IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/fip/fedgif/1151.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

International Trade Risk and the Role of Banks

Author

Abstract

International trade exposes exporters and importers to substantial risks. To mitigate these risks, firms can buy special trade finance products from banks. This paper explores under which conditions and to what extent firms use these products. We find that letters of credit and documentary collections cover about 10 percent of U.S. exports and are preferred for larger transactions, indicating substantial fixed costs. Letters of credit are employed the most for exports to countries with intermediate contract enforcement. Compared to documentary collections, they are used for riskier destinations. We provide a model that rationalizes these empirical findings and discuss implications.

Suggested Citation

  • Friederike Niepmann & Tim Schmidt-Eisenlohr, 2015. "International Trade Risk and the Role of Banks," International Finance Discussion Papers 1151, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedgif:1151
    DOI: 10.17016/IFDP.2015.1151
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.federalreserve.gov/econresdata/ifdp/2015/files/ifdp1151.pdf
    File Function: Full text
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.17016/IFDP.2015.1151
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.17016/IFDP.2015.1151?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
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. de Sousa, José & Mayer, Thierry & Zignago, Soledad, 2012. "Market access in global and regional trade," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(6), pages 1037-1052.
    2. Kalina Manova, 2013. "Credit Constraints, Heterogeneous Firms, and International Trade," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 80(2), pages 711-744.
    3. Silvia Del Prete & Stefano Federico, 2014. "Trade and finance: is there more than just 'trade finance'? Evidence from matched bank-firm data," Temi di discussione (Economic working papers) 948, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    4. Nathan Nunn, 2007. "Relationship-Specificity, Incomplete Contracts, and the Pattern of Trade," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(2), pages 569-600.
    5. Roberto Felici & Marcello Pagnini, 2008. "Distance, Bank Heterogeneity And Entry In Local Banking Markets," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(3), pages 500-534, September.
    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. Schnitzer, Monika & Eck, Katharina & Engemann, Martina, 2012. "How Trade Credits Foster International Trade," CEPR Discussion Papers 8954, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    8. 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.
    9. Andrei A. Levchenko, 2007. "Institutional Quality and International Trade," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 74(3), pages 791-819.
    10. Galina Hale & Christopher Candelaria & Julian Caballero & Sergey Borisov, 2013. "Bank Linkages and International Trade," Research Department Publications IDB-WP-445, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
    11. Chor, Davin & Manova, Kalina, 2012. "Off the cliff and back? Credit conditions and international trade during the global financial crisis," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 117-133.
    12. Daniel Paravisini & Veronica Rappoport & Philipp Schnabl & Daniel Wolfenzon, 2015. "Dissecting the Effect of Credit Supply on Trade: Evidence from Matched Credit-Export Data," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 82(1), pages 333-359.
    13. Simeon Djankov & Caroline Freund & Cong S. Pham, 2010. "Trading on Time," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 92(1), pages 166-173, February.
    14. Nicolas Berman & José de Sousa & Philippe Martin & Thierry Mayer, 2013. "Time to Ship during Financial Crises," NBER International Seminar on Macroeconomics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 9(1), pages 225-260.
    15. 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.
    16. David L. Hummels & Georg Schaur, 2013. "Time as a Trade Barrier," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 103(7), pages 2935-2959, December.
    17. Caballero, Julian & Candelaria, Christopher & Hale, Galina, 2018. "Bank linkages and international trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 30-47.
    18. Rauch, James E., 1999. "Networks versus markets in international trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 7-35, June.
    19. repec:spo:wpecon:info:hdl:2441/10187 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Vicente Cuñat, 2007. "Trade Credit: Suppliers as Debt Collectors and Insurance Providers," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 20(2), pages 491-527.
    21. J. Stephen Ferris, 1981. "A Transactions Theory of Trade Credit Use," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 96(2), pages 243-270.
    22. Niepmann, Friederike, 2015. "Banking across borders," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(2), pages 244-265.
    23. Chee K. Ng & Janet Kiholm Smith & Richard L. Smith, 1999. "Evidence on the Determinants of Credit Terms Used in Interfirm Trade," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 54(3), pages 1109-1129, June.
    24. Leora Klapper & Luc Laeven & Raghuram Rajan, 2012. "Trade Credit Contracts," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 25(3), pages 838-867.
    25. Kemal Türkcan & Veysel Avsar, 2016. "Investigating the Role of Contract Enforcement and Financial Costs on the Payment Choice: Industry-Level Evidence from Turkey," Global Economy Journal (GEJ), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 16(1), pages 135-160, March.
    26. Andreas Hoefele & Tim Schmidt-Eisenlohr & Zhihong Yu, 2016. "Payment choice in international trade: Theory and evidence from cross-country firm-level data," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 49(1), pages 296-319, February.
    27. Beck, Thorsten, 2002. "Financial development and international trade: Is there a link?," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(1), pages 107-131, June.
    28. Yeaple, Stephen Ross, 2009. "Firm heterogeneity and the structure of U.S. multinational activity," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(2), pages 206-215, July.
