Concept of Business Combinations:Business combinations are combinations formed by two or more business units, with a view to achieving certain common objectives (especially elimination of competition); such combinations ranging from the loosest combination through associations to the fastest combinations through complete consolidations. L. H. Haney defines a combination as follows:œTo combine is simply to become one of the parts of a whole; and a combination is merely a union of persons, to make a whole or group for the prosecution of some common purposes. Causes of Business Combinations:1. Wasteful Competition:Competition, which is said to be the salt of trade, by going too far, becomes a very powerful instrument for the inception and growth of business combinations. In fact, competition, according to Haney, is the major driving force, leading to the emergence of combinations, in industry. 2. Economies of Large-Scale Organization:?Organization of production on a large scale brings a large number of well-known advantages in its wake “ like technical economies, managerial economies, financial economies, marketing economies, and economies vis-a-vis greater resistance to risks and fluctuations in economic activities. 3. Desire for Monopoly Power:A Monopoly, a natural outcome of combination, leads to the control of the market and generally means larger profits for business concerns. The desire to secure a monopolistic position certainly prompts producers to join together less than one banner. 4. Business Cycles:Trade cycles, the alternate periods of boom and depression, lead to business combinations. Boom period i. e. prosperity period leading to an unusual growth of firms to reap a rich harvest of profits results in intense competition, and becomes a ground for forming combinations. Therefore, According to Haney, excessive competition served as a driving force in leading to the formation of business combinations.