How do regulatory costs affect mergers and acquisitions decisions and outcomes?

Regulations introduce substantial costs and constrain firms' cost structures. This paper introduces a firm-specific measure of regulatory costs and explores its role in mergers and acquisitions (M specifically, large (small) firms with high regulatory costs are likely to acquire (be acquired by) firms in the same industry. In contrast, regulatory costs do not have such an effect on cross-industry acquisitions. Herein, I introduce econometric techniques, including accounting for additional industry-specific variables, alternative regulatory cost measures, and difference-in-differences estimators, to address potential identification issues. Furthermore, regulatory costs drive acquisitions contributing to shareholders' wealth; hence, regulatory cost burden is a crucial factor in M&A decisions and outcomes.