Does Trade Credit Boost Firm Performance?
利用世界银行2003年中国企业调查数据，研究发现贸易信贷与企业绩效正相关，但控制内生性后显著性消失，质疑了贸易信贷提升绩效的说法。
Some firms have achieved good performance in developing countries where the financial sector is far from established. One explanation in the literature is that these firms benefit from trade credit, a form of informal financing. Using a survey of firms in China conducted by the World Bank in early 2003, this article examines whether trade credit indeed boosts firm performance. Our ordinary least squares results show that trade credit is significantly and positively correlated with firm performance. However, using the instrumental variable approach to address endogeneity, we find that the statistical significance disappears. The results are robust to a series of robustness checks, casting doubt on the claim that trade credit boosts firm performance.