IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/mulfin/v50y2019icp58-75.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Firm innovation in transition economies: The role of formal versus informal finance

Author

Listed:
  • Ullah, Barkat

Abstract

In this study, I investigate the association between firm innovation and formal versus informal finance for 5,982 firms in 30 transition economies. I also examine whether the association between firm innovation and formal versus informal finance differs between developed and developing countries. I find that access to formal finance is associated with greater firm innovation. I find no evidence that informal finance promotes innovation. Formal finance is more effective in fostering innovation in developing countries. By establishing a link between formal finance and innovation, I provide evidence on a potential channel through which formal finance contributes to firm growth. The findings also show the limitation of using informal finance in promoting firm innovation even for smaller firms in developing countries who substantially use financing from informal sources.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:mulfin:v:50:y:2019:i:c:p:58-75
    DOI: 10.1016/j.mulfin.2019.04.004
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1042444X18302706
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.mulfin.2019.04.004?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. Ramana Nanda & William R. Kerr, 2015. "Financing Innovation," Annual Review of Financial Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 7(1), pages 445-462, December.
    2. Acharya, Viral & Xu, Zhaoxia, 2017. "Financial dependence and innovation: The case of public versus private firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(2), pages 223-243.
    3. Allen, Franklin & Qian, Meijun & Xie, Jing, 2019. "Understanding informal financing," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 19-33.
    4. Cull, Robert & Xu, Lixin Colin, 2005. "Institutions, ownership, and finance: the determinants of profit reinvestment among Chinese firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(1), pages 117-146, July.
    5. 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.
    6. Simeon Djankov & Edward Miguel & Yingyi Qian & Gérard Roland & Ekaterina Zhuravskaya, 2005. "Who are Russia's Entrepreneurs?," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 3(2-3), pages 587-597, 04/05.
    7. Nanda, Ramana & Nicholas, Tom, 2014. "Did bank distress stifle innovation during the Great Depression?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(2), pages 273-292.
    8. Brown, James R. & Martinsson, Gustav & Petersen, Bruce C., 2012. "Do financing constraints matter for R&D?," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(8), pages 1512-1529.
    9. Rajan, Raghuram G & Zingales, Luigi, 1998. "Financial Dependence and Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(3), pages 559-586, June.
    10. Sugato Chakravarty & Meifang Xiang, 2011. "Determinants of Profit Reinvestment by Small Businesses in Emerging Economies," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 40(3), pages 553-590, September.
    11. 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.
    12. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1998. "Law and Finance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 106(6), pages 1113-1155, December.
    13. repec:zbw:bofrdp:2015_028 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. 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.
    15. Panicos O. Demetriades & Jun Du & Sourafel Girma & Chenggang Xu, 2008. "Does the Chinese Banking System Promote the Growth of Firms?," Discussion Papers in Economics 08/6, Division of Economics, School of Business, University of Leicester.
    16. repec:cup:jfinqa:v:46:y:2011:i:06:p:1545-1580_00 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Harrison, Ann E. & Lin, Justin Yifu & Xu, Lixin Colin, 2014. "Explaining Africa’s (Dis)advantage," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 59-77.
    18. 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.
    19. 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.
    20. Rajan, Raghuram G & Zingales, Luigi, 1995. "What Do We Know about Capital Structure? Some Evidence from International Data," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 50(5), pages 1421-1460, December.
    21. Samuel Kortum & Josh Lerner, 2000. "Assessing the Contribution of Venture Capital to Innovation," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 31(4), pages 674-692, Winter.
    22. repec:bla:jfinan:v:53:y:1998:i:6:p:2107-2137 is not listed on IDEAS
    23. James R. Brown & Steven M. Fazzari & Bruce C. Petersen, 2009. "Financing Innovation and Growth: Cash Flow, External Equity, and the 1990s R&D Boom," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 64(1), pages 151-185, February.
    24. repec:zbw:bofrdp:urn:nbn:fi:bof-201512141480 is not listed on IDEAS
    25. Mann, William, 2018. "Creditor rights and innovation: Evidence from patent collateral," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(1), pages 25-47.
    26. Barkat Ullah & Zuobao Wei, 2017. "Bank Financing And Firm Growth: Evidence From Transition Economies," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 40(4), pages 507-534, December.
    27. Geroski, P. A. & Toker, S., 1996. "The turnover of market leaders in UK manufacturing industry, 1979-86," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 14(2), pages 141-158.
    28. Beck, Thorsten & Demirgüç-Kunt, Asli & Maksimovic, Vojislav, 2008. "Financing patterns around the world: Are small firms different?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(3), pages 467-487, September.
    29. Takehiko Yasuda, 2005. "Firm Growth, Size, Age and Behavior in Japanese Manufacturing," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 1-15, December.
    30. Barth, James R. & Lin, Chen & Lin, Ping & Song, Frank M., 2009. "Corruption in bank lending to firms: Cross-country micro evidence on the beneficial role of competition and information sharing," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(3), pages 361-388, March.
    31. Jere R. Francis & Inder K. Khurana & Xiumin Martin & Raynolde Pereira, 2011. "The Relative Importance of Firm Incentives versus Country Factors in the Demand for Assurance Services by Private Entities," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(2), pages 487-516, June.
    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. Suha Mahmoud Alawi & Wajih Abbassi & Rukhma Saqib & Madeeha Sharif, 2022. "Impact of Financial Innovation and Institutional Quality on Financial Development in Emerging Markets," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-11, March.
    2. Raminta Benetyte & Halit Gonenc & Rytis Krusinskas, 2021. "Corporate Governance vs. Financial Performance for Intensity of Innovation Investments," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-13, April.
    3. Amin, Md Ruhul & Wang, Xinyu & Aktas, Elvan, 2023. "Does oil price uncertainty affect corporate innovation?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    4. Edmund Mallinguh & Christopher Wasike & Zeman Zoltan, 2020. "Technology Acquisition and SMEs Performance, the Role of Innovation, Export and the Perception of Owner-Managers," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-19, October.
    5. Simplice A. Asongu & Valentine B. Soumtang & Ofeh M. Edoh, 2021. "Financial determinants of informal financial development in Sub-Saharan Africa," Research Africa Network Working Papers 21/077, Research Africa Network (RAN).
    6. Cheng, Peng & Wei, Jiuchang & Liu, Yang, 2024. "Give a plum in return for a peach: The effect of entrepreneurial informal financing on environmental corporate social responsibility," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 175(C).
    7. Shreya Biswas, 2021. "She Innovates- Female owner and firm innovation in India," Papers 2109.09515, arXiv.org.
    8. Phan, Trang Hoai & Stachuletz, Rainer & Nguyen, Hai Thi Hong, 2022. "Export Decision and Credit Constraints under Institution Obstacles," Publications of Darmstadt Technical University, Institute for Business Studies (BWL) 132783, Darmstadt Technical University, Department of Business Administration, Economics and Law, Institute for Business Studies (BWL).
    9. Trang Hoai Phan & Rainer Stachuletz & Hai Thi Hong Nguyen, 2022. "Export Decision and Credit Constraints under Institution Obstacles," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-27, May.
    10. Zheng, Mingbo & Feng, Gen-Fu & Wang, Quan-Jing & Chang, Chun-Ping, 2023. "Financial globalization and technological innovation: International evidence," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 47(1).
    11. Harrison Paul Adjimah & Victor Yawo Atiase & Dennis Yao Dzansi, 2022. "Examining the Role of Regulation in the Commercialisation of Indigenous Innovation in Sub-Saharan African Economies: Evidence from the Ghanaian Small-Scale Industry," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-21, September.

