Does Trade Credit Affect Technical Efficiency? Empirical Evidence from Italian Manufacturing SMEs

Using firm‐level data from the Italian manufacturing sector, we investigate the relationship between small and medium‐sized firms technical efficiency and trade credit. Our contribution is twofold: we provide evidence on an open empirical question, and disentangle the channels through which trade credit may influence firms' efficiency. According to our findings, based on the Simar and Wilson (2007) procedure, trade credit seems to positively affect firm efficiency by mitigating financial constraints. Indeed, trade credit enhances efficiency especially for firms that are more likely to be financially constrained (i.e., smaller and/or younger firms) and during the most recent financial crisis.     

Cross-border banking,credit access,and the financial crisis

We study the sensitivity of credit supply to bank financial conditions in 16 emerging European countries before and during the financial crisis. We use survey data on 10,701 applicant and non-applicant firms that enable us to disentangle effects driven by positive and negative shocks to the banking system from demand shocks that may vary across lenders. We find strong evidence that firms' access to credit was affected by changes in the financial conditions of their banks. During the crisis firms were more credit constrained if they were dealing with banks that experienced a decline in equity and Tier 1 capital, as well as losses on financial assets. We also find that access to credit reflects the balance sheet conditions of foreign parent banks. The effect of positive and negative shocks to a bank is greater for riskier firms and firms with fewer tangible assets.     

How Well Have Social Economy Financial Institutions Performed During the Crisis Period? Exploring Financial and Social Efficiency in Spanish Credit Unions

As Social Economy financial institutions, credit unions have traditionally been considered less efficient than traditional banking entities. However, like banks and savings banks, they have to be as efficient and competitive as possible to survive in today’s business environment, especially at times of crisis. To date, there have been very few studies on their efficiency and practically none for the crisis period. Moreover, almost all the existing studies assess only financial efficiency, without considering their social function. This study examines the levels of both financial and social efficiency in Spanish credit unions as well as their main determinants during the recent crisis. We apply the two-stage double bootstrap data envelopment analysis (DEA) methodology based on panel data corresponding to all the credit unions active in Spain between 2008 and 2013. The empirical results indicate that financial and social efficiency achieved an acceptable level, although on average the former was slightly greater than the latter. We also find that both age and merger and acquisition activity were positively influential on the financial efficiency of credit unions but had a significant negative effect on their social efficiency. Moreover, the regional location of such entities and the financial crisis were also crucial determinants of both types of efficiency. Our findings are therefore useful for all the stakeholders of credit unions to know if these entities have been efficient according to a double bottom line accounting in the crisis period and hence to maintain successful social management that is compatible with satisfactory financial efficiency.     

The role of trade credit in the recent subprime financial crisis

This study tests firms’ financing behavior, especially the causal relation between trade credit and bank credit around the time of the recent subprime financial crises. I find bank credit and accounts payable/receivable are simultaneously determined and there is a substitute/complementary effect between bank credit and accounts payable/receivable. Moreover, I test a cross-sectional response to crisis and find that firms with a more vulnerable financial position (i.e., financially constrained firms) are more likely to be negatively affected by crisis and, in turn, are more likely to cut their supply of credit to customers and increase their use of credit from suppliers.     

Understanding the sovereign credit ratings of emerging markets

This paper identifies the macroeconomic factors behind the sovereign credit ratings of global emerging markets assigned by Standard and Poor's (S&P). The financial integration and globalization of capital markets have facilitated the capital inflows/outflows among countries. Sovereign credit ratings have served as a signal for countries' economic, financial and political situations. Ratings are very important in the sense that they attract capital inflow and investments. This is especially vital for emerging markets. Although the rating agencies do not explicitly reveal their methodologies, it is possible to guess the effects of several variables on ratings by using various econometric models. Concerning the heavy criticisms on rating agencies' performances, we wish to examine the sovereign credit ratings within a specific country-category. In this essay, we study the effects of macroeconomic factors on the sovereign ratings of emerging markets. Using several approaches, we find that the most relevant factors are Budget Balance/GDP, GDP per capita, Governance Indicators and Reserves/GDP. Moreover, our model predicts up to 93% of all credit rating levels. Interestingly, we obtain that S&P's evaluation of the sovereign credit rating for Turkey performs poorly, especially in the highest rating levels.     

