IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/corfin/v62y2020ics0929119920300183.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

CEOs' hometown connections and access to trade credit: Evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Kong, Dongmin
  • Pan, Yue
  • Tian, Gary Gang
  • Zhang, Pengdong

Abstract

In this study, we investigate how informal institutions, namely, chief executive officers' hometown connections with suppliers, impact firms' access to trade credit. Using unique data manually collected from China, we find that hometown connections significantly increase access to trade credit. The hometown effect is more pronounced for non-state-owned firms, firms in provinces with poorly developed financial institutions, and firms whose chief executive officers come from hometowns with a strong merchant guild culture or hold an important position in the hometown's chamber of commerce. We suggest two plausible channels for the hometown effect: information and social trust. Overall, this study contributes to the literature by documenting how hometown connections help firms to obtain external financing in emerging markets.

Suggested Citation

  • Kong, Dongmin & Pan, Yue & Tian, Gary Gang & Zhang, Pengdong, 2020. "CEOs' hometown connections and access to trade credit: Evidence from China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:corfin:v:62:y:2020:i:c:s0929119920300183
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2020.101574
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0929119920300183
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2020.101574?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lauren Cohen & Andrea Frazzini & Christopher Malloy, 2010. "Sell‐Side School Ties," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(4), pages 1409-1437, August.
    2. Lauren Cohen & Andrea Frazzini & Christopher Malloy, 2008. "The Small World of Investing: Board Connections and Mutual Fund Returns," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 116(5), pages 951-979, October.
    3. Andrew B. Bernard & Emmanuel Dhyne & Glenn Magerman & Kalina Manova & Andreas Moxnes, 2022. "The Origins of Firm Heterogeneity: A Production Network Approach," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 130(7), pages 1765-1804.
    4. Petersen, Mitchell A & Rajan, Raghuram G, 1997. "Trade Credit: Theories and Evidence," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 10(3), pages 661-691.
    5. Brian Knight, 2008. "Legislative Representation, Bargaining Power and the Distribution of Federal Funds: Evidence from the US Congress," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 118(532), pages 1785-1803, October.
    6. Allen, Franklin & Qian, Jun & Qian, Meijun, 2005. "Law, finance, and economic growth in China," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(1), pages 57-116, July.
    7. Engelberg, Joseph & Gao, Pengjie & Parsons, Christopher A., 2012. "Friends with money," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(1), pages 169-188.
    8. Michael O'Neill & Kent Wang & Zhangxin (Frank) Liu & Tom Smith, 2016. "A State-Price Volatility Index for China's Stock Market," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 56(3), pages 607-626, September.
    9. Cull, Robert & Xu, Lixin Colin & Zhu, Tian, 2009. "Formal finance and trade credit during China's transition," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 173-192, April.
    10. repec:pri:rpdevs:gamespaper.pdf is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Lee, Yul W. & Stowe, John D., 1993. "Product Risk, Asymmetric Information, and Trade Credit," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 28(2), pages 285-300, June.
    12. Nilsen, Jeffrey H, 2002. "Trade Credit and the Bank Lending Channel," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 34(1), pages 226-253, February.
    13. Kato, Takao & Long, Cheryl, 2006. "Executive Compensation, Firm Performance, and Corporate Governance in China: Evidence from Firms Listed in the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 54(4), pages 945-983, July.
    14. Vasco M. Carvalho & Alireza Tahbaz-Salehi, 2019. "Production Networks: A Primer," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 11(1), pages 635-663, August.
    15. Luigi Guiso & Paola Sapienza & Luigi Zingales, 2004. "The Role of Social Capital in Financial Development," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(3), pages 526-556, June.
    16. Andrew B. Bernard & Andreas Moxnes, 2018. "Networks and Trade," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 10(1), pages 65-85, August.
