[雙語翻譯]應(yīng)收賬款外文翻譯--對應(yīng)收賬款的動態(tài)分析以西班牙中小企業(yè)為例（英文）

1、European Financial Management, Vol. 16, No. 3, 2010, 400–421 doi: 10.1111/j.1468-036X.2008.00461.xA Dynamic Approach to Accounts Receivable: a Study of Spanish SMEsPedro J. Garc´ ?a-Teruel and Pedro Mart´ ?nez-

2、SolanoDepartment of Management and Finance, Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain E-mail: pjteruel@um.es; pmsolano@um.esAbstractThe main objective of this paper is to extend the literatur

3、e on the granting of trade credit. The focus is to test whether the accounts receivable decisions follow a model of partial adjustment. To do that, we use a sample of 2,922 Spanish SMEs. Using a dynamic panel data model

4、and employing the GMM method of estimation we control for unobservable heterogeneity and for potential endogeneity problems. The results reveal that firms have a target level of accounts receivable and take decisions in

5、order to achieve that level. In addition, we find that sales growth (if positive), the size of the firms, their capacity to generate internal funds and get short term financing, and economic growth are important in deter

6、mining trade credit granted by firms.Keywords: accounts receivable, trade credit, SMEs, partial adjustment model, endogeneityJEL classification: G31, G321. IntroductionTrade credit is provided when there is a delay betwe

7、en the delivery of goods or the provision of services by a supplier and payment for them. For the seller, it represents an investment in accounts receivable. That investment represents an important proportion of a firms’

8、 asset. Specifically, the average level of accounts receivable over assets for the Spanish firms considered in this study was 38.63%.The literature offers various theories explaining the use of trade credit based onthe a

9、dvantages for suppliers and for customers from the operational, commercial and financial perspective: reduction in transaction costs (Ferris, 1981; Emery, 1987); reduction in information asymmetry between buyer and selle

10、r (Smith, 1987; Long et al., 1993); a mechanism of price discrimination (Brennan et al., 1988; Petersen and Rajan, 1997); and greater access to funds for firms that have difficulty accessingThis research is part of the P

11、roject ECO2008-06179/ECON, financed by the Research Agency of Spanish government. The authors also acknowledge financial support from Fundaci´ on CajaMurcia. The authors thank anonymous referees who have contributed

12、 tothis paper.C ? 2008 The Authors Journal compilation C ? 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd402 Pedro J. Garc´ ?a-Teruel and Pedro Mart´ ?nez-Solanoof Niskanen and Niskanen (2006), who studied small Finnish firms,

13、focusing on a bank-based system.The financial system of the European Union is classified as a bank-based system,except for the UK where capital markets are well developed (Schmidt and Tyrell, 1997). However, as Maroto an

14、d Melle (2000) found, the European bank-based financial system presents important differences between Northern countries (Germany, Scandinavia), and Mediterranean countries (Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain). Among them, a

15、s Marotta (2001) point out, the effective payment periods are longer in Mediterranean countries (France, Italy, Portugal and Spain) compared to Northern countries (Germany, Scandi- navia). This may be due to two separate

16、 issues: a) initial terms of payment are much longer in Mediterranean countries as opposed to Northern countries; b) payments are much more likely to be delayed in Mediterranean countries than in Northern countries. In t

17、his sense, Omiccioli (2004) shows that initial terms of payment in different European countries represent on average around three quarters of the effective payment periods. These results are consistent with the European

18、Payment Index Report (2007)1 which shows that, although payments are made in general more promptly in Scandinavian countries, the average terms of payment (average delay of payment) for Finland is 20,40 days (6,3 days) a

19、nd for Norway 19 days (7,4 days), while for Spain it is 67,40 days (15,2 days), and for Italy 73 days (23,9 days). Consequently, the longer payment periods in Mediterranean countries are mainly due to the fact that initi

20、al terms of payment are much longer than in Scandinavian countries.Those differences in credit periods between Mediterranean countries and EuropeanNorthern countries can be explained by following Marotta (2005) in two wa

21、ys. First, the trade credit cost depends on discounts for quick payment and penalties for delays. While the proportion of suppliers offering discounts in a Southern country such as Italy is really low (Marotta, 2005), Ge

22、rmany, a Northern country, usually grants a 2% discount for payment within 15 days (Harhoff and K¨ orting, 1998). In addition, the majority ofcompanies do not apply penalties for late payment (Wilner, 2000 for the U

23、SA, Pike and Cheng, 2001 for the UK, Marotta, 2005, for Italy). Second, trade credit use compared with its substitute, short term bank debt, depend on the efficiency of a country’s legal system in enforcing contracts, to

24、 the extent that this benefits financial intermediaries. More specifically, as pointed out by Burkart and Ellingsen (2004) trade credit should be more important than bank credit when creditor protection is weaker, becaus

25、e cash is easily diverted while inputs are more difficult to divert, and inputs illiquidity facilitates trade credit. This may explain the finding of Demirg¨ uc-Kunt and Maksimovic (2002)that trade credit is relativ

26、ely more prevalent in countries with weaker legal protection. This is the case of French Civil Law countries, like, in Europe, Belgium, France, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain (La Porta et al., 1998).I

27、n this context, Spain has a banking oriented financial system with an important roleplayed by banks. There has been no real disintermediation process, as has happened in other European countries, because the development

28、of capital markets, and in particular institutional funds, has been led by banks (Gallego et al., 2002). This, together with the fact that in Spain the average size of an SME is smaller than in the wealthier northern Eur

29、opean countries (Mulhern, 1995), suggests that Spanish SMEs have fewer alternative sources of external finance available, which makes them more dependent on short-term1 European Payment Index is a report based on a writt