This thesis addresses two fundamental puzzles about trade credit: why does it appear to be so expensive. and why do input suppliers engage in the business of lending money. Both questions are answered analysing the interaction between the financial and the industrial aspects of the supplier-customer relationship. In the first part of the thesis we present a model where, in a context of limited enforceability of contracts, suppliers have a comparative advantage over banks in lending to their customers because they hold the extra threat of stopping the sup-ply of intermediate goods. Suppliers also act as lenders of last resort, providing insurance against liquidity shocks that may endanger the survival of their cus-tomers. The relatively high implicit interest rates of trade credit result from the existence of default and insurance premiums. The two necessary elements for these two roles of suppliers are the existence of some relationship surplus that is split between suppliers and customers, and an environment where debt repayment is difficult to enforce. Then we extend the analysis to suppliers who are themselves financially con-strained. Under certain assumptions, the optimal financial contract that arises is similar to a standard factoring contract. The interest rates paid by suppliers and customers in this contract depend on their own creditworthiness, but also on the characteristics of their commercial relationship. Finally the implications of the basic model are examined empirically using both parametric and non-parametric techniques on a panel of UK firms. The results show some regularities that had not been identified in previous literature and that support the role of suppliers as debt collectors and insurance providers of the basic model. In particular these results are consistent with the idea of trade credit being related to the existence of either some degree of technological specificity or a relationship surplus that takes time to build. Evidence is also found of the support of suppliers to their customers experiencing some form of liquidity shock.

In the last decades several economists and practitioners have pointed out the importance of financial markets for real economic activity. In this dissertation we analyse the interaction between credit, especially banking, and real activity. While we deal also with the interaction between credit and firms' behaviour at the microeconomic level, our main emphasis is on the impact of credit on aggregate variables. Our target is, taking as primitive distinguishing features of intermediaries (banks), to understand how these features affect the link between intermediation (banking) and real variables. In the dissertation we focus both on features of the financial structure of intermediaries, like the structure of banks' liabilities, and on features of their activity, like intermediaries' superior ability in gathering information and monitoring borrowers. The dissertation offers several policy implications. The banking sector is one of the most regulated sectors in modern economies: besides being subject to regulation directly, the activity of banks is also constrained by other branches of the legal framework like the bankruptcy law. Throughout the dissertation we devote particular attention to regulatory and legal prescriptions and to the way they are concretely implemented. Overall, the dissertation suggests several mechanisms of interaction between the credit sector and the real economy that deserve further attention in future research.

The research examines the role of green micro-credit in creating livelihood options and women’s empowerment in Hakaluki haor. The role of green micro-credit is found important in creating livelihood options. The more livelihood options that the borrowers have, the less they are vulnerable to crises. Results related to women’s empowerment were diverse and complex. Women’s empowerment can mean different things to different individuals. Woman’s restricted mobility, low skill-set, and domestic workload impeded them from investing and using green micro-credit. Borrowers were found to be innovative, and had the capacity to maximize economic benefit from the green enterprises. The impacts of green micro-credit on environmental sustainability are yet to be assessed. Green micro-credit has not been running long enough. For firmer conclusions, a longitudinal study of sustainability and empowerment under green micro-credit would be needed.

There is no abstract available for this thesis.

The research examines the role of green micro-credit in creating livelihood options and women’s empowerment in Hakaluki haor. The role of green micro-credit is found important in creating livelihood options. The more livelihood options that the borrowers have, the less they are vulnerable to crises. Results related to women’s empowerment were diverse and complex. Women’s empowerment can mean different things to different individuals. Woman’s restricted mobility, low skill-set, and domestic workload impeded them from investing and using green micro-credit. Borrowers were found to be innovative, and had the capacity to maximize economic benefit from the green enterprises. The impacts of green micro-credit on environmental sustainability are yet to be assessed. Green micro-credit has not been running long enough. For firmer conclusions, a longitudinal study of sustainability and empowerment under green micro-credit would be needed.

No description available.

No description available.

One of the more frequently utilized and popular informal sector financial institutions is the Rotating Savings and Credit Association (ROSCA). Despite the popularity of the institution, it has not been subjected to rigorous analysis within the field of economics. / ROSCAs allow members to pool savings, and get access to credit without collateral. ROSCAs encourage members to save, and they also increase interaction between members. The main issues that ROSCAs raise are: how is credit allocated, what are the welfare implications of the various allocation schemes, and how does the ROSCA address moral hazard and adverse selection issues? And finally, how does the ROSCA encourage savings even amongst low income groups? These questions are addressed in detail in the thesis. / ROSCA members are strictly better off compared to saving under autarky, and under some reasonable assumptions, even better off compared to saving through a bank. Random allocation of the pot is Pareto optimal when members are homogeneous, but the result does not hold for heterogeneous members. / Bidding ROSCAs are quite complicated since a 'jointly owned' asset is auctioned, and the auction is repeated over many periods. This auction requires explicit modeling of the auction environment, and the information structure of the individual members. We study different auctions, bidding strategies and information environments, and provide equilibria under specific conditions. The standard auction results are shown not to hold under certain conditions. / ROSCAs face moral hazard and adverse selection issues like any other financial institution. But, given that the institution is embedded in a community and social context, ROSCA members deal with the problem utilizing community networks, and the threat of ostracization. We study the selection and monitoring process, and then characterize an equilibrium under which a ROSCA can deter default successfully, and sustain itself over time. / Empirical literature on ROSCAs also points out that members view ROSCAs as 'commitment mechanisms' that facilitate saving. This observation sits uneasily with the neoclassical assumption of a utility maximizing agent. We study various possible explanations of the phenomena, and show how a ROSCA can act as such a mechanism.

