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Trade Credit and Markups

Author

Listed:
  • Alvaro Garcia-Marin

    (Universidad de los Andes)

  • Santiago Justel

    (UCLA)

  • Tim Schmidt-Eisenlohr

    (Federal Reserve Board)

Abstract

Trade credit is the most important form of short-term finance in international trade. Why do sellers lend to their buyers in the presence of a well-developed financial sector? This paper proposes an explanation for the puzzling dominance of trade credit: When sellers charge markups over production costs and financial intermediation is costly, then buyer-seller pairs can save on their overall financing costs by utilizing trade credit. We derive a model of trade credit and markups that captures this mechanism. In the model, the larger is the markup and the larger is the difference between the borrowing and the deposit rate, the more attractive is trade credit. Using Chilean data at the firm-level to estimate markups and at the trade-transaction level to analyze payment choices, we find strong support for the model.

Suggested Citation

  • Alvaro Garcia-Marin & Santiago Justel & Tim Schmidt-Eisenlohr, 2019. "Trade Credit and Markups," 2019 Meeting Papers 254, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    • Handle: RePEc:red:sed019:254
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Fischer, Christian, 2020. "Optimal payment contracts in trade relationships," DICE Discussion Papers 332, Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf Institute for Competition Economics (DICE).
    2. Choi, Moon Jung & Hwang, Sangyeon & Im, Hyejoon, 2022. "Cross-border trade credit and trade flows during the global financial crisis," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 497-510.
    3. Hyelin Choi & Kyunghun Kim, 2021. "Effect of Export Credit Insurance on Export Performance: An Empirical Analysis of Korea," Asian Economic Journal, East Asian Economic Association, vol. 35(4), pages 413-433, December.

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