美国贸易政策不确定性与新兴经济体跨境股票资本流动北大核心CSSCI

本文使用1996年2月-2020年1月35个新兴经济体的跨境股票型基金微观数据,实证考察美国贸易政策不确定性对新兴经济体跨境股票资本流动的影响。结果表明:美国贸易政策不确定性上升会导致新兴经济体跨境股票型基金净资本流入下降,这一影响在2008年全球金融危机后更为显著。受国别因素影响,美国贸易政策不确定性的影响存在异质性。一国外汇风险暴露水平更高、国际金融一体化风险更大、与美国直接贸易联系更紧密,受到的美国贸易政策不确定性的影响更显著,更高的利率水平有利于缓解美国贸易政策不确定性的影响。从全球价值链视角来看,美国贸易政策不确定性上升对处于研发密集型行业下游和邮政通讯、金融商业服务等行业下游的经济体影响显著。渠道分析表明,全球投资者对新兴经济体的国别风险情绪变化是美国贸易政策不确定性冲击的重要传导渠道。进一步研究表明,中美贸易摩擦期间,主要受美国贸易政策不确定性影响,加征关税会显著降低新兴经济体跨境股票型基金净资本流入。在金融开放进程中,新兴经济体应防范外部不确定性引发的资本流动剧烈波动风险,保持宏观经济与金融市场稳定。     

The influence of bank ownership on credit supply: Evidence from the recent financial crisis

This study examines how bank ownership influenced the credit supply during the recent financial crisis in Russia, where the banking sector consists of a mix of state-controlled banks, foreign-owned banks, and domestic private banks. To estimate credit supply changes, we apply an original approach based on stochastic frontier analysis. We use quarterly data for Russian banks covering the period from the beginning of 2007 to the end of 2009. Our findings suggest that bank ownership affected credit supply during the financial crisis and that the crisis led to an overall decrease in the credit supply. Relative to domestic private banks foreign-owned banks reduced their credit supply more and state-controlled banks less. This supports the hypothesis that foreign banks have a “lack of loyalty” to domestic actors during a crisis, as well as the view that an objective function of state-controlled banks leads them to support the economy during economic downturns.     

我国物流业应对金融危机举措探索

美国次贷危机引发的全球性的金融危机远没有结束,对全球经济、政治、社会生活等方面造成的影响日益凸显。在全球化一体化背景下,作为世界经济重要组成部分之一的中国,正处于经济变革的关键时期,自然深受金融危机的冲击,特别是我国物流业行业活动性质受制于外部环境,决定其受金融危机冲击大,压力大,影响深。那么,我国物流业如何应对危局,早日走出困境?本文回顾本次国际金融危机产生的原因及其对我国物流业的影响,然后通过对本次金融危机对我国物流业造成影响的原因进行深入分析,最后探索出我国物流业应对金融危机的对策。     

金融危机下的中国企业跨国并购

由于目前金融危机的国际经济环境特点,我国企业在跨国并购过程中要注意存在的问题和障碍,特别是金融危机所带来的更为严重的跨国并购风险：政治法律风险、战略决策风险和资本筹集风险。为防止风险,跨国并购要分析东道国的政治法律环境,选好目标企业,发挥行业协会和中介机构的作用,作好人力资源、技术文化整合等。     

The Determinants of Net Interest Margin in the Ghanaian Banking Industry

Abstract

This study investigates the determinants of net interest margin and the role of the financial crisis in explaining net interest margin (NIM) in the banking industry in Ghana. Further, we assess the sensitivity of our results to the measure of credit risk. We observe a sharp drop in NIM and an increase in bad debt growth during the 2007–2009 financial crisis in Ghana’s banking sector. Depending on the definition of credit risk, we observe marginal differences in the magnitude and significance of the determinants of NIM. Generally, NIM is explained by bank-specific, industry and macroeconomic factors. We find risk aversion, operating cost, inflation rate and previous year’s GDP growth to be robust drivers of NIM.     

