<p style='text-indent:20px;'>This paper investigates the impacts of horizontal mergers on a dual-channel supply chain given the rapid development of e-commerce. Three types of horizontal mergers are considered in a dual-channel supply chain consisting of three firm types: suppliers, single-channel retailer, and dual-channel retailer. A comparison with a benchmark pre-merger scenario underscores the impacts of each horizontal merger on firms in the dual-channel supply chain. First, where horizontal mergers occur (i.e., at upstream or downstream tier) has an impact on firms in the dual-channel supply chain. Second, synergy costs trigger the domination of the synergy effect. Third, the degree of consumer preference for channels affects the trigger due to which the synergy effect outweighs the competitive effect. Although dual channels prevail in supply chain management, few studies pay attention to horizontal mergers in this context. Unlike literature on horizontal mergers in single-channel supply chains, we suggest that the impacts of horizontal mergers in dual-channel supply chains have unique features, and channel preference plays an important role in such impacts.</p>

We study the effects of managerial overconfidence and agency costs in cash holdings of blockchain firms, where the overconfidence is defined as a cognitive bias that a manager will underestimate volatility in an uncertain environment. We develop a real-options game model that incorporates both overconfidence and agency costs. The theoretical results show that future investment opportunities are necessary for holding cash when agency costs are within the firm. Expected returns from blockchain projects decrease with managerial overconfidence. The level of corporate cash holdings increases with overconfidence and decreases with agency costs Using the data of Chinese listed firms from 2010 to 2019, we find that the regression results are consistent with our theoretical findings. Moreover, we find that the blockchain firms' cash holdings are higher than their peers. Our results shed some light on the impacts of behavioral characteristics on cash holdings.

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