and the resource-based view.
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Citations
Cites
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Cited by
Signaling Theory: A Review and Assessment
Connelly, B. L., Certo, S. T., Ireland, R. D., & Reutzel, C. R. (2011) · Journal of Management · doi:10.1177/0149206310388419 · Cited by 6,735
Emergence of the Human Capital Resource: A Multilevel Model
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Application of signaling theory in management research: Addressing major gaps in theory
Taj, S. A. (2016) · European Management Journal · doi:10.1016/j.emj.2016.02.001 · Cited by 369
Integrating strategic human capital and strategic human resource management
Boon, C., Eckardt, R., Lepak, D. P., & Boselie, P. (2018) · The International Journal of Human Resource Management · doi:10.1080/09585192.2017.1380063 · Cited by 354
Shaw, J. D., Park, T., & Kim, E. (2013) · Strategic Management Journal · doi:10.1002/smj.2025 · Cited by 277
Metadata
- Authors
- Coff, R. W.
- Venue
- Journal of Management
- Publisher
- SAGE Publishing
- Published
- 2002-02-01
- Volume
- 28
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 107-128
- ISSN
- 0149-2063 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2136671122
- Cited by
- 331
- References
- 56
- FWCI
- 36.51
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
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Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).
Semantic Scholar’s data is described in: Kinney, R., et al. (2023). The Semantic Scholar Open Data Platform. arXiv:2301.10140.