Retailing and the period leading up to the Great Recession: a model and a 25-year financial ratio analysis of US retailing

Today, more than ever, retailers need to analyze the key solvency (liquidity) and efficiency financial ratio measures that affect how well their firms perform and to engage in long-term activities that will lead to improved results. Clearly, the recent ‘Great Recession’ has had a significant negative impact on retailers worldwide. Yet, an important question remains largely answered: Was the retail industry a major contributor to the events leading up to the economic crisis or was it an affected bystander shaken by the recession? This paper addresses the question for US retailing, the largest retail economy in the world. Although there has been considerable research on some aspects of the performance of the industry and individual firms, no prior studies exist that comprehensively examine the financial ratio performance of the totality of US retailing over time. Here, the financial performance of US retailers in 54 different sectors is analyzed for the 1982–2007 period using a model and data derived from Dun & Bradstreet's annual Industry Norms & Key Business Ratios. Results show that for many financial measures – such as the current ratio, liabilities to net worth, return on sales (profit margin), return on assets, financial leverage, and return on net worth – US retailing's financial performance has been in a steady decline for decades. The model introduced here is largely validated.     

Credit lender–borrower relationship in the credit card market – Implications for credit risk management strategy and relationship marketing

Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy in 2008, precipitating the international financial crisis. Many questioned the banks’ risk-taking credit system. Understanding credit risk and how the credit system functions may provide knowledge on managing credit, to avoid another such international crisis. We study the credit card field and present a pricing decision model for managing credit risk. Recent credit lenders’ portfolio re-pricing practices call for immediate attention to the credit lender–borrower relationship and relationship marketing. A literature review and recent phenomena in the credit card industry reveal that the lenders’ re-pricing strategy negatively affects the credit lender–borrower relationship and relationship marketing. Thus, we introduce a pricing decision model incorporating the lenders’ re-pricing strategy and the credit lender–borrower relationship. Further, we discuss the implications of, and the role of marketing in, credit risk management and the implications of relationship marketing for credit lenders in foreign markets, including the US market.     

Financial integration,specialization, and systemic risk

This paper studies the implications of cross-border financial integration for financial stability when banks' loan portfolios adjust endogenously. Banks can be subject to sectoral and aggregate domestic shocks. After integration they can share these risks in a complete interbank market. When banks have a comparative advantage in providing credit to certain industries, financial integration may induce banks to specialize in lending. An enhanced concentration in lending does not necessarily increase risk, because a well-functioning interbank market allows to achieve the necessary diversification. This greater need for risk sharing, though, increases the risk of cross-border contagion and the likelihood of widespread banking crises. However, even though integration increases the risk of contagion it improves welfare if it permits banks to realize specialization benefits.     

Economic determinants of default risks and their impacts on credit derivative pricing

This study constructs a credit derivative pricing model using economic fundamentals to evaluate CDX indices and quantify the relationship between credit conditions and the economic environment. Instead of selecting specific economic variables, numerous economic and financial variables have been condensed into a few explanatory factors to summarize the noisy economic system. The impacts on default intensity processes are then examined based on no‐arbitrage pricing constraints. The approximated results show that economic factors indicated credit problems even before the recent subprime mortgage crisis, and economic fundamentals strongly influenced credit conditions. Testing of out‐of‐sample data shows that credit evolution can be identified by dynamic explanatory factors. Consequently, the factor‐based pricing model can either facilitate the evaluation of default probabilities or manage default risks more effectively by quantifying the relationship between economic environment and credit conditions. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Jrl Fut Mark     

异质性信贷约束对农民创业绩效的影响

创业绩效是每个创业者关注的核心问题。本文基于信贷均衡理论,采用我国传统劳务输出大省江西省创业农民的调查数据,甄别了样本的信贷约束及类型,实证研究了信贷约束及其类型异质性对农民创业绩效的影响。内生处理效应模型的估计结果表明,相比无信贷约束样本,受到信贷约束的农民创业财务绩效低94%,充分缓解其信贷约束能够提升财务绩效约45%。采用控制方程方法、OLS模型的回归结果表明,相比无信贷约束样本,受到完全数量型信贷约束、风险型信贷约束和部分数量型信贷约束的农民创业财务绩效分别低34%、26%和16%。信贷约束及其类型异质性对农民创业成长绩效的稳健性检验结果也印证了两者的负向关系。因此,应实施差异化的信贷政策,努力缓解创业农民的信贷约束,提升其创业绩效。     

