Research background: M&A (Mergers and acquisitions) is a strategic measure for enterprises to expand their scale, enhance their competitiveness and improve productivity in the market competition. As a new factor of production, data is changing the factor input model and value creation path of enterprises. Research objectives: From the perspective of serial M&A, this study explores the impact of serial M&A on enterprises’ TFP (total factor productivity) and the mechanism of digital transformation between them. Research methods: Take the serial M&A transactions of China’s A-share listed companies from 2010 to 2019 as samples, using the theory of organizational learning to analyze the relationship among serial M&A, enterprises’ TFP and the degree of digital transformation. Three-step regression is used to construct a model that serial M&A indirectly affects enterprises’ TFP through intermediary variable digital transformation. Research finding: There is a significant inverse U-shaped relationship between serial M&A and enterprises’ TFP, and digital transformation plays a mediating role in this relationship. The impact of serial M&A on enterprises’ TFP shows an upward trend at first and then a downward trend and this relationship is indirectly realized through digital transformation. The results are still valid after considering the change-explained variables, lag test, Sobel-Goodman test, and Bootstrap test. Heterogeneity analysis shows that for enterprises with non-state-owned property rights, smaller enterprise scale, and higher business environment index, serial M&A has a more obvious effect on TFP indirectly through the degree of digital transformation. Research value: It further enriches the existing literature on the decision-making of M&A from the perspective of serial M&A and profoundly reveals the mechanism of the degree of digital transformation in the relationship between serial M&A and enterprises’ TFP. The research provides theoretical support and empirical evidence for enterprises to achieve high-quality development.

Based on the sample of serial M&A of Chinese listed companies from 2010–2019, this paper intends to investigate the impact of serial M&A on innovation performance and the impact of financing constraints and digital inclusive finance (DIF). The empirical results show that an inverted U-shaped relationship exists between serial M&A and innovation performance that first goes up and then goes down. The results of mechanism analysis show that financing constraints play a mediating role in the inverted U-shaped relationship between serial M&A and innovation performance, while DIF plays a moderating role in the mediating effect of serial M&A on innovation performance through the financing constraint. The heterogeneity analysis finds that the inverted U-shaped relationship between serial M&A and innovation performance is more significant in firms with non-state ownership property, a higher business environment index, and medium and large-scale firm size. The research results not only help to promote the in-depth analysis of the impact of serial M&A on innovation performance, but also help to provide targeted theoretical reference and practical guidance for corporate management decision making.

Based on the serial mergers and acquisitions(M&A) data of Chinese A-share listed companies from 2010 to 2019, this paper discusses whether there are geographical peer effects in serial M&A, and tests its mechanism and influence path. The empirical study shows that geographical peer decision-making has geographical peer effects in the decision-making of serial M&A, and the average number of serial M&A of geographical peers has a significant positive impact on the serial M&A decision-making of focal firms. Social learning and director networks are essential to produce geographical peer effects in serial M&A. The external learning mechanism shows that the geographical peer effect of serial M&A decision-making is partly caused by backward firms’ social learning to the leading peer firms’ decision-making, but vice versa. The director network relationship of focal firms can positively moderate the relationship between the geographical peer firms’ average serial M&A decision-making and the focal firm’s serial M&A decision-making. This paper reveals the mechanism of geographical peer effect in serial M&A decision-making and provides a new perspective to understand the motivation of serial M&A decision-making. These empirical findings not only provide important empirical evidence on serial M&A from developing countries such as China, but also provide a valuable reference for decision-makers and researchers of serial M&A in the future.