Trade credit, SMEs and short-run survivorship: what we know and what we would like to know

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to draw the state of the art on the trade credit, one of the most alternative form of firm financing, especially for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Design/methodology/approach - The present study first reviews the theoretical papers focusing on the raison d’être of trade credit financing. Then the study identifies the empirical research studies in SMEs’ context and summarizes them on the basis of the following drivers: the country and the period analysed, the methodology used, the main findings and the presence of a shock in time span. Findings - Findings reveal a discrepancy of results, especially in testing Meltzer’s hypothesis of substitution effects among trade and bank credit. The heterogeneity of results should be driven by lending infrastructure of the country analysed and the presence or not of a shock in time span considered. Financial constraints can reconcile the discrepancy of results. Then, most of the studies analysed are based on the assumption that trade credit is more expensive than bank credit. Originality/value - This paper provides valuable conclusion on past and present studies on trade credit. First is providing a rule of the thumb in the reading of empirical evidences. Also researchers and academicians should deal with consideration regarding the cost of trade credit that still appears as a black box. This is an important issue in corporate finance, as it influences the financial decision of firms and it will be useful for conducting a deeper comparison on the alternative cost of firm financing.