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1 – 10 of over 15000Shahab E. Saqib, John K.M. Kuwornu, Mokbul Morshed Ahmad and Sanaullah Panezai
The Government of Pakistan has allocated a substantial proportion of agricultural credit to subsistence farmers. The purpose of this paper is to analyze farmers’ access to credit…
Abstract
Purpose
The Government of Pakistan has allocated a substantial proportion of agricultural credit to subsistence farmers. The purpose of this paper is to analyze farmers’ access to credit and its adequacy in the light of current agricultural credit policy of Pakistan.
Design/methodology/approach
The study has used both secondary and primary data for analysis. Secondary data were collected from the annual reports of Pakistan Economic Survey and State Bank of Pakistan. Primary data were collected from 168 subsistence farmers through households’ survey. Farmers’ credit access and credit adequacy were measured using credit access ratio and credit adequacy ratio, respectively. The Student’s t-test and analysis of variance were used to assess the differences in credit access and adequacy among farmers’ groups (i.e. upper, medium and lower subsistence farmers). Tobit regression model was employed to determine the factors influencing credit adequacy among farmers.
Findings
The empirical results revealed that the amount of credit provided to subsistence farmers was less than stated in the national agricultural credit policy. Upper subsistence farmers had more access to credit than lower and medium subsistence farmers. Lower subsistence farmers had above average access to informal sources of credit, and had below average access to formal sources. The findings also revealed that lower subsistence and medium subsistence farmers had the highest credit inadequacy of funds for investment in agriculture. The results of the Tobit regression revealed that age, education, experience, household size, total landholding of farmer and proportion of own land influenced the agricultural credit adequacy.
Practical implications
Most of the credit was distributed among the upper subsistence farmers. Lower subsistence farmers were still largely dependent on informal credit for farm production activities. The Government of Pakistan performed poor in the implementation of agricultural credit policy, and has failed to help subsistence farmers in their access to formal credit. It is needed to revamp the agricultural credit policy and facilitate credit acquisition by subsistence farmers, particularly for tenant farmers. It is important that the Government may classify the subsistence farmers into subgroups, and reallocate the funds accordingly. This study has lessons and implications for agricultural finance initiatives in developing countries.
Originality/value
Previous studies have focused primarily on access to agricultural credit. However, this study has adopted a holistic approach by using secondary and primary data to assess the farmers’ access to credit and adequacy. In addition, limited literature is available to explore the farmers’ accessibility and adequacy of agricultural credit. Furthermore, this study has focused exclusively on the farmers who are living in the flood-prone areas of Pakistan.
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Inder Sekhar Yadav and M. Sanatan Rao
This work aims to examine the access and disparity of institutional agricultural credit for small and marginal farmers across various social groups from three Indian states.
Abstract
Purpose
This work aims to examine the access and disparity of institutional agricultural credit for small and marginal farmers across various social groups from three Indian states.
Design/methodology/approach
Field data on socio economic variables were collected using multi-stage stratified random sampling and purposive sampling through a structured questionnaire by interviewing about 400 cross sectional small and marginal farmers belonging to various social groups such as general caste, other backward caste, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. Disparity of agricultural credit across different social groups is assessed using measures such as credit access, credit adequacy ratio, credit gap and newly constructed Agriculture Credit Disparity Index (ACDI).
Findings
The credit access, credit access ratio and newly constructed ACDI suggest that, by and large, farmers belonging to socially advantaged groups have better access to institutional agricultural assistance than farmers belonging to socially disadvantaged groups.
Practical implications
The agricultural credit policy of the government needs to incorporate measures to eliminate credit disparity primarily by correcting the poor socio-economic profile (especially lower asset ownership and higher illiteracy) of socially disadvantaged farmers compared to the farmers' counterparts.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the existing work by providing fresh evidence from the field across social groups for both kharif and rabi crops using recent survey data from small and marginal farmers which have important policy implications.
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Olga María Rodríguez‐Rodríguez
The purposes of the study are to: contribute evidence on the role played by ordinary commercial firms in providing finance to other firms by granting trade credit to customers;…
Abstract
Purpose
The purposes of the study are to: contribute evidence on the role played by ordinary commercial firms in providing finance to other firms by granting trade credit to customers; and test some theories about the motives of small and medium‐sized firms in extending such trade credit.
