International music preferences as a measure of culture: evidence from cross-border mergers

Abstract

This paper introduces the significance of international music preferences as a determinant of cross-border mergers. We argue that international music preferences capture the distance in culture between nations. We find that country pairs whose citizens experience relatively small distance in their music preferences (listen to each other’s music) exhibit more cross-border mergers. Overall, this study highlights that music preferences can measure international similarities in culture.