    17. Mariassunta Giannetti & Mike Burkart & Tore Ellingsen, 2011. "What You Sell Is What You Lend? Explaining Trade Credit Contracts," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 24(4), pages 1261-1298.
    18. Mark Granovetter, 2005. "The Impact of Social Structure on Economic Outcomes," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 19(1), pages 33-50, Winter.
    19. Mateut, Simona & Bougheas, Spiros & Mizen, Paul, 2006. "Trade credit, bank lending and monetary policy transmission," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(3), pages 603-629, April.
    20. Andrew B. Bernard & Andreas Moxnes & Yukiko U. Saito, 2019. "Production Networks, Geography, and Firm Performance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 127(2), pages 639-688.
    21. Dean S. Karlan, 2005. "Using Experimental Economics to Measure Social Capital and Predict Financial Decisions," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(5), pages 1688-1699, December.
    22. Carlin, Bruce Ian & Dorobantu, Florin & Viswanathan, S., 2009. "Public trust, the law, and financial investment," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(3), pages 321-341, June.
    23. Hutton, Amy P. & Marcus, Alan J. & Tehranian, Hassan, 2009. "Opaque financial reports, R2, and crash risk," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(1), pages 67-86, October.
    24. Ishii, Joy & Xuan, Yuhai, 2014. "Acquirer-target social ties and merger outcomes," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(3), pages 344-363.
    25. Shane A. Corwin & Paul Schultz, 2005. "The Role of IPO Underwriting Syndicates: Pricing, Information Production, and Underwriter Competition," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(1), pages 443-486, February.
    26. Raymond Fisman & Inessa Love, 2003. "Trade Credit, Financial Intermediary Development, and Industry Growth," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(1), pages 353-374, February.
    27. Lauren Cohen & Joshua Coval & Christopher Malloy, 2011. "Do Powerful Politicians Cause Corporate Downsizing?," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 119(6), pages 1015-1060.
    28. Deepak Hegde & Justin Tumlinson, 2014. "Does Social Proximity Enhance Business Partnerships? Theory and Evidence from Ethnicity's Role in U.S. Venture Capital," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 60(9), pages 2355-2380, September.
    29. Lauren Cohen & Andrea Frazzini & Christopher J. Malloy, 2012. "Hiring Cheerleaders: Board Appointments of "Independent" Directors," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 58(6), pages 1039-1058, June.
    30. Mingfeng Lin & Nagpurnanand R. Prabhala & Siva Viswanathan, 2013. "Judging Borrowers by the Company They Keep: Friendship Networks and Information Asymmetry in Online Peer-to-Peer Lending," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 59(1), pages 17-35, August.
    31. Raymond Fisman & Jing Shi & Yongxiang Wang & Rong Xu, 2018. "Social Ties and Favoritism in Chinese Science," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 126(3), pages 1134-1171.
    32. Liu, Qigui & Luo, Jinbo & Tian, Gary Gang, 2016. "Managerial professional connections versus political connections: Evidence from firms' access to informal financing resources," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 179-200.
    33. Larcker, David F. & Rusticus, Tjomme O., 2010. "On the use of instrumental variables in accounting research," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 186-205, April.
    34. Xingqiang Du & Jianying Weng & Quan Zeng & Hongmei Pei, 2017. "Culture, Marketization, and Owner-Manager Agency Costs: A Case of Merchant Guild Culture in China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 143(2), pages 353-386, June.
    35. Roland Hodler & Paul A. Raschky, 2014. "Regional Favoritism," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 129(2), pages 995-1033.
    36. Brian Uzzi & Ryon Lancaster, 2003. "Relational Embeddedness and Learning: The Case of Bank Loan Managers and Their Clients," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 49(4), pages 383-399, April.
    37. Scott E. Yonker, 2017. "Do Managers Give Hometown Labor an Edge?," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 30(10), pages 3581-3604.
    38. Wu, Wenfeng & Firth, Michael & Rui, Oliver M., 2014. "Trust and the provision of trade credit," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 146-159.
    39. Stiglitz, Joseph E & Weiss, Andrew, 1981. "Credit Rationing in Markets with Imperfect Information," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 71(3), pages 393-410, June.
