IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/inm/ormnsc/v69y2023i8p4591-4608.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Impact of Trade Credit Provision on Retail Inventory: An Empirical Investigation Using Synthetic Controls

Author

Listed:
  • Christopher J. Chen

    (Kelley School of Business, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana 47405)

  • Nitish Jain

    (London Business School, London NW1 4SA, United Kingdom)

  • S. Alex Yang

    (London Business School, London NW1 4SA, United Kingdom)

Abstract

Trade credit is an important source of short-term financing and an integrated part in supply contracts. Although a number of theories have been proposed on how trade credit could improve supply chain efficiency, causal studies on the impact of trade credit on operational decisions are scarce. In this study, we examine the impact of trade credit on inventory decisions using an empirical strategy that leverages (i) an exogenous shock imparted by the French government’s intervention to impose a ceiling on trade credit duration, (ii) a triple difference-in-differences identification strategy, and (iii) synthetic controls (SCs). By considering the 60-day ceiling coverage and SC construction requirements, we identify four French retail sectors as our main sample. Among them, in the postregulation period, the hardware retail sector firms on average exhibited a significant 16% decline in trade credit usage. Correspondingly, these firms also displayed a significant 11% decline in inventory level. In the remaining three sectors, we found mixed results in the main sample. All the four sectors, however, show consistent support for a causal link between trade credit and inventory in a subsample compiled using a stringent 90-day ceiling criterion. Collectively, our findings offer direct evidence that trade credit is an indispensable financing source for inventory procurement. Finally, in the postregulation period, the hardware retailers exhibited a 15.5% decline in revenue and 3.5% reduction in gross profit. This cautions policy makers that regulations limiting the use of trade credit may have unintended consequences on downstream firms, and may harm overall supply chain efficiency.