    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. Ullah, Barkat, 2021. "Does innovation explain the performance gap between privatized and private firms?," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    2. 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.
    3. 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).
    4. Liu, Yu & Sah, Nilesh & Ullah, Barkat & Wei, Zuobao, 2020. "Financing patterns in transition economies: Privatized former SOEs versus ab initio private firms," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 43(C).
    5. Ramana Nanda & William R. Kerr, 2015. "Financing Innovation," Annual Review of Financial Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 7(1), pages 445-462, December.
    6. Bechlioulis, Alexandros & Economidou, Claire & Karamanis, Dimitrios & Konstantios, Dimitrios, 2023. "How important are capital controls in shaping innovation activity?," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    7. 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.
    8. Liu, Yu & Xu, Jian, 2022. "Residual state ownership, foreign ownership and firms' financing patterns," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(PA).
    9. Ullah, Barkat, 2020. "Signaling value of quality certification: Financing under asymmetric information," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    10. Rong, Zhao & Zhang, Fuxin & Chen, Shi, 2023. "Short-term loans and Firms' high-quality innovation: Evidence from the access to patent-backed loans in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    11. Yan Li & Md. Main Uddin & Ye An, 2020. "Has financial development benefited the performance of publicly traded cultural and creative firms? Evidence from China," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 44(3), pages 351-395, September.
    12. Bai, Min & Cai, Jifu & Qin, Yafeng, 2021. "Ownership discrimination and private firms financing in China," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    13. Wellalage, Nirosha Hewa & Fernandez, Viviana, 2019. "Innovation and SME finance: Evidence from developing countries," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    14. Mao, Yifei, 2021. "Managing innovation: The role of collateral," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(1).
    15. 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).
    16. Peia, Oana & Romelli, Davide, 2022. "Did financial frictions stifle R&D investment in Europe during the great recession?," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 120(C).
    17. Luo, Yonggen & Wang, Deli & Hu, Shiyang, 2024. "Patent collateral and the trajectory of innovation," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    18. Knack, Steve & Xu, Lixin Colin, 2017. "Unbundling institutions for external finance: Worldwide firm-level evidence," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 215-232.
    19. Yang, Bao & Chou, Hsin-I. & Zhao, Jing, 2020. "Innovation or dividend payout: Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 180-203.
    20. Lin, Chen & Lin, Ping & Zou, Hong, 2012. "Does property rights protection affect corporate risk management strategy? Intra- and cross-country evidence," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 311-330.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Firm innovation; Formal finance; Informal finance; Firm growth; Transition economy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G15 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - International Financial Markets
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill

    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:mulfin:v:50:y:2019:i:c:p:58-75. 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/mulfin .

    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.