Design/methodology/approach
The Generalised Method of Moments is applied to an unbalanced panel of small and medium‐sized firms in the Canary Islands (Spain). Analysis of data from a unique database is used to obtain consistent estimations and to test some proposed hypotheses about the determinants of extending trade credit.
Findings
The study finds that: firms with greater access to financial markets can serve as a credit channel for clients that have difficulties in obtaining institutional financing (thus supporting the theory of financial advantage with respect to trade credit); firms can reduce transaction costs through financing clients (thus confirming that “transaction motives” are significant in granting trade credit); and that trade credit between firms known to each other reduces problems associated with information asymmetry in financial arrangements.
Research limitations/implications
The findings represent correlated inferences, rather than proven causal relationships. Moreover, some results are interpretive in nature; more detailed data and analyses could assist in investigating the relationships noted here.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the scarce empirical literature about the motives for granting trade credit by small and medium‐sized firms. This is also the first study to analyse this behaviour from a dataset of firms in the Canary Islands (Spain).
João Fragoso Januário, Carlos Oliveira Cruz, Humberto Varum and Vítor Faria e Sousa
From the perspective of housing affordability, Portugal is an interesting case study, considering that Portugal ranks 5th in terms of price-to-income ratio and has experienced…
Abstract
Purpose
From the perspective of housing affordability, Portugal is an interesting case study, considering that Portugal ranks 5th in terms of price-to-income ratio and has experienced, since 2015, a significant increase in real estate prices.
Design/methodology/approach
The provision of housing is a critical social development factor. With the growing worldwide urbanization and the demand pressure over real estate in many cities, the problem of affordability has gained increase attention by policy makers. Housing affordability is hardly a new topic from a literature perspective, but the recent post-pandemic worldwide inflation growth has re-centered affordability as key topic in the housing agenda. This paper provides a comprehensive overview on past literature and a detailed analysis on the Portuguese market at the municipal level, by analyzing the changes in housing affordability in recent years.
Findings
Despite this growth, overall, affordability has improved. The study also shows the importance of municipal-level analysis, given the significant geographical differences. The authors' study confirms that many municipalities, outside metropolitan areas, exhibit low levels of affordability. Nevertheless, markets with higher average real estate values tend to exhibit even lower affordability, outpacing the higher levels of income.
Originality/value
Previous studies have focused on affordability issues on a national or highly aggregated level or focusing only on the two largest metropolitan areas in the country. This paper provides a deeper understanding on the inequalities of housing affordability between Portuguese municipalities.
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Using a large firm-level data set, this paper examines total factor productivity (TFP) and its determinants in the Ecuadorian manufacturing sector in the period 2007–2018.
Abstract
Purpose
Using a large firm-level data set, this paper examines total factor productivity (TFP) and its determinants in the Ecuadorian manufacturing sector in the period 2007–2018.
Design/methodology/approach
I analyze the role played by traditional TPF determinants, including internal firm characteristics, international trade activities, financial constraints and competition intensity. I contribute to the literature by presenting quantile regression results. Moreover, I analyze industry patterns, distinguishing between industries according to their technological intensity (following the organisation for economic co-operation and development classification).
Findings
My results confirm that firm age is positively related to TFP level but negatively related to TFP growth. I also find that being an exporter and an importer at the same time is associated with higher TFP levels and that this effect is higher than when being only an exporter or an importer. Additionally, l find that credit is positively related to TFP levels. Finally, I find that more competition is positively related to productivity in lower quantiles of output.
Practical implications
The results are the source of tools to propose policy recommendations, which are stated in the present document.
Originality/value
This paper aims to reopen the debate of firm productivity determinants in a developing country such as Ecuador. The authors use a set of covariates less analyzed in this issue.
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– The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of the credit expansion in 2009 and 2010 in China on the capital structure of listed real estate companies.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of the credit expansion in 2009 and 2010 in China on the capital structure of listed real estate companies.
Design/methodology/approach
Chinese listed real estate companies are divided into two groups, state-owned and non-state-owned, because their access to credit markets have different priority to state-owned banks that dominate bank lending. The difference-in-differences approach is employed to test the impact of changes in leverage ratios and loan ratios before and after the credit expansion period in state-owned firms and non-state-owned firms.
Findings
Using quarterly panel regressions, the authors find that during the credit expansion period, state-owned companies exhibit a