EH.N: CFP: International Conference on Business History

[Julia Yongue]

CALL FOR PAPERS: International Conference on Business History 
(Formerly Fuji Conference)

Mergers and Acquisitions in the Long-Term Perspective

January 26-27, 2008
Tokyo, Japan

Waseda University / Hitotsubashi University/Business History Society of Japan

ORGANIZERS:
Waseda University 21st Century COE Program: Waseda Institute for 
Corporation Law and Society.

Hitotsubashi University 21st Century COE Program: Normative 
Evaluation and Social Choice of Contemporary Economic Systems.

Business History Society of Japan.

HOST JOURNAL:
Enterprise and Society

FOCUS:
While the most recent wave of mergers and acquisitions has been 
attracting considerable public attention, it is by no means a new 
phenomenon. This is the fifth wave since the 1890s. It is well known 
that there have been five worldwide M&A waves in history: 1890s, 
1920s, 1960s, 1980s and the one underway since 1990. In spite of a 
long list of M&A literature, in both economics and management 
science, few papers have addressed the causes and effects of M&A from 
the long-term perspective.

We invite papers from a business history or applied economics 
approach. Papers should discuss long-term trends in M&A or focus on a 
certain phase of an M&A wave. Comparative studies across 
countries/industries are also welcome. Topics include but are not 
limited to the following.

- What role has M&A played in the growth of a firm? Did M&A enhance 
its profitability, productivity, growth rate or value? If so, how was 
it possible and what was the source of value enhancement? If not, 
what negative impacts did M&A have?
- When did a firm's management choose M&A rather than green-field 
investments? What factors determined management's choice between 
internal growth and M&A?
- How did M&A contribute to the development of the industries and 
countries in question? How did M&A change the market structure, 
technology, and competitiveness of the industries? How did M&A waves 
affect the economic development of the countries?
- What legal, economic and institutional factors determined M&A? Were 
macroeconomic shock(s) and technological innovation the main drivers 
for M&A waves, or did financial factors such as stock market booms 
also have a significant effect?
- Were hostile takeovers unique to corporate development in the US 
and the UK, or can one find examples in other countries? Did they 
also play a significant disciplinary role in other countries? In 
other words, can one find country-specific characteristics of M&A?

Both empirical and in-depth case studies from the long-term 
perspective are welcome.
PAPER SUBMISSION PROCEDURE:

To foster interaction amongst the conference participants, we aim to 
accept only a limited number of high-quality papers. The deadline for 
the submission of abstracts is October 15, 2007. Full papers of 30-40 
pages including tables, figures and notes are most welcome, but 
extended abstracts of approximately 500 words (including title, 
author's name and affiliation and keywords) may also be submitted. 
Authors of papers selected for presentation will be notified by 
November 15, 2007. The final version of the papers must be submitted 
by the end of December. If the author of an accepted paper intends to 
submit it to Enterprise and Society for publication consideration, 
he/she should first inform the journal's editor, Philip Scranton, 
(scranton at camden.rutgers.edu). The author should then submit his/her 
article according to the Instructions for Authors used by Oxford 
journals: http://es.oxfordjournals.org/.

Papers, abstracts (electronic MS Word or PDF files only) as well as 
inquiries should be sent to the following.

CONTACT:
Prof. Hiroyuki Okamuro
Hitotsubashi University, Naka 2-1, Kunitachi Tokyo 186-8601 Japan
EMAIL: okamuro at econ.hit-u.ac.jp

REVIEW PROCESS:
The following Program Committee will select the papers for 
presentation at the Conference.

Program Committee Members:
Philip Scranton (Enterprise and Society, Rutgers University)
Julian Franks (London Business School)
Leslie Hannah (EHESS, Paris and London School of Economics)
Naomi Lamoreaux (University of California, Los Angeles)
Miyajima, Hideaki (Chair of Committee of International BH Conference, 
Waseda University)
Odagiri, Hiroyuki (Hitotsubashi University)
Okamuro, Hiroyuki (Project leader of International BH Conference, 
Hitotsubashi University)
Yuzawa Takeshi (Chair of Business History Society of Japan, Gakushuin 
University)

PUBLICATION:
All the papers presented at the conference will be included in the 
conference proceedings and accepted as discussion papers of the COE 
projects at Waseda and Hitotsubashi Universities. As mentioned above, 
the authors of selected papers will be invited to submit their work 
to the editor of Enterprise and Society for evaluation through the 
usual referee process.

VENUE:
The Conference will be held on the campus of Waseda University, 
located in central Tokyo.

EXPENSES:
The conference organizers will cover travel (round-trip/economy class 
ticket) and accommodation expenses (three nights in Rihga Hotel; 
http://www.rihga.com/tokyo) for the presenters of accepted papers.