tailieunhanh - Journal of Applied Corporate Finance

Most discussions of corporate financing policy focus on long-term liabilities such as common stock, preferred stock, debentures, loans, and leases. Yet trade credit—credit extended by a seller who allows delayed payment for its products—represents a substantial component of both corporate liabilities and assets, especially in the case of middle-market companies. For the 3,350 non-financial Nasdaq firms covered by COMPUSTAT, accounts receivable amounted to 19% of corporate assets, and accounts payable were 26% of corporate liabilities, at the end of 1992. Trade credit thus represents both a material use of corporate resources and an important source of funds | MorganStanley Journal of Applied Corporate Finance RING 199 Extending Trade Credit and Financing Receivables by Shehzad L. Mian Emory University and Clifford W. Smith Jr. University of Rochester EXTENDING TRADE CREDIT AND FINANCING RECEIVABLES by Shehzad L. Mian Emory University and Clifford W. Smith Ji . University of Rochester M ost discussions of corporate financing policy focus on long-term liabilities such as common stock preferred stock debentures loans and leases. Yet trade credit credit extended by a seller who allows delayed payment for its products represents a substantial component of both corporate liabilities and assets especially in the case of middle-market companies. For the 3 350 non-financial Nasdaq firms covered by COMPUSTAT accounts receivable amounted to 19 of corporate assets and accounts payable were 26 of corporate liabilities at the end of 1992. Trade credit thus represents both a material use of corporate resources and an important source of funds. What little attention trade credit has received from the academic community has been focused primarily on operational aspects of accounts receivable management for example how to use credit-scoring techniques to decide whether to extend trade credit to a customer. While these operational aspects are certainly important we want to focus on a more basic question What accounts for the diversity of corporate practices in extending trade credit and financing receivables For example in extending trade credit some companies employ an outside credit-reporting firm to assess customers creditworthiness some retain a credit collection agency to collect overdue debts and some purchase credit insurance against the event of default by account debtors. Some firms subcontract all these credit-extension activities to a single outside intermediary in a practice known as non-recourse factoring. Other firms perform all these functions internally or set up captive finance subsidiaries to perform them. In financing .