IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v12y2020i4p1601-d323207.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Impact of Economic Policy Uncertainty on Trade Credit Provision: The Role of Social Trust

Author

Listed:
  • Peng Liu

    (Department of Finance, Business School, Henan University, Kaifeng 475004, China)

  • Daxin Dong

    (School of Business Administration, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu 611130, China)

Abstract

This paper explores the impact of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) on trade credit while taking into account the interactive role of social trust. The analysis is based on the panel data econometric model with fixed effects. Using firm-level data across 16 economies from 1995Q1 to 2015Q1, we find that (i) there exists a negative and highly significant relationship between economic policy uncertainty and the provision of trade credit; (ii) this relation is weaker for firms in countries with higher levels of social trust; and (iii) the effects of EPU and social trust are both more substantial for firms in more financially constrained industries. The impact of social trust is not a result of people’s high confidence in government, an effective legal system of enforcing contracts, a high-quality institutional system or an excellent system of protecting shareholders. Our result is robust if we exclude business cycle effects or use an alternative measure of financial constraints.

Suggested Citation

  • Peng Liu & Daxin Dong, 2020. "Impact of Economic Policy Uncertainty on Trade Credit Provision: The Role of Social Trust," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-24, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:4:p:1601-:d:323207
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/4/1601/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/4/1601/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. John McMillan & Christopher Woodruff, 1999. "Interfirm Relationships and Informal Credit in Vietnam," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(4), pages 1285-1320.
    2. Raddatz, Claudio, 2006. "Liquidity needs and vulnerability to financial underdevelopment," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(3), pages 677-722, June.
    3. Bordo, Michael D. & Duca, John V. & Koch, Christoffer, 2016. "Economic policy uncertainty and the credit channel: Aggregate and bank level U.S. evidence over several decades," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 90-106.
    4. Luigi Guiso & Paola Sapienza & Luigi Zingales, 2004. "The Role of Social Capital in Financial Development," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(3), pages 526-556, June.
    5. Mateut, Simona & Bougheas, Spiros & Mizen, Paul, 2006. "Trade credit, bank lending and monetary policy transmission," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 50(3), pages 603-629, April.
    6. Nagar, Venky & Schoenfeld, Jordan & Wellman, Laura, 2019. "The effect of economic policy uncertainty on investor information asymmetry and management disclosures," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(1), pages 36-57.
    7. Stephen Knack & Philip Keefer, 1997. "Does Social Capital Have an Economic Payoff? A Cross-Country Investigation," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 112(4), pages 1251-1288.
    8. Fang-Nan Liao & Xiao-Li Ji & Zhi-Ping Wang, 2019. "Firms’ Sustainability: Does Economic Policy Uncertainty Affect Internal Control?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-26, February.
    9. Choi, Woon Gyu & Kim, Yungsan, 2005. "Trade Credit and the Effect of Macro-Financial Shocks: Evidence from U.S. Panel Data," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 40(4), pages 897-925, December.
    10. Hu, Shiwei & Gong, Di, 2019. "Economic policy uncertainty, prudential regulation and bank lending," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 373-378.
    11. Ross Levine & Norman Loayza & Thorsten Beck, 2002. "Financial Intermediation and Growth: Causality and Causes," Central Banking, Analysis, and Economic Policies Book Series, in: Leonardo Hernández & Klaus Schmidt-Hebbel & Norman Loayza (Series Editor) & Klaus Schmidt-Hebbel (Se (ed.),Banking, Financial Integration, and International Crises, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 2, pages 031-084, Central Bank of Chile.
    12. 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.
    13. Aghion, Philippe & Bacchetta, Philippe & Rancière, Romain & Rogoff, Kenneth, 2009. "Exchange rate volatility and productivity growth: The role of financial development," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(4), pages 494-513, May.
    14. 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.
    15. Lubos Pástor & Pietro Veronesi, 2012. "Uncertainty about Government Policy and Stock Prices," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 67(4), pages 1219-1264, August.
    16. Scott R. Baker & Nicholas Bloom & Steven J. Davis, 2016. "Measuring Economic Policy Uncertainty," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 131(4), pages 1593-1636.
    17. Hasan, Iftekhar & Wachtel, Paul & Zhou, Mingming, 2009. "Institutional development, financial deepening and economic growth: Evidence from China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 157-170, January.
    18. Wu, Wenfeng & Firth, Michael & Rui, Oliver M., 2014. "Trust and the provision of trade credit," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 146-159.
    19. 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.
    20. Shu Lin & Haichun Ye, 2018. "Foreign Direct Investment, Trade Credit, and Transmission of Global Liquidity Shocks: Evidence from Chinese Manufacturing Firms," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 31(1), pages 206-238.
    21. Çolak, Gönül & Durnev, Art & Qian, Yiming, 2017. "Political Uncertainty and IPO Activity: Evidence from U.S. Gubernatorial Elections," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 52(6), pages 2523-2564, December.
    22. Christian Bjørnskov, 2007. "Determinants of generalized trust: A cross-country comparison," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 130(1), pages 1-21, January.
    23. Djankov, Simeon & La Porta, Rafael & Lopez-de-Silanes, Florencio & Shleifer, Andrei, 2008. "The law and economics of self-dealing," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(3), pages 430-465, June.
    24. Moro, Andrea & Fink, Matthias, 2013. "Loan managers’ trust and credit access for SMEs," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 927-936.
    25. Jens, Candace E., 2017. "Political uncertainty and investment: Causal evidence from U.S. gubernatorial elections," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(3), pages 563-579.
