Is Board Gender Diversity the Key to Understanding Culture’s Impact on International Merger and Acquisition Success?

Abstract

Since its rise in popularity in the late 20th century, cross-border M & A deals have become an increasingly commonplace practice among businesses seeking to internationalize. Despite the abundant literature, findings on the correlation between cultural distance and M & A success have been contradictory. Due to the complex nature of culture, many authors suggest the existence of other external factors to be the cause of this inconclusiveness. The purpose of this study is to reassess culture’s effect on M & A success within a more recent context and determine if board gender diversity moderates this relationship. The results show a positive relationship between cultural similarity and M & A success but do not suggest board gender diversity to be a moderator in this relationship. This paper concludes with a discussion of the findings and recommendations for future research. This is the first exploratory research done that investigates board gender diversity as a moderator in this context, seeking to stimulate further research in this area and make theoretical contributions.