IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/riibaf/v75y2025ics0275531925000194.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Quality of accounting information and SMEs’ financial performance: The mediating role of bank and informal financing

Author

Listed:
  • Ciza, Toussaint Bugandwa
  • Kamdjoug, Jean Robert Kala
  • Biga-Diambeidou, Mahamadou
  • Tchokote, Ivan Djossa
  • Kibekenge, Guillain Birindwa

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between the use of the quality of accounting information and the financial performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), focusing on the underlying intermediary mechanism, namely access to bank and informal finance in the process. We processed data from 331 SMEs in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) with a structural equation model and our results show that the quality of accounting information positively affects the financial performance of SMEs and access to bank financing; the results suggest informal financing positively affects the financial performance of SMEs and access to formal financing. We also find that using accounting information can lead SMEs to pay attention to informal finance, which negatively affects their overall financial performance. Our research contributes to understanding the critical role that informal finance plays in the performance of SMEs and their access to formal finance in DRC and similar financial environments in vastly underexplored African contexts where a thriving banking sector coexists with various informal financing alternatives.

Suggested Citation

  • Ciza, Toussaint Bugandwa & Kamdjoug, Jean Robert Kala & Biga-Diambeidou, Mahamadou & Tchokote, Ivan Djossa & Kibekenge, Guillain Birindwa, 2025. "Quality of accounting information and SMEs’ financial performance: The mediating role of bank and informal financing," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:riibaf:v:75:y:2025:i:c:s0275531925000194
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ribaf.2025.102763
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0275531925000194
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.ribaf.2025.102763?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.

    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:riibaf:v:75:y:2025:i:c:s0275531925000194. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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/ribaf .

    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.