Are Inventories a Buffer Against Weak Legal Systems?
研究了在合同法律执行较弱的环境下，企业是否通过增加库存来应对违约风险，发现弱法律环境中的企业库存与净销售额之比更高。
SUMMARY Weak legal enforcement of contracts leads to inefficient breach and an overall increase in breaches for firms and individuals. We suggest that firms use inventory holdings as a means to counteract weak contract enforcement. We test the hypothesis that firms operating in weak legal environments have a higher ratio of inventories to net sales than firms operating in strong legal environments. Empirical evidence in support of the hypothesis using data from over three hundred comparable firms from fourteen product groups across thirty‐nine countries is presented.