Mergers play important roles in triggering the most active objects in the universe, including (U)LIRGs and QSOs. However, whether they are also important for the total stellar mass build-up in galaxies in general is unclear and controversial. The answer to that question depends on the merger rate and the average strength of merger induced star formation. In this talk, I will review studies on spatial density and sSFR enhancement of local mergers found in NIR/optical selected pair samples. In line with the current literature on galaxy formation/evolution, special attention will be paid to the dependence of the local merger rate and of the sSFR enhancement on four fundamental observables: (1) stellar mass, (2) mass ratio, (3) separation, and (4) environment.
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