IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jfinin/v27y2016icp31-50.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Informal or formal financing? Evidence on the co-funding of Chinese firms

Author

Listed:
  • Degryse, Hans
  • Lu, Liping
  • Ongena, Steven

Abstract

Different modes of external finance provide heterogeneous benefits for the borrowing firms. Informal finance offers informational advantages whereas formal finance is scalable. Using unique survey data from China, we find that informal finance is associated with higher sales growth for small firms but lower sales growth for large firms. We identify a complementary effect between informal and formal finance for the sales growth of small firms, but not for large firms. Co-funding, thereby simultaneously using the informational advantage of informal finance and the scalability of formal finance, is therefore the optimal choice for small firms.

Suggested Citation

  • Degryse, Hans & Lu, Liping & Ongena, Steven, 2016. "Informal or formal financing? Evidence on the co-funding of Chinese firms," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 31-50.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jfinin:v:27:y:2016:i:c:p:31-50
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jfi.2016.05.003
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1042957316300110
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jfi.2016.05.003?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. Wei, Shang-Jin & Boyreau-Debray, Genevieve, 2004. "Pitfalls of a State-Dominated Financial System: The Case of China," CEPR Discussion Papers 4471, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    2. Hans Degryse & Steven Ongena, 2005. "Distance, Lending Relationships, and Competition," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(1), pages 231-266, February.
    3. David Dollar & Shang-Jin Wei, 2007. "Das (Wasted) Kapital: Firm Ownership and Investment Efficiency in China," IMF Working Papers 2007/009, International Monetary Fund.
    4. Madestam, Andreas, 2014. "Informal finance: A theory of moneylenders," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 157-174.
    5. Fan, Joseph P.H. & Wong, T.J. & Zhang, Tianyu, 2007. "Politically connected CEOs, corporate governance, and Post-IPO performance of China's newly partially privatized firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(2), pages 330-357, May.
    6. Petersen, Mitchell A & Rajan, Raghuram G, 1997. "Trade Credit: Theories and Evidence," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 10(3), pages 661-691.
    7. 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.
    8. Abhijit V. Banerjee & Esther Duflo, 2014. "Do Firms Want to Borrow More? Testing Credit Constraints Using a Directed Lending Program," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 81(2), pages 572-607.
    9. Arturo Bris & Ivo Welch, 2005. "The Optimal Concentration of Creditors," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(5), pages 2193-2212, October.
    10. Tsai, Kellee S., 2004. "Imperfect Substitutes: The Local Political Economy of Informal Finance and Microfinance in Rural China and India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 32(9), pages 1487-1507, September.
    11. Michael Faulkender & Mitchell A. Petersen, 2006. "Does the Source of Capital Affect Capital Structure?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 19(1), pages 45-79.
    12. 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.
    13. Calomiris, Charles W. & Fisman, Raymond & Wang, Yongxiang, 2010. "Profiting from government stakes in a command economy: Evidence from Chinese asset sales," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(3), pages 399-412, June.
    14. Gian Luca Clementi & Hugo A. Hopenhayn, 2006. "A Theory of Financing Constraints and Firm Dynamics," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 121(1), pages 229-265.
    15. Thorsten Beck & Asli Demirguc-Kunt & Luc Laeven & Ross Levine, 2008. "Finance, Firm Size, and Growth," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 40(7), pages 1379-1405, October.
    16. Maria Semenova & Victoria Rodina, 2013. "Informal loans in Russia: credit rationing or borrower’s choice?," HSE Working papers WP BRP 14/FE/2013, National Research University Higher School of Economics.
    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. Patrick Bolton & Xavier Freixas & Leonardo Gambacorta & Paolo Emilio Mistrulli, 2016. "Relationship and Transaction Lending in a Crisis," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 29(10), pages 2643-2676.
    19. Xiaoqiang Cheng & Hans Degryse, 2010. "The Impact of Bank and Non-Bank Financial Institutions on Local Economic Growth in China," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 37(2), pages 179-199, June.
    20. Bell, Clive, 1990. "Interactions between Institutional and Informal Credit Agencies in Rural India," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 4(3), pages 297-327, September.
    21. Zheng Song & Kjetil Storesletten & Fabrizio Zilibotti, 2011. "Growing Like China," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(1), pages 196-233, February.
    22. Anderson, Siwan & Baland, Jean-Marie & Moene, Karl Ove, 2009. "Enforcement in informal saving groups," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(1), pages 14-23, September.
    23. Chong, Terence Tai-Leung & Lu, Liping & Ongena, Steven, 2013. "Does banking competition alleviate or worsen credit constraints faced by small- and medium-sized enterprises? Evidence from China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(9), pages 3412-3424.
    24. Mara Faccio, 2006. "Politically Connected Firms," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(1), pages 369-386, March.
    25. Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Klapper, Leora, 2012. "Financial inclusion in Africa : an overview," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6088, The World Bank.
    26. Andersen, Thomas Barnebeck & Malchow-Moller, Nikolaj, 2006. "Strategic interaction in undeveloped credit markets," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(2), pages 275-298, August.
    27. Allen, Franklin & Chakrabarti, Rajesh & De, Sankar & Qian, Jun “QJ” & Qian, Meijun, 2012. "Financing firms in India," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 21(3), pages 409-445.
    28. Kislat, Carmen & Menkhoff, Lukas & Neuberger, Doris, 2013. "The use of collateral in formal and informal lending," VfS Annual Conference 2013 (Duesseldorf): Competition Policy and Regulation in a Global Economic Order 79765, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    29. Asim Ijaz Khwaja & Atif Mian, 2005. "Do Lenders Favor Politically Connected Firms? Rent Provision in an Emerging Financial Market," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 120(4), pages 1371-1411.