    29. Mr. Thomas William Dorsey & Mika Saito & Armine Khachatryan & Ms. Irena Asmundson & Ioana Niculcea, 2011. "Trade and Trade Finance in the 2008-09 Financial Crisis," IMF Working Papers 2011/016, International Monetary Fund.
    30. repec:hal:wpspec:info:hdl:2441/10187 is not listed on IDEAS
    31. Krautheim, Sebastian, 2012. "Heterogeneous firms, exporter networks and the effect of distance on international trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 27-35.
    32. Thorsten Beck, 2003. "Financial Dependence and International Trade," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(2), pages 296-316, May.
    33. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/10187 is not listed on IDEAS
    34. 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.
    35. Song, E. Young, 2014. "Trade Finance and Trade Collapse during the Global Financial Crisis: Evidence from the Republic of Korea," East Asian Economic Review, Korea Institute for International Economic Policy, vol. 18(4), pages 395-423, December.
    36. Demir, Banu & Javorcik, Beata, 2018. "Don’t throw in the towel, throw in trade credit!," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 177-189.
    37. Mary Amiti & David E. Weinstein, 2011. "Exports and Financial Shocks," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 126(4), pages 1841-1877.
    38. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/10187 is not listed on IDEAS
    39. Mr. JaeBin Ahn, 2011. "A Theory of Domestic and International Trade Finance," IMF Working Papers 2011/262, International Monetary Fund.
    40. Beck , Thorsten & Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Levine, Ross, 2009. "Financial institutions and markets across countries and over time - data and analysis," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4943, The World Bank.
    41. Benjamin S. Wilner, 2000. "The Exploitation of Relationships in Financial Distress: The Case of Trade Credit," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(1), pages 153-178, 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. Schmidt-Eisenlohr, Tim, 2013. "Towards a theory of trade finance," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(1), pages 96-112.
    2. Andreas Hoefele & Tim Schmidt-Eisenlohr & Zhihong Yu, 2016. "Payment choice in international trade: Theory and evidence from cross-country firm-level data," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 49(1), pages 296-319, February.
    3. Alvaro Garcia-Marin & Santiago Justel & Tim Schmidt-Eisenlohr, 2019. "Trade Credit, Markups, and Relationships," CESifo Working Paper Series 7600, CESifo.
    4. Niepmann, Friederike & Schmidt-Eisenlohr, Tim, 2017. "No guarantees, no trade: How banks affect export patterns," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 338-350.
    5. Pol Antràs & C. Fritz Foley, 2015. "Poultry in Motion: A Study of International Trade Finance Practices," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 123(4), pages 853-901.
    6. Kemal Turkcan, 2016. "Evolving Patterns of Payment Methods in Turkish Foreign Trade," World Journal of Applied Economics, WERI-World Economic Research Institute, vol. 2(1), pages 3-29, June.
    7. Federico J. Diez & Jesse Mora & Alan C. Spearot, 2016. "Firms in international trade," Working Papers 16-25, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
    8. Iacovone, Leonardo & Ferro, Esteban & Pereira-López, Mariana & Zavacka, Veronika, 2019. "Banking crises and exports: Lessons from the past," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 192-204.
    9. Katharina Eck & Martina Engemann & Monika Schnitzer, 2015. "How trade credits foster exporting," Review of World Economics (Weltwirtschaftliches Archiv), Springer;Institut für Weltwirtschaft (Kiel Institute for the World Economy), vol. 151(1), pages 73-101, February.
    10. Alvaro Garcia-Marin & Santiago Justel & Tim Schmidt-Eisenlohr, 2019. "Trade Credit and Markups," 2019 Meeting Papers 254, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    11. Duc Bao Nguyen & Anne‐Gaël Vaubourg, 2021. "Financial intermediation, trade agreements and international trade," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(3), pages 788-817, March.
    12. Tsuruta, Daisuke & Uchida, Hirofumi, 2019. "The real driver of trade credit," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    13. D'Mello, Ranjan & Toscano, Francesca, 2020. "Economic policy uncertainty and short-term financing: The case of trade credit," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    14. Pierluigi Murro & Valentina Peruzzi, 2022. "Relationship lending and the use of trade credit: the role of relational capital and private information," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 59(1), pages 327-360, June.
    15. 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.
    16. Mateut, Simona & Mizen, Paul & Ziane, Ydriss, 2015. "Inventory composition and trade credit," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 434-446.
    17. Demir, Banu & Javorcik, Beata, 2018. "Don’t throw in the towel, throw in trade credit!," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 177-189.
    18. Mateut, Simona & Chevapatrakul, Thanaset, 2018. "Customer financing, bargaining power and trade credit uptake," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 147-162.
    19. Mateut, Simona, 2014. "Reverse trade credit or default risk? Explaining the use of prepayments by firms," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 303-326.
    20. Jinjarak, Yothin, 2013. "Supply Chains and Credit-Market Shocks: Some Implications for Emerging Markets," ADBI Working Papers 443, Asian Development Bank Institute.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Trade finance; multinational banks; risk; letters of credit;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F21 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - International Investment; Long-Term Capital Movements
    • F23 - International Economics - - International Factor Movements and International Business - - - Multinational Firms; International Business
    • F34 - International Economics - - International Finance - - - International Lending and Debt Problems
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:fip:fedgif:1151. 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: Ryan Wolfslayer ; Keisha Fournillier (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/frbgvus.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.