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This paper attempts to investigate the effect of corruption on the real and accrual earnings management of target firms in the process of mergers and acquisitions.

The sample includes target firms from the European area that participate in mergers or acquisitions announced during 2010–2020. The preliminary empirical part estimates the level of earnings management during the period two years before the deal's announcement to identify whether the sample follows the manipulation behavior that the literature suggests for target firms. The primary empirical analysis focuses on the impact of corruption on real and accrual-based earnings management proxies, employing regression models and two alternative proxies for corruption. The existing literature points out that the combination of low levels of corruption and an integrated legal system reduces earnings manipulation.

The findings provide strong evidence for systematic downwards accounting manipulation practices, whereas the findings for real earnings management are not significant. The findings of the main empirical part show that corruption is positively associated with accrual-based manipulation and negatively related to real earnings management. In essence, in economies with a high level of transparency, managers adopt the manipulation of operating activities as a less detectable practice of earnings management instead of engaging in accounting procedures.

This study contributes to the literature highlighting the diversification of these firms' manipulation strategies according to the national level's corruption status.

The goal of this paper is twofold: to assess the influence of specific corporate and market features on automobiles and parts sector's profitability in Euro area and to identify this particular sector's optimum debt level.

For the paper's purposes, the authors applied a panel data analysis on an annual basis for the period 2005–2017.

There is a strong statistical significance of debt ratio, growth domestic product per capita growth, E.C.'s economic sentiment index (ESI), the European Central Bank key interest rate and the Euro area crisis on sector's profitability, while weak statistical significance appears to emerge for the firm's size. Moreover, the authors find average 14.4% profitability for the entire sector of the Euro area, without significant fluctuations among firms and/or during the examined time period. Another interesting finding of this study is that results are consistent with the theory of Modigliani Miller that financial leverage at a “low” level is beneficial for the firm, but beyond a turning point, it becomes counterproductive. This turning point for the automobiles and parts sector in Euro area has been computed at 47.3%.

The paper focuses on issues of profitability, capital structure and optimal debt ratio of an important sector of the economy, the automotive sector. As regards the Euro area automotive sector, it is a dynamic sector with a significant multiplier effect for the European economy as it is strongly correlated with other industrial sectors as chemicals, steel, textiles, information technology and so forth, having an outstanding multiplier effect on the economy.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of macroeconomic factors in income growth, as defined by IS‐LM, and the relation between these factors and economic cycles. More precisely, the paper aims to investigate how the demand and supply factors affect income growth, while the relation between these factors and economic cycles is also examined.

The sample under examination is the annual US data for 1928‐2007, using the official data as released in the US Bureau of Economic Analysis, while for the crises the used data have been provided by the National Bureau of Economic Research, Graduate Center of the City University of New York. The Business Cycles were examined, using the methodology developed by the National Bureau of Economic Research, Graduate Center of the City University of New York.

The research findings imply that government consumption expenditure growth is the most important factor that affects Gross Domestic Product growth positively. A change of 10 percent in Government consumption leads to 1.65 percent Gross Domestic Product growth. Also, the duration of crises is affected by lowering interest rates, while being also affected by government and personal consumption. Overall, the empirical findings of the study indicate that the role of private investments for Gross Domestic Product growth may be overrated among policy makers, given the low contribution of this factor to Gross Domestic Product growth.

The model used has some limitations. First, it does not examine the effect of a policy over Gross Domestic Product growth in longer time‐spans. Second, it does not investigate factor inter‐reactions. It could also be argued that other factors that would stimulate growth or affect crisis are not accounted for, such as wars, tax policies, international trade and population growth. Finally, the model investigates only the US economy; therefore, it could be argued that the findings may not coincide with findings from other economies.

The paper contributes to the economics literature by adding a further insight into the possible mix of policy that could be followed by regulatory authorities and governments for both the boost of economy and the finalization of economic crises.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the wealth implications of bank mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in the unique Greek setting given the triple crisis phenomenon – banking, sovereign debt and economic crises – that prevailed after the global financial crisis.

The study examines bank M&As and bank transactions over the period from 1997 to 2018, as well as government-assisted M&As during the crisis. The wealth effects of bank M&As are assessed using both univariate and multivariate frameworks.

Findings show a neutral crisis effect on the valuation of M&As upon their announcement. However, the authors provide conclusive evidence that M&A completions are value-destroying events for acquiring banks during the crisis, far worse than in the pre-crisis period. Greek banks also fail to create value from government-assisted mergers. The results suggest that the financial stability and the prevention of further deepening of the Greek crisis with possible contagion effects were achieved at the expense of shareholders and taxpayers.

To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that examines the impact of the Greek triple crisis on the wealth effects of bank M&As and bank transactions. Also, the study provides first evidence with regard to the economic impact of government-assisted M&As in the European context.