    26. Ferrando, Annalisa & Mulier, Klaas, 2013. "Do firms use the trade credit channel to manage growth?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(8), pages 3035-3046.
    27. Langzi Chen & Zhihong Chen & Jian Li, 2019. "Can Trade Credit Maintain Sustainable R&D Investment of SMEs?—Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-16, February.
    28. Drobetz, Wolfgang & El Ghoul, Sadok & Guedhami, Omrane & Janzen, Malte, 2018. "Policy uncertainty, investment, and the cost of capital," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 28-45.
    29. Oliver E. Williamson, 2000. "The New Institutional Economics: Taking Stock, Looking Ahead," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 38(3), pages 595-613, September.
    30. Phan, Hieu V. & Nguyen, Nam H. & Nguyen, Hien T. & Hegde, Shantaram, 2019. "Policy uncertainty and firm cash holdings," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 71-82.
    31. Schwartz, Robert A., 1974. "An Economic Model of Trade Credit," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 9(4), pages 643-657, September.
    32. Jiang, Yonghong & He, Luli & Meng, Juan & Nie, He, 2019. "Nonlinear impact of economic policy uncertainty shocks on credit scale: Evidence from China," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 521(C), pages 626-634.
    33. Hyunseob Kim & Howard Kung, 2017. "The Asset Redeployability Channel: How Uncertainty Affects Corporate Investment," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 30(1), pages 245-280.
    34. Francisco-Javier Canto-Cuevas & María-José Palacín-Sánchez & Filippo Di Pietro, 2019. "Trade Credit as a Sustainable Resource during an SME’s Life Cycle," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(3), pages 1-16, January.
    35. Michael L. Lemmon & Michael R. Roberts & Jaime F. Zender, 2008. "Back to the Beginning: Persistence and the Cross‐Section of Corporate Capital Structure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(4), pages 1575-1608, August.
    36. Michael S. Long & Ileen B. Malitz & S. Abraham Ravid, 1993. "Trade Credit, Quality Guarantees, and Product," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 22(4), Winter.
    37. Bonaime, Alice & Gulen, Huseyin & Ion, Mihai, 2018. "Does policy uncertainty affect mergers and acquisitions?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 129(3), pages 531-558.
    38. Rasa Kanapickiene & Renatas Spicas, 2019. "Credit Risk Assessment Model for Small and Micro-Enterprises: The Case of Lithuania," Risks, MDPI, vol. 7(2), pages 1-23, June.
    39. Levine, Ross & Lin, Chen & Xie, Wensi, 2018. "Corporate Resilience to Banking Crises: The Roles of Trust and Trade Credit," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 53(4), pages 1441-1477, August.
    40. Brandon Julio & Youngsuk Yook, 2012. "Political Uncertainty and Corporate Investment Cycles," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 67(1), pages 45-84, February.
    41. Jonathan Brogaard & Andrew Detzel, 2015. "The Asset-Pricing Implications of Government Economic Policy Uncertainty," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 61(1), pages 3-18, January.
    42. Jin, Dawei & Wang, Haizhi & Wang, Peng & Yin, Desheng, 2016. "Social trust and foreign ownership: Evidence from qualified foreign institutional investors in China," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 1-14.
    43. Li, Xiaorong & Wang, Steven Shuye & Wang, Xue, 2017. "Trust and stock price crash risk: Evidence from China," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 74-91.
    44. Huseyin Gulen & Mihai Ion, 2016. "Editor's Choice Policy Uncertainty and Corporate Investment," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 29(3), pages 523-564.
    45. Hsu, Po-Hsuan & Tian, Xuan & Xu, Yan, 2014. "Financial development and innovation: Cross-country evidence," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(1), pages 116-135.
    46. Hirsch, Bernhard & Nitzl, Christian & Schoen, Matthias, 2018. "Interorganizational trust and agency costs in credit relationships between savings banks and SMEs," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 37-50.
    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. Wen, Jun & Khalid, Samia & Mahmood, Hamid & Zakaria, Muhammad, 2021. "Symmetric and asymmetric impact of economic policy uncertainty on food prices in China: A new evidence," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    2. Bin Wang & Samia Khalid & Hamid Mahmood, 2024. "R&D Spending and Economic Policy Uncertainty in Asian Countries: an Advanced Panel Data Estimation Study," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 15(1), pages 4710-4729, March.
    3. Bakhsh, Satar & Zhang, Wei, 2023. "How does natural resource price volatility affect economic performance? A threshold effect of economic policy uncertainty," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    4. Yuchen Lin & Daxin Dong & Jiaxin Wang, 2021. "The Negative Impact of Uncertainty on R&D Investment: International Evidence," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-21, March.
    5. Jin, Ming & Yin, Mingmei & Chen, Zhongfei, 2021. "Do investors prefer borrowers from high level of trust cities? Evidence from China’s P2P market," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    6. Ozcelik, Oguzhan, 2022. "Effects of Uncertainties on Mode of Payment Terms in Foreign Trade between Turkey and the US: The Time-Varying Bootstrap Causality Test (Türkiye-ABD Dış Ticaretinde Ödeme Şekli Tercihlerine Belirsizli," Business and Economics Research Journal, Uludag University, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, vol. 13(2), pages 239-256, April.
    7. Jin, Ming & Liu, Jinshan & Chen, Zhongfei, 2022. "Impacts of social trust on corporate leverage: Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 505-521.
    8. Ogbuabor, Jonathan E. & Ukwueze, Ezebuilo R. & Mba, Ifeoma C. & Ojonta, Obed I. & Orji, Anthony, 2023. "The asymmetric impact of economic policy uncertainty on global retail energy markets: Are the markets responding to the fear of the unknown?," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 334(C).
    9. Ding Chen & Umar Muhammad Gummi & Shanbing Lu & Adamu Hassan, 2024. "Oil price, economic policy uncertainty and food prices in oil-exporting and oil-importing developing economies," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 57(4), pages 1-22, August.
    10. Aurel Burciu & Rozalia Kicsi & Ionel Bostan, 2020. "Social Trust and Dynamics of Capitalist Economies in the Context of Clashing Managerial Factors with Risks and Severe Turbulence: A Conceptual Inquiry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(21), pages 1-28, October.

