Trade Credits : An alternative way to access finance: leveraging operational financing or a lender of last resort?

Abstract: This paper addresses issues for Swedish firms associated with the usage of trade credits. With the lack of historical records, young and small firms cannot access finance as older and larger firms and therefore become more dependent upon short term trade credits from their suppliers as a way to financing operational activities. In terms of the trade credits usage among Swedish industrial firms the size and age of a company has direct implications. The age of a company has an inverse relationship with trade credits. Henceforth, it is assumed that, the older the firm, the better access to external financing. In effect, they can take advantage of early discounts terms offered by the customer. Additionally, findings suggest that smaller and younger firms have weaker access to external financing and therefore are more dependent upon their relatively larger suppliers. In essence, smaller and younger firms use more trade credits as a mean of operational financing. The empirical approach measuring trade credits among Swedish industrial firms shed light on aggregated means of trade credit usage in Sweden. This paper suggests a logical rationale behind findings supporting the main theories concerning trade credits. The findings of this paper could serve as a base for further development applying the model in a cross branch sectional fashion, analyzing the differences among branches associated with the less cyclical as well as the cyclical economy respectively.