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Trade credit in competition: a horizontal benefit

Journal

Manufacturing & Service Operations Management

Subject

Management Science and Operations

Authors / Editors

Peura H;Yang S A;Lai G

Biographies

Publication Year

2017

Abstract

Trade credit is a widely adopted industry practice. Prior research has focused on how trade credit befits fi rms by improving vertical supply chain relationships. This paper offers a novel perspective by examining whether trade credit benefi ts suppliers through a horizontal channel. Under the classic Bertrand competition framework, we analyze two competing firms' price decisions with and without trade credit. We find that when the firms are financially constrained, trade credit softens horizontal price competition. Specifically, with trade credit, the firms will behave less aggressively in setting their prices for fear of incurring additional fi nancing costs, resulting in equilibrium prices above the marginal cost, even if the products are perfect substitutes. Equilibrium profi ts under trade credit may thus be strictly higher than those under cash contracts. Furthermore, we find that with trade credit, a financially stronger firm may be able to exclude its weaker competitor from the market. We also investigate the relationship between the firms' financial strength and their physical capacity in the competition with trade credit. We find that the horizontal bene fit of trade credit over cash contracts increases as either the firms' physical capacities increase or their financial status weakens. Therefore, with trade credit, firms' financial constraints are a partial substitute for the role that physical capacity plays in price competition. Finally, we study the firms' choice between o ffering trade credit and cash contracts. We fi nd that trade credit is the equilibrium contract form if customers value trade credit, suggesting that the horizontal benefi t of trade credit may complement its vertical roles.

Keywords

Trade credit; Bertrand competition; financial capacity; physical capacity; operations-finance interface

Available on ECCH

No


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