Shareholders' Social Network, Environmental Uncertainty, and Companies' M&A Decisions: Evidence from Companies in Coastal Regions of China

Li, C. and Zhang, Q., 2020. Shareholders' social network, environmental uncertainty, and companies' MA Zhang, M., and Liu, R. (eds.), Advances in Coastal Research: Engineering, Industry, Economy, and Sustainable Development. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 106, pp. 285–289. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.China's merger and acquisition (M&A) activities are increasingly emerging in recent years, especially in coastal regions, which are the most economically active regions. Shareholders are the final decision makers of M&A, and their social network has more and more influence on M&A decisions. This article selected China's A-share listed companies in coastal regions from 2011 to 2018 as research samples and empirically tested the influence of shareholders' social network on companies' M&A decisions. We found that shareholders' social network can significantly enhance companies to make M&A decisions. Specifically, with stronger centrality, companies have more tendencies to make M&A decisions. In addition, we examined the moderating effect of environmental uncertainty on the relationship between them. We found that environmental uncertainty can positively moderate the relationship between shareholders' social network and companies' M&A decisions. Therefore, it is necessary for companies to explore and optimize their positions in the shareholders' social network, as well as take full account of the possible impact of environmental uncertainty to make reasonable M&A decisions.