    30. Luigi Guiso & Raoul Minetti, 2010. "The Structure of Multiple Credit Relationships: Evidence from U.S. Firms," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 42(6), pages 1037-1071, September.
    31. Jain, Sanjay, 1999. "Symbiosis vs. crowding-out: the interaction of formal and informal credit markets in developing countries," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(2), pages 419-444, August.
    32. Samuel Lee & Petra Persson, 2016. "Financing from Family and Friends," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 29(9), pages 2341-2386.
    33. Mark J. Garmaise, 2003. "Informal Financial Networks: Theory and Evidence," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 16(4), pages 1007-1040.
    34. William Jack & Tavneet Suri, 2014. "Risk Sharing and Transactions Costs: Evidence from Kenya's Mobile Money Revolution," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(1), pages 183-223, January.
    35. Meghana Ayyagari & Asli Demirgüç-Kunt & Vojislav Maksimovic, 2010. "Formal versus Informal Finance: Evidence from China," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(8), pages 3048-3097, August.
    36. Biais, Bruno & Gollier, Christian, 1997. "Trade Credit and Credit Rationing," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 10(4), pages 903-937.
    37. Jun (Qj) Qian & Philip E. Strahan & Zhishu Yang, 2015. "The Impact of Incentives and Communication Costs on Information Production and Use: Evidence from Bank Lending," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 70(4), pages 1457-1493, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Peng Bin & Xiaolan Chen & Andrea Fracasso & Chiara Tomasi, 2020. "Firm employment growth in China: The role of marketization and regional economic factors," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(1), pages 402-439, March.
    2. Li, Ying & Han, Yue & Fok, Robert C.W., 2020. "Do cross-border mergers and acquisitions affect acquirers’ trade credit? Evidence from an emerging market," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 423-439.
    3. Ullah, Barkat, 2020. "Signaling value of quality certification: Financing under asymmetric information," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    4. Li Huang & Qianwei Ying & Shanye Yang & Hazrat Hassan, 2019. "Trade Credit Financing and Sustainable Growth of Firms: Empirical Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-20, February.
    5. Allen, Franklin & Qian, Meijun & Xie, Jing, 2019. "Understanding informal financing," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 19-33.
    6. Long, Trinh Quang, 2019. "Becoming a high-growth firm in a developing country: The role of co-funding," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 330-335.
    7. Galema, Rients, 2020. "Credit rationing in P2P lending to SMEs: Do lender-borrower relationships matter?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    8. Posti, Lokesh & Kholiya, Mamta & Posti, Akhilesh Kumar, 2022. "Returns on Informal and Formal finance for Indian Informal firms: A Pseudo panel data analysis," MPRA Paper 115550, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Abdalla Al Khub & Mohamed Saeudy & Ali Meftah Gerged, 2024. "Digital Financial Inclusion in Emerging Economies: Evidence from Jordan," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-14, February.
    10. Ullah, Barkat, 2019. "Firm innovation in transition economies: The role of formal versus informal finance," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 58-75.
    11. Arrieta-Paredes, Mary-Paz & Hallsworth, Alan G. & Coca-Stefaniak, J. Andres, 2020. "Small shop survival – The financial response to a global financial crisis," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    12. Michele Benvenuti & Luca Casolaro & Emanuele Ciani, 2022. "Informal loans, liquidity constraints and local credit supply: evidence from Italy," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 1429-1461, December.
    13. Simba, Amon & Martins Ogundana, Oyedele & Braune, Eric & Dana, Léo–Paul, 2023. "Community financing in entrepreneurship: A focus on women entrepreneurs in the developing world," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    14. Guo, Shen & Lin, Guiting & Ouyang, Alice Y., 2023. "Are pro-SME credit policies effective? Evidence from shadow banking in China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    15. Yang Yang & Xuezheng Chen & Jing Gu & Hamido Fujita, 2019. "Alleviating Financing Constraints of SMEs through Supply Chain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-19, January.
    16. Denila Jinny Arulraj & Thillai Rajan Annamalai, 2020. "Firms’ Financing Choices and Firm Productivity: Evidence from an Emerging Economy," International Journal of Global Business and Competitiveness, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 35-48, June.
    17. Du, Julan & Li, Chang & Wang, Yongqin, 2023. "Shadow banking of non-financial firms: Arbitrage between formal and informal credit markets in China," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    18. 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).
    19. H. Kent Baker & Debidutta Pattnaik & Satish Kumar, 2022. "Trade credit and firm profitability: Empirical evidence from India," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(4), pages 3934-3953, October.
    20. Hou, Liming & Hsueh, Shao-Chieh & Zhang, Shuoxun, 2020. "Does formal financial development crowd in informal financing? Evidence from Chinese private enterprises," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 288-301.
    21. Chang’an Liang & Guoming Du & Zhaoda Cui & Bonoua Faye, 2022. "Does Digital Inclusive Finance Enhance the Creation of County Enterprises? Taking Henan Province as a Case Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-17, November.
    22. Denila Jinny Arulraj & Thillai Rajan Annamalai, 0. "Firms’ Financing Choices and Firm Productivity: Evidence from an Emerging Economy," International Journal of Global Business and Competitiveness, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-14.
    23. Florian Leon, 2019. "The provision of long-term credit and firm growth," DEM Discussion Paper Series 19-08, Department of Economics at the University of Luxembourg.
    24. Park, Heungju & Sohn, Sungbin, 2021. "Flight to quality and implicit guarantee: Evidence from Chinese trust products," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 399-419.
    25. Andrea Fracasso & Kun Jiang, 2022. "The performance of private companies in China before and during the global financial crisis: firms’ characteristics and entrepreneurs’ attributes," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 55(2), pages 803-836, May.

