Darryl Laws

  Abstract. Past studies have focused on valuation and utility of the merger and acquisition motives while only a few game theory studies focus on irrational human behavior during a strategic merger or acquisition transaction and the impacts that the behavior has had on the decision-making process. Most of the research written is on the analysis of Nash equilibrium under the complete information static game. This comprehensive literature review aims to discuss and analyze the irrational human behavioral decision-making in the merger and acquisition context within the framework of incomplete information strategic dominance game and payoff combined with a brief discussion of rationality and bounded rationality decision-making (normative decision theory) while exploring the literature written on what causes or  precipitates irrational human behavior. Known as zero sum games or non-cooperative game, a game in which the players’ interest are in conflict and in which there is a payo...