The Role of Banking Merger in Achieving Competitive Advantage A survey of A Sample of Bank Managers' Opinions in Erbil

The study aims to identify the importance of banking merger by presenting its concepts and types, and its role in achieving competitive advantage from the point of view of a sample of bank managers in the city of Erbil. The study used a questionnaire to collect data from 54 managers of selected banks. An econometrics analytical approach, specifically the quadratic regression model, was used to estimate the impact of banking mergers on achieving a competitive advantage. The study drew several conclusions, with the most significant one being that the merger of banks accounts for 88.6% of the changes that result in improved competitive advantage. The p-value of the linear and quadratic regression slope test is zero, which underscores the importance of the banking merger variable (along with its squares) in the estimated model. Lastly, the study offers some recommendations, including the encouragement of banking mergers to create stronger banking institutions that can better confront competitive risks and challenges.