Riassunto analitico
The role of China in the global economic arena has undergone a profound transformation, generating significant concerns regarding the underlying motives of investments made in developed countries. Economic theory fears that these investments may be predatory in nature, aiming at the acquisition of technology and supported by the Chinese government, which is suspected of being also involved in the activities of private-owned companies and creating unfair competitive advantages. On the other hand, economic relations between the United States and the European Union collectively constitute the most integrated trade system in the world.
The aim of this study was to investigate the effects, in terms of performance, that Chinese and American acquisitions have had on Italian companies. Econometric analyses were carried out using data from Italian manufacturing firms from 2013 to 2021, divided into three groups: those acquired by Chinese investors, those acquired by American investors, and those without foreign ownership. Dummy variables representing the acquisitions were analyzed for their effect on seven key performance variables, with control variables taken into consideration. The results showed that companies acquired by Chinese investors performed better than those without foreign ownership in terms of sales revenues and the number of employees, while for productivity indicators they show the opposite results, possibly due to the longer post-acquisition time needed to exhibit their effects. Upon conducting a comparative analysis between the effects of American acquisitions and those of Chinese acquisitions, it was observed that the former exhibited superior performance in comparison to the latter, both in terms of sales revenues, number of employees, and productivity indicators. It is therefore recommended to conduct future analysis to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of the effects of the acquisitions, as the longer-term results were found to be more significant, and to investigate the causes of the superior performances of the acquired firms.
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Abstract
The role of China in the global economic arena has undergone a profound transformation, generating significant concerns regarding the underlying motives of investments made in developed countries. Economic theory fears that these investments may be predatory in nature, aiming at the acquisition of technology and supported by the Chinese government, which is suspected of being also involved in the activities of private-owned companies and creating unfair competitive advantages. On the other hand, economic relations between the United States and the European Union collectively constitute the most integrated trade system in the world.
The aim of this study was to investigate the effects, in terms of performance, that Chinese and American acquisitions have had on Italian companies. Econometric analyses were carried out using data from Italian manufacturing firms from 2013 to 2021, divided into three groups: those acquired by Chinese investors, those acquired by American investors, and those without foreign ownership. Dummy variables representing the acquisitions were analyzed for their effect on seven key performance variables, with control variables taken into consideration. The results showed that companies acquired by Chinese investors performed better than those without foreign ownership in terms of sales revenues and the number of employees, while for productivity indicators they show the opposite results, possibly due to the longer post-acquisition time needed to exhibit their effects. Upon conducting a comparative analysis between the effects of American acquisitions and those of Chinese acquisitions, it was observed that the former exhibited superior performance in comparison to the latter, both in terms of sales revenues, number of employees, and productivity indicators. It is therefore recommended to conduct future analysis to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of the effects of the acquisitions, as the longer-term results were found to be more significant, and to investigate the causes of the superior performances of the acquired firms.
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