Scandinavian Working Papers in Economics

Working Paper Series,
Research Institute of Industrial Economics

No 1457: Merger Synergies, Task Exposure, and Worker Careers

Malin Gardberg (), Fredrik Heyman () and Joacim Tåg ()
Additional contact information
Malin Gardberg: Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN), Stockholm, Sweden, , Postal: and Hanken, Helsinki, Finland
Fredrik Heyman: Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN), Postal: Research Institute of Industrial Economics, Box 55665, SE-102 15 Stockholm, Sweden
Joacim Tåg: Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN), Postal: Research Institute of Industrial Economics, Box 55665, SE-102 15 Stockholm, Sweden

Abstract: We study the worker-level incidence of technology-related merger synergies by following incumbent target workers around acquisitions, whether or not they remain with the firm. Average acquisition wage effects are close to zero, but acquisitions redistribute gains and losses across task groups if the acquirer has a technological advantage. Workers in substitutable occupations experience a relative wage decline. Workers in complementary occupations gain. Acquired firms also receive more foreign managers, and IT spending rises. Thus, technology-related merger synergies can appear neutral for workers on average while changing the relative value of tasks within firms and having long-run spillovers on workers' careers.

Keywords: Careers; Human capital; Mergers and acquisitions; Technology-related synergies; Wages

JEL-codes: G34; J30; J31; O39

Language: English

45 pages, First version: April 5, 2023. Revised: June 18, 2026.

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