Suggested Citation

  • Christopher J. Chen & Nitish Jain & S. Alex Yang, 2023. "The Impact of Trade Credit Provision on Retail Inventory: An Empirical Investigation Using Synthetic Controls," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(8), pages 4591-4608, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ormnsc:v:69:y:2023:i:8:p:4591-4608
    DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2022.4600
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2022.4600
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1287/mnsc.2022.4600?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. 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.
    2. Qi Wu & Kumar Muthuraman & Sridhar Seshadri, 2019. "Effect of Financing Costs and Constraints on Real Investments: The Case of Inventories," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 28(10), pages 2573-2593, October.
    3. Mike Burkart & Tore Ellingsen, 2004. "In-Kind Finance: A Theory of Trade Credit," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(3), pages 569-590, June.
    4. Volodymyr Babich & Panos Kouvelis, 2018. "Introduction to the Special Issue on Research at the Interface of Finance, Operations, and Risk Management (iFORM): Recent Contributions and Future Directions," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 20(1), pages 1-18, February.
    5. Noémi Kreif & Richard Grieve & Dominik Hangartner & Alex James Turner & Silviya Nikolova & Matt Sutton, 2016. "Examination of the Synthetic Control Method for Evaluating Health Policies with Multiple Treated Units," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 25(12), pages 1514-1528, December.
    6. Xu, Yiqing, 2017. "Generalized Synthetic Control Method: Causal Inference with Interactive Fixed Effects Models," Political Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 25(1), pages 57-76, January.
    7. Biais, Bruno & Gollier, Christian, 1997. "Trade Credit and Credit Rationing," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 10(4), pages 903-937.
    8. George Alessandria & Joseph P. Kaboski & Virgiliu Midrigan, 2011. "US Trade and Inventory Dynamics," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(3), pages 303-307, May.
    9. Sergey Rumyantsev & Serguei Netessine, 2007. "What Can Be Learned from Classical Inventory Models? A Cross-Industry Exploratory Investigation," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 9(4), pages 409-429, April.
    10. Hsiao-Hui Lee & Jianer Zhou & Jingqi Wang, 2018. "Trade Credit Financing Under Competition and Its Impact on Firm Performance in Supply Chains," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 20(1), pages 36-52, February.
    11. S. Alex Yang & John R. Birge, 2018. "Trade Credit, Risk Sharing, and Inventory Financing Portfolios," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(8), pages 3667-3689, August.
    12. Jean-Noël Barrot, 2016. "Trade Credit and Industry Dynamics: Evidence from Trucking Firms," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 71(5), pages 1975-2016, October.
    13. Acemoglu, Daron & Johnson, Simon & Kermani, Amir & Kwak, James & Mitton, Todd, 2016. "The value of connections in turbulent times: Evidence from the United States," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(2), pages 368-391.
    14. Heikki Peura & S. Alex Yang & Guoming Lai, 2017. "Trade Credit in Competition: A Horizontal Benefit," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 19(2), pages 263-289, May.
    15. Yasin Alan & George P. Gao & Vishal Gaur, 2014. "Does Inventory Productivity Predict Future Stock Returns? A Retailing Industry Perspective," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 60(10), pages 2416-2434, November.
    16. Charles W. Haley & Robert C. Higgins, 1973. "Inventory Policy and Trade Credit Financing," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(4-Part-I), pages 464-471, December.
    17. Susan Athey & Guido W. Imbens, 2017. "The State of Applied Econometrics: Causality and Policy Evaluation," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 31(2), pages 3-32, Spring.
    18. Sørensen, Bent E & Kalemli-Özcan, Sebnem & Volosovych, Vadym & Villegas-Sanchez, Carolina & Yesiltas, Sevcan, 2015. "How to construct nationally representative firm level data from the ORBIS global database," CEPR Discussion Papers 10829, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    19. Volodymyr Babich & Christopher S. Tang, 2012. "Managing Opportunistic Supplier Product Adulteration: Deferred Payments, Inspection, and Combined Mechanisms," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 14(2), pages 301-314, April.
    20. Kevin B. Hendricks & Vinod R. Singhal, 2009. "Demand-Supply Mismatches and Stock Market Reaction: Evidence from Excess Inventory Announcements," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 11(3), pages 509-524, September.
    21. Ang, Andrew & Longstaff, Francis A., 2013. "Systemic sovereign credit risk: Lessons from the U.S. and Europe," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(5), pages 493-510.
    22. Tunay I. Tunca & Weiming Zhu, 2018. "Buyer Intermediation in Supplier Finance," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(12), pages 5631-5650, December.
    23. Hong Chen & Murray Z. Frank & Owen Q. Wu, 2007. "U.S. Retail and Wholesale Inventory Performance from 1981 to 2004," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 9(4), pages 430-456, April.