    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. 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).
    2. Vo, Hong & Phan, Anh & Trinh, Quoc-Dat & Vu, Linh Nhat, 2022. "Does economic policy uncertainty affect trade credit and firm value in Korea? A comparison of chaebol vs. non-chaebol firms," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 474-491.
    3. Ma, Huanyu & Hao, Dapeng, 2022. "Economic policy uncertainty, financial development, and financial constraints: Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 368-386.
    4. Afzali, Mansoor & Ҫolak, Gönül & Fu, Mengchuan, 2021. "Economic uncertainty and corruption: Evidence from public and private firms," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    5. Jory, Surendranath R. & Khieu, Hinh D. & Ngo, Thanh N. & Phan, Hieu V., 2020. "The influence of economic policy uncertainty on corporate trade credit and firm value," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    6. El Ghoul, Sadok & Guedhami, Omrane & Mansi, Sattar & Wang, He (Helen), 2023. "Economic policy uncertainty, institutional environments, and corporate cash holdings," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    7. Tran, Quoc Trung, 2021. "Economic policy uncertainty and cost of debt financing: International evidence," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    8. Theodora Bermpei & Antonios Nikolaos Kalyvas & Lorenzo Neri & Antonella Russo, 2022. "Does economic policy uncertainty matter for financial reporting quality? Evidence from the United States," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 58(2), pages 795-845, February.
    9. William, Mbanyele & Fengrong, Wang, 2022. "Economic policy uncertainty and industry innovation: Cross country evidence," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 208-228.
    10. Al-Thaqeb, Saud Asaad & Algharabali, Barrak Ghanim, 2019. "Economic policy uncertainty: A literature review," The Journal of Economic Asymmetries, Elsevier, vol. 20(C).
    11. Jeffrey Ng & Walid Saffar & Janus Jian Zhang, 2020. "Policy uncertainty and loan loss provisions in the banking industry," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 25(2), pages 726-777, June.
    12. Tran, Quoc Trung, 2019. "Economic policy uncertainty and corporate risk-taking: International evidence," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 52.
    13. Cui, Xin & Wang, Chunfeng & Liao, Jing & Fang, Zhenming & Cheng, Feiyang, 2021. "Economic policy uncertainty exposure and corporate innovation investment: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    14. Paudyal, Krishna & Thapa, Chandra & Koirala, Santosh & Aldhawyan, Sulaiman, 2021. "Economic policy uncertainty and cross-border mergers and acquisitions," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 56(C).
    15. Attig, Najah & Driss, Hamdi & El Ghoul, Sadok, 2021. "Credit ratings quality in uncertain times," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).
    16. Boulton, Thomas J., 2022. "Economic policy uncertainty and international IPO underpricing," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    17. Xu, Zhaoxia, 2020. "Economic policy uncertainty, cost of capital, and corporate innovation," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    18. Çiğdem Vural‐Yavaş, 2021. "Economic policy uncertainty, stakeholder engagement, and environmental, social, and governance practices: The moderating effect of competition," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(1), pages 82-102, January.
    19. Peng, Daoju & Colak, Gonul & Shen, Jianfu, 2023. "Lean against the wind: The effect of policy uncertainty on a firm's corporate social responsibility strategy," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    20. Chen, Shenglan & Ma, Hui & Wu, Qiang, 2019. "Bank credit and trade credit: Evidence from natural experiments," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).

    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:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:4:p:1601-:d:323207. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.