Abstract
The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston's fall 1987 conference, The Merger Boom, brought together representatives of the academic, government, business, and investment communities to examine the causes of the current merger and acquisition wave as well as its implications and appropriate public policy responses. Represented were 2 approaches to the study of the issue: that of financial economists who generally hold a positive view and that of industrial economists who are generally skeptical of touted efficiency gains. Among the conference's conclusions were: 1. the contribution of international competition, financial innovations, and more liberal antitrust enforcement to the merger boom, 2. the large number of "bust-up" takeovers, 3. gains made by shareholders of target firms, the source of which remained an open question, and 4. the misguided nature of restrictions on hostile takeovers. An overview of 7 conference papers is presented.