    24. Sebnem Kalemli-Ozcan & Bent Sorensen & Carolina Villegas-Sanchez & Vadym Volosovych & Sevcan Yesiltas, 2015. "How to Construct Nationally Representative Firm Level Data from the Orbis Global Database: New Facts and Aggregate Implications," NBER Working Papers 21558, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    25. Margarita Tsoutsoura, 2015. "The Effect of Succession Taxes on Family Firm Investment: Evidence from a Natural Experiment," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 70(2), pages 649-688, April.
    26. Abadie, Alberto & Diamond, Alexis & Hainmueller, Jens, 2010. "Synthetic Control Methods for Comparative Case Studies: Estimating the Effect of California’s Tobacco Control Program," Journal of the American Statistical Association, American Statistical Association, vol. 105(490), pages 493-505.
    27. Panos Kouvelis & Wenhui Zhao, 2012. "Financing the Newsvendor: Supplier vs. Bank, and the Structure of Optimal Trade Credit Contracts," Operations Research, INFORMS, vol. 60(3), pages 566-580, June.
    28. Suvrat Dhanorkar, 2019. "Environmental Benefits of Internet-Enabled C2C Closed-Loop Supply Chains: A Quasi-Experimental Study of Craigslist," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 65(2), pages 660-680, February.
    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. Volodymyr Babich & Panos Kouvelis, 2018. "Introduction to the Special Issue on Research at the Interface of Finance, Operations, and Risk Management (iFORM): Recent Contributions and Future Directions," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 20(1), pages 1-18, February.
    2. Deng, Sijing & Fu, Ke & Xu, Jiayan & Zhu, Kaijie, 2021. "The supply chain effects of trade credit under uncertain demands," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    3. Xiao Huang, 2022. "Financing Disruptive Suppliers: Payment Advance, Timeline, and Discount Rate," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 31(3), pages 1115-1134, March.
    4. Panos Kouvelis & Fasheng Xu, 2021. "A Supply Chain Theory of Factoring and Reverse Factoring," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(10), pages 6071-6088, October.
    5. Chod, Jiri & Lyandres, Evgeny & Yang, S. Alex, 2019. "Trade credit and supplier competition," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(2), pages 484-505.
    6. Jiri Chod, 2017. "Inventory, Risk Shifting, and Trade Credit," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(10), pages 3207-3225, October.
    7. Heikki Peura & S. Alex Yang & Guoming Lai, 2017. "Trade Credit in Competition: A Horizontal Benefit," Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, INFORMS, vol. 19(2), pages 263-289, May.
    8. Dbouk, Wassim & Moussawi-Haidar, Lama & Jaber, Mohamad Y., 2020. "The effect of economic uncertainty on inventory and working capital for manufacturing firms," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 230(C).
    9. Jiang, Wen-Hui & Xu, Ling & Chen, Zhen-Song & Govindan, Kannan & Chin, Kwai-Sang, 2022. "Financing equilibrium in a capital constrained supply Chain: The impact of credit rating," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    10. S. Alex Yang & John R. Birge, 2018. "Trade Credit, Risk Sharing, and Inventory Financing Portfolios," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 64(8), pages 3667-3689, August.
    11. Gökçe Esenduran & John V. Gray & Burcu Tan, 2022. "A Dynamic Analysis of Supply Chain Risk Management and Extended Payment Terms," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 31(3), pages 1394-1417, March.
    12. Fu, Ke & Wang, Ce & Xu, Jiayan, 2022. "The impact of trade credit on information sharing in a supply chain," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 110(C).
    13. Jiao Wang & Lima Zhao & Arnd Huchzermeier, 2021. "Operations‐Finance Interface in Risk Management: Research Evolution and Opportunities," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 30(2), pages 355-389, February.
    14. Yang, Honglin & Zhuo, Wenyan & Shao, Lusheng & Talluri, Srinivas, 2021. "Mean-variance analysis of wholesale price contracts with a capital-constrained retailer: Trade credit financing vs. bank credit financing," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 294(2), pages 525-542.
    15. Xie, Xiaofeng & Shi, Xinyu & Gu, Jing & Xu, Xun, 2023. "Examining the Contagion Effect of Credit Risk in a Supply Chain under Trade Credit and Bank Loan Offering," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    16. Tomasz Serwach, 2023. "The European Union and within‐country income inequalities. The case of the new member states," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(7), pages 1890-1939, July.
    17. Alvaro Garcia-Marin & Santiago Justel & Tim Schmidt-Eisenlohr, 2019. "Trade Credit, Markups, and Relationships," CESifo Working Paper Series 7600, CESifo.
    18. Tomasz Serwach, 2022. "The European Union and within-country income inequalities. The case of the New Member States," Working Papers hal-03548416, HAL.
    19. David Gilchrist & Thomas Emery & Nuno Garoupa & Rok Spruk, 2023. "Synthetic Control Method: A tool for comparative case studies in economic history," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(2), pages 409-445, April.
    20. Daniel Albalate & Germà Bel & Ferran A. Mazaira-Font, 2021. "Decoupling synthetic control methods to ensure stability, accuracy and meaningfulness," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 12(4), pages 549-584, December.

    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:inm:ormnsc:v:69:y:2023:i:8:p:4591-4608. 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: Chris Asher (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/inforea.html .

    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.