This thesis analyzes the transmission process that generates and links credit, money and economic activity as proposed by Post-Keynesian authors. These authors include mainly Chick, Davidson, Minsky and Wojnilower, who base their hypotheses on the collected works of Keynes and Kalecki. Their key contribution is to identify the cause of the transmission mechanism with the deficit spending of private economic units that is financed by credit that is created by financial intermediaries. The framework used by these authors assumes uncertainty, speculation and instability that have resulted in the formation of institutions such as money, contracts and intermediaries. It is shown that a consistent framework integrates the processes, channels, order and vehicles of the Post-Keynesian mechanism.

När en bank gör en kreditbedömning av ett företag så krävs det en stor del av riskmedvetenhet från bankens sida när det gäller att använda och undersöka företagens årsredovisningar, men även andra faktorer. Anledningen till att banker idag fokuserar på ett brett spektrum av faktorer har med 1990-talets generösa utlåningsstruktur att göra, och att banken efter negativa känningar av krisen ökat riskmedvetenheten. Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka om det är ett företags årsredovisning eller alternativt andra faktorer som kreditchefer på ett flertal fristående Sparbanker undersöker vid en kreditbedömning, samt vilken av dessa två delar som väger tyngst vid bedömningen. Uppsatsen har utförts på fristående Sparbanker från i huvudsak två landskap, det vill säga Bohuslän och Dalsland, samt en tredjedel av Västergötland. Vi har med en kvalitativ metod i form av intervjuer sammanlagt intervjuat sju kreditchefer från olika fristående Sparbanker. Den frågeställning som vi ville ha svar på från våra intervjupersoner var: Vilken betydelse har årsredovisningar i jämförelse med andra faktorer vid en kreditbedömning av ett företag? Med utgångspunkt från denna forskningsfråga formade vi våra intervjufrågor. Det huvudsakliga resultatet och den slutsats som vi kunde dra efter att vi undersökt området både teoretiskt och empiriskt var, att banker använder sig ungefär till lika stora delar av årsredovisningar kontra övriga faktorer. Övriga faktorer är exempelvis företagets styrelse, dess ledning, revisorsutlåtande och säkerheter. Båda dessa delar behövs enligt banken för att möjliggöra en så rättvis, säker och riskfri kreditbedömning som möjligt av ett företag. Detta betyder i sin tur att det system som banker förr i tiden använde, dvs. att till allra störst del undersöka de hårda värdena vilka är siffrorna i ett företags årsredovisning, inte är tillämpbar i vår nutid. En riskbedömning ska istället ske med fokus på även övriga faktorer, detta är ett måste. Den avgränsning som vi gjort är att inte undersöka lagstiftningen bakom en kreditbedömning, utan den benämns i princip endast. Vi har inte heller lagt fokus på att undersöka exakt vilka siffror kreditchefer på banker ser på vid en kreditbedömning i ett företags årsredovisningar, utan endast på om de undersöker vissa faktorer i årsredovisningarna. / When a bank makes a credit assessment of a company, it takes a great deal of awareness of risks from the bank when it comes to use and examine the company's financial statements, but also other factors. The reason that banks today are focusing on a wide range of factors, has to do with 1990's generous lending structure, and that after the negative stresses of the crisis banks increased the risk awareness. The purpose of this paper is to examine whether it is a company's financial statements or, alternatively, other factors that credit managers at several savings banks examines at a credit assessment and which of these two components that weigh heavily in the assessment. The thesis has been done in independent savings banks from two main landscapes, that is, Bohuslän and Dalsland, and a third of Västergötland. We have a qualitative approach in the form of interviews with total interviews with about seven credit managers from various independent savings banks. The question we wanted an answer to from our interviewees was: How important are financial statements in comparison with other factors in a credit assessment of a company? Based on this research question we formed our interview questions. The main result and the conclusion we could draw after we explored the area both theoretically and empirically was that banks use equal shares of annual versus other factors. Other factors being, e.g., the company's Board of Directors, its management, auditor's report and collateral. Both of these elements are needed by the bank to allow such a fair, safe and secure credit assessment as possible of a company. This in turn means that the system that banks in the old days used, which to the greatest extent examined the hard values, the numbers in a company's annual report, is not applicable in the present. A risk assessment should instead be focused on other factors as well. This is absolutely necessary. The distinction we made is not to examine the legislation behind a credit, it is only referred to in principle. We have not put the focus on investigating the exact numbers credit managers at banks look on at a credit assessment of a company's financial statements, but only if they examine some factors in the financial statements.