Reputation Effects of Big Customers on Debt Financing: Evidence from Supplier-Customer Relationships in China
LI Huan, LI Dan, WANG Dan
Postdoctoral Research Center of China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC); School of Economics and Management,Tsinghua University; International Business School, University of International Business and Economics
Abstract:
Using the customer data by Chinese listed firms in annual reports between 2007 and 2012, we investigate the impact of top-5 customers on debt financing. We find that firms with higher customer concentrations seem to have more bank loans and longer loan maturities.This relation is stronger when there are more superior customers (Public Firms and State-Owned Enterprises),and this impact only exists in private companies because of credit discrimination in China. Empirical results show that big customers (especially superior customers) have reputation effects, which can provide assurance and confirmation for the value of supplier firms. Such positive effects dominate banks’ credit decisions and therefore relieve financial constrains of private firms.
李欢, 李丹, 王丹. 客户效应与上市公司债务融资能力——来自我国供应链客户关系的证据[J]. 金融研究, 2018, 456(6): 138-154.
LI Huan, LI Dan, WANG Dan. Reputation Effects of Big Customers on Debt Financing: Evidence from Supplier-Customer Relationships in China. Journal of Financial Research, 2018, 456(6): 138-154.
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