Hi Statalist community,

I am trying to merge, but every time I run it using the same do.file I get different results for the matched observations.

Code:
merge 1:1 permno event event_count using "04. Cleanfiles\04A. Eventus_CARs_clean.dta"
where event is the date of announcement of the merge/acquisition and event_count is basically a variable created to capture if there is more than one observation in events.

Basically, this is the code for event_count
Code:
bysort permno event: gen event_count = _n
Code:
* Example generated by -dataex-. For more info, type help dataex
clear
input double permno float(event event_count)
12236 17356 1
12308 19396 1
12308 20178 1
12308 20234 1
12330 18638 1
12330 19758 1
12431 14304 1
12431 14522 1
12431 14522 2
12431 14742 1
12431 17517 1
12448 19299 1
12449 19947 1
12477 19152 1
12490 13921 1
12490 14437 1
end
format %d event

This is the first time I get inconsistent results from the merge command, and I am not sure how to troubleshoot it.

I am using Stata 16.1