With Liam Keenan, University of Nottingham.
Part of the Economic Worlds Seminar Series.
Mergers and acquisitions are the key channels of corporate growth, industrial consolidation, and investment in the global economy. Involving flows of money, people, knowledge, control, and ultimately power, they are crucial indicators of the changing map of the world. This research analyses tens of thousands of mergers and acquisitions worldwide to map changes in corporate control since 2000 and shed light on the global economic trajectory in the 21st century.
In addition to a cross-sectoral examination, we focus on six key and diverse industries: cars, energy, finance, food, information technology, and pharmaceuticals. We document how the economic geographies of these industries have evolved, and which regions, countries, and cities have gained or lost corporate control in the process. Instead of the oft heralded deglobalisation or slowbalisation, our preliminary findings suggest that the 21st century has witnessed a complex mosaic of coupling, decoupling, and recoupling, as companies and states have embraced new technological and financial opportunities to respond to the challenges of the environmental crisis, the pandemic, and rising geopolitical tensions.