The Real Effects of Private Equity Buyouts

This article analyzes the real effects of private equity buyouts. It defines private equity buyouts as gains of established companies accepted by private equity firms. Private equity buyouts are also referred to as leveraged buyouts, management buyouts, and bootstrap acquisitions. The first section explains why buyouts have real economic effects, while the second section presents a survey of empirical literature on the relation between buyouts and employment, productivity, long-run investments, and bankruptcy. The final section of the article discusses further research and summarizes the findings.