The Winner’s Curse of Human Capital

We extend a model developed by Evans and Jovanovic (1989) to explain when start-ups are credit constrained. We show that the magnitude of the credit constraint is conditioned by the relative productivity of human capital in both wage work and self-employment. The effect of predicted household income on start-up capital is used to indicate the existence of financial constraint. Empirical analysis reveals that entrepreneurs with high human capital have both greater financial wealth and greater levels of start-up capital pointing to the endogenous nature of credit constraints. High human capital relaxes financial constraints, apparently due to greater productivity of human capital in wage work than in self-employment. Those who are the least likely to be credit constrained in self-employment are those that are least likely to switch into self-employment,and vice versa.     

新自由主义与西方社会信用体系危机

世界金融危机发生以来,各国都普遍采取了救市措施.但救市只是治标之策,并不能从根本上解决问题.本文对以美国为首的西方自由市场经济制度与发展模式进行深入分析,认为当前的金融危机首先是信用危机,是新自由主义经济制度与美国社会信用管理体系的危机,包括消费信用危机、金融创新与银行信用危机、金融监管与政府信用危机.而信息不对称是危机产生的认识根源,传统经济理论都是完全信息假设条件下的产物,现实中信息不对称则是一种常态.用完全信息假设条件下建立的经济理论指导现实中不完全信息的市场经济实践,其结果可想而知.社会信用管理体系不完善与监管机制的滞后性是危机产生的体制原因,只有加快建立完善的社会信用管理体系才是规避风险、化解危机的治本之策.     

Bank credit,public financial incentives,tax financial incentives and export performance during the global financial crisis

This paper investigates the extent to which access to credit, public financial incentives and tax financial incentives affect export performance using the EU-EFIGE/Bruegel-Unicredit data set, covering firms within Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Hungary and the UK during the 2008 global financial crisis. The results show that firms receiving credit or benefiting from public financial incentives display higher export intensity and export a greater number of product lines compared to those that did not, especially in countries with better access to credit and/or financial incentives during the crisis. Further, firms benefiting from tax financial incentives show a better export performance compared to those that did not, regardless of the degree of access to credit and/or financial incentives in the country in which they operate. In addition, the effect of access to credit and public finance incentives on export performance is found to be size-dependent, while the effect of tax financial incentives is not. We suggest that governments should promote publicly funded financial incentives along with conventional schemes, such as R&D subsidies, to promote exports, particularly during a period of financial crisis.     

Asia-Pacific Economies: Challenges Along the Road from Self Reliance to Global Engagement

This review article makes a contribution to understanding the current U.S. subprime mortgage and credit crisis that has adversely affected the global financial system in terms of its historical parallels with a recent Asia-Pacific financial crisis. It also looks at the distinctive ways in which bad actors and flawed processes at the macro-, meso-, and microlevels have unilaterally shifted risks onto innocent stakeholders and are now facing a time of global reckoning and reform. An alternative business model, the global business integrity capacity model (GBICM), is proposed that inclusively balances types of capitalist, moral accountability, and human nature theories and provides a framework for selected reforms at the macro-, meso-, and microlevels, which are designed to prevent a recurrence of the current financial meltdown, to re-create systemic financial institution integrity, and to promote sustainable prosperity for current and future generations.     

Long-term debt maturity and financing constraints of SMEs during the Global Financial Crisis

We use the recent financial crisis to investigate financing constraints of private small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Belgium. We hypothesize that SMEs with a large proportion of long-term debt maturing at the start of the crisis had difficulties to renew their loans due to the negative credit supply shock, and hence could invest less. We find a substantial variation in the maturity structure of long-term debt. Firms which at the start of the crisis had a larger part of their long-term debt maturing within the next year experienced a significantly larger drop in investments in 2009. This effect is driven by firms which are ex ante more likely to be financially constrained. Consistent with a causal effect of a credit supply shock to corporate investments, we find no effect in “placebo” periods without a negative credit supply shock.