Trade Credit Terms: Asymmetric Information and Price Discrimination Evidence From Three Continents
利用美国、英国和澳大利亚700家大型企业的调查数据，检验贸易信贷条款如何通过减少买卖双方的信息不对称和实现价格歧视来发挥作用，为两种理论提供了支持。
Abstract: Trade credit terms offer firms contractual solutions to informational asymmetries between buyers and sellers. The credit period permits buyers to reduce uncertainty concerning product quality prior to payment, while the seller can reduce uncertainty concerning buyer payment intentions by prescribing payment before/on delivery or through two‐part payment terms and other mechanisms. Variation in trade credit terms also offers firms price discriminating opportunities. This study, drawing on the responses of 700 large firms in the US, UK and Australia, explores trade credit terms through the twin objectives of reducing information asymmetries and discriminatory pricing. Support is found for both theories.