Ensuring Sales: A Theory of Inter-Firm Credit
提出一个简单理论解释为何企业间信贷常以零利率出现，下游企业权衡库存成本与销售损失，上游企业因下游销售损失承受负外部性，延迟付款或预付款可解决此问题。
We propose a simple theory to account for the prevalence of inter-firm credit at an interest rate of zero. A downstream firm trades off inventory holding costs against lost sales. Lost final sales impose a negative externality on the upstream firm. The solution requires a subsidy limited by the value of inputs. Allowing the downstream firm to pay with a delay is precisely such a solution. A reverse externality accounts for the use of prepayment. We clarify how input prices vary with such policies, and when trade credit/prepayment is more efficient than pure input price adjustments.