Li, C. and Zhang, Q., 2020. Shareholders' social network, environmental uncertainty, and companies' M&A decisions: Evidence from companies in coastal regions of China. In: Gong, D.; Zhang, M., and Liu, R. (eds.), Advances in Coastal Research: Engineering, Industry, Economy, and Sustainable Development. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue No. 106, pp. 285–289. Coconut Creek (Florida), ISSN 0749-0208.

China's merger and acquisition (M&A) activities are increasingly emerging in recent years, especially in coastal regions, which are the most economically active regions. Shareholders are the final decision makers of M&A, and their social network has more and more influence on M&A decisions. This article selected China's A-share listed companies in coastal regions from 2011 to 2018 as research samples and empirically tested the influence of shareholders' social network on companies' M&A decisions. We found that shareholders' social network can significantly enhance companies to make M&A decisions. Specifically, with stronger centrality, companies have more tendencies to make M&A decisions. In addition, we examined the moderating effect of environmental uncertainty on the relationship between them. We found that environmental uncertainty can positively moderate the relationship between shareholders' social network and companies' M&A decisions. Therefore, it is necessary for companies to explore and optimize their positions in the shareholders' social network, as well as take full account of the possible impact of environmental uncertainty to make reasonable M&A decisions.