    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. Cull, Robert & Li, Wei & Sun, Bo & Xu, Lixin Colin, 2015. "Government connections and financial constraints: Evidence from a large representative sample of Chinese firms," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 271-294.
    2. Allen, Franklin & Qian, Meijun & Xie, Jing, 2019. "Understanding informal financing," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 19-33.
    3. Long, Trinh Quang, 2019. "Becoming a high-growth firm in a developing country: The role of co-funding," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 330-335.
    4. Chen, Zhiyuan & Li, Yong & Zhang, Jie, 2016. "The bank–firm relationship: Helping or grabbing?," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 385-403.
    5. Beck, Thorsten & Lu, Liping & Yang, Rudai, 2015. "Finance and Growth for Microenterprises: Evidence from Rural China," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 38-56.
    6. 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).
    7. Didier, Tatiana & Schmukler, Sergio L., 2013. "The financing and growth of firms in China and India: Evidence from capital markets," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 111-137.
    8. 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.
    9. Ding, Sai & Guariglia, Alessandra & Knight, John, 2013. "Investment and financing constraints in China: Does working capital management make a difference?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(5), pages 1490-1507.
    10. Jun Du & Sourafel Girma, 2009. "Source of Finance, Growth and Firm Size - Evidence from China," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2009-03, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    11. Marc Deloof & Maurizio Rocca, 2015. "Local financial development and the trade credit policy of Italian SMEs," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 44(4), pages 905-924, April.
    12. Xu, Nana & Yuan, Yan & Rong, Zhao, 2022. "Depressed access to formal finance and the use of credit card debt in Chinese SMEs," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    13. Allen, Franklin & Qian, Jun & Qian, Meijun, 2018. "A Review of China’s Institutions," CEPR Discussion Papers 13269, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    14. Galema, Rients, 2020. "Credit rationing in P2P lending to SMEs: Do lender-borrower relationships matter?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    15. Guariglia, Alessandra & Liu, Xiaoxuan & Song, Lina, 2011. "Internal finance and growth: Microeconometric evidence on Chinese firms," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(1), pages 79-94, September.
    16. Casey, Eddie & O'Toole, Conor M., 2014. "Bank lending constraints, trade credit and alternative financing during the financial crisis: Evidence from European SMEs," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 173-193.
    17. Allen, Franklin & Carletti, Elena & Qianc, Jun “QJ†& Valenzuela, Patricio, 2013. "Financial Intermediation, Markets, and Alternative Financial Sectors," Handbook of the Economics of Finance, in: G.M. Constantinides & M. Harris & R. M. Stulz (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Finance, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 759-798, Elsevier.
    18. Liu, Jinyu & Wang, Zhengwei & Zhu, Wuxiang, 2021. "Does privatization reform alleviate ownership discrimination? Evidence from the Split-share structure reform in China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    19. Bach Nguyen, 2022. "Small business investment: The importance of financing strategies and social networks," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(3), pages 2849-2872, July.
    20. Liu, Qigui & Pan, Xiaofei & Tian, Gary Gang, 2018. "To what extent did the economic stimulus package influence bank lending and corporate investment decisions? Evidence from China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 177-193.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Informal finance; Formal finance; Co-funding; Growth;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • P2 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Socialist and Transition Economies

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:jfinin:v:27:y:2016:i:c:p:31-50. 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/inca/622875 .

    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.