Arsh Dharani
DARE Project: Cross-Border Mergers and Acquisitions Under Global Fragmentation: Which Firms Acquire and Which Deals Succeed?
Program(s) of Study: Financial and Business Economics
Project Supervisor: Semih Yildirim
This experience has provided valuable exposure to empirical research, financial databases, and quantitative analysis. It has strengthened my technical skills in data processing and research methodology while reinforcing my interest in finance, capital markets, and data-driven decision-making. The experience will be valuable as I pursue future opportunities in finance and continue developing analytical and research skills throughout my career.
Project Description:
My research focuses on developing a comprehensive dataset to analyze cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A) around the world. The project involves processing over 1.28 million M&A transactions from the SDC Platinum database and integrating them with firm-level financial information from Compustat North America and Compustat Global. My responsibilities include cleaning and validating large-scale financial datasets, developing a methodology to merge multiple databases using firm identifiers and company names, creating analytical variables, evaluating match quality, and producing publication-ready tables and figures. The final stage of the project involves interpreting the results, preparing a research memo, and presenting the findings through a professional research poster at DARE.The Dean’s Award for Research Excellence (DARE) - Undergraduate enables our students to meaningfully engage in research projects supervised by LA&PS faculty members. Find out more about DARE.