Merger and process innovation

Denicolo and Polo (2018) show that the result of Federico et al. (2017), i.e., horizontal mergers reduce R&D investments of the merged firms compared to non-cooperation, holds provided the probability of failure in R&D is log-convex in R&D investments. We provide a different reason for innovation raising merger. We show that if firms invest in process innovation, merger may increase R&D investments even if the probability of failure in R&D is log-convex in R&D investments as considered in Federico et al. (2017). We also show that merger may increase expected consumer surplus and expected welfare compared to non-cooperation. Our results are important for antitrust policies. (C) 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.