Innovation science and technologiy Том 1 № 12 (2025)
A REALIST–POSITIVIST FRAMEWORK FOR ANALYSING MERGERS AND ACQUISITIONS UNDER ECONOMIC POLICY UNCERTAINTY
Zakhidov, Azizbek
Аннотация
This article articulates the research philosophy and epistemological foundations underpinning an empiricalinvestigation of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) under conditions of economic policy uncertainty in emerging markets,with a particular focus on the BRICS economies. The study addresses growing methodological challenges associatedwith analysing corporate behaviour in institutionally volatile environments characterised by policy unpredictability,geopolitical risk, and regulatory change. Grounded in a realist–positivist paradigm, the article justifies the treatment ofeconomic policy uncertainty, ownership structures, and M&A outcomes as objective and observable phenomena thatcan be systematically analysed using quantitative methods. The ontological position assumes that uncertainty manifeststhrough measurable policy actions and institutional constraints, while the epistemological stance emphasises empiricalobservation, hypothesis testing, and econometric modelling as the primary means of knowledge generation. The paperadopts a deductive methodological logic, drawing on real options theory, institutional economics, and corporate financetheory to derive empirically testable assumptions regarding M&A initiation and deal completion under uncertainty.Particular attention is given to endogeneity concerns inherent in uncertainty research, motivating the use of instrumentalvariable techniques, robustness checks, and alternative model specifications. The novelty of the work lies in providing acoherent philosophical and methodological justification for cross-country econometric analysis of M&A activity in emergingmarkets, where uncertainty is structural rather than transitory. The article contributes to the literature by strengtheningthe conceptual foundations for empirical research on corporate strategy under uncertainty and by offering a rigorousframework applicable to policy-relevant analysis in reforming economies
economic policy uncertainty, mergers and acquisitions, emerging markets, BRICS, positivist methodology, institutional uncertainty.
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