    40. Dwight M. Jaffee & Thomas Russell, 1976. "Imperfect Information, Uncertainty, and Credit Rationing," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 90(4), pages 651-666.
    41. Ge, Ying & Qiu, Jiaping, 2007. "Financial development, bank discrimination and trade credit," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 513-530, February.
    42. Liu, Qigui & Tian, Gary, 2012. "Controlling shareholder, expropriations and firm's leverage decision: Evidence from Chinese Non-tradable share reform," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 782-803.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Liu, Qigui & Luo, Jinbo & Tian, Gary Gang, 2016. "Managerial professional connections versus political connections: Evidence from firms' access to informal financing resources," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 179-200.
    2. Yu, Hong & Zhang, Muyang & Zhu, Ruolu, 2022. "Local educational experiences of executives, school geographical relationship and trade credit: Evidence from listed firms in China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    3. Fan, Rui & Pan, Jianping & Wang, Jenny Jing & Yu, Minggui, 2023. "Do government provided credit ratings enhance or impede a firm's access to trade credit?," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    4. Zhou, Zhongsheng & Li, Zhuo, 2023. "Corporate digital transformation and trade credit financing," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    5. Wenwu Cai & Xiaofeng Quan & Gary Gang Tian, 2023. "Local Corruption and Trade Credit: Evidence from an Emerging Market," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 185(3), pages 563-594, July.
    6. Xiu, Zongfeng & Liu, Ran & Feng, Pengshuo & Yin, Jingwei, 2023. "Does social culture matter for firms' access to trade credit? Evidence from China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    7. Yufen Wei & Qigui Liu & Jinbo Luo, 2023. "How does corporate social responsibility have influence on firms' access to trade credit," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(S1), pages 1321-1349, April.
    8. Ding, Feng & Liu, Qiliang & Shi, Hanzhong & Wang, Wenming & Wu, Shan, 2023. "Firms' access to informal financing: The role of shared managers in trade credit access," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    9. Wu, Wenfeng & Firth, Michael & Rui, Oliver M., 2014. "Trust and the provision of trade credit," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 146-159.
    10. Yang, Junhong & Guariglia, Alessandra & Peng, Yuchao & Shi, Yukun, 2022. "Inventory investment and the choice of financing: Does financial development play a role?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    11. El Ghoul, Sadok & Zheng, Xiaolan, 2016. "Trade credit provision and national culture," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 475-501.
    12. An, Jiafu, 2020. "Is there an employee-based gender gap in informal financial markets? International evidence," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    13. Liangbo Ma & Shiguang Ma, 2020. "Trade credit use and bank loan access: an agency theory perspective," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 60(2), pages 1835-1865, June.
    14. Lai, Shaojie & Chen, Lihan & Wang, Qing Sophie & Anderson, Hamish, 2022. "Natural disasters, trade credit, and firm performance," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    15. Chen, Shenglan & Ma, Hui & Wu, Qiang, 2019. "Bank credit and trade credit: Evidence from natural experiments," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    16. Hasan, Mostafa Monzur & Habib, Ahsan, 2019. "Social capital and trade credit," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 158-174.
    17. Abdulla, Yomna & Dang, Viet Anh & Khurshed, Arif, 2017. "Stock market listing and the use of trade credit: Evidence from public and private firms," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 391-410.
    18. Xia, Changyuan & Zhang, Xiaowei & Cao, Chunfang & Xu, Nan, 2019. "Independent director connectedness in China: An examination of the trade credit financing hypothesis," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 209-225.
    19. Xu, Qifa & Tan, Chao & Jiang, Cuixia & Zhao, Qinna, 2022. "Surname relationship and trade credit: Evidence from China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    20. Bai, Min & Cai, Jifu & Qin, Yafeng, 2021. "Ownership discrimination and private firms financing in China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:corfin:v:62:y:2020:i:c:s0929119920300183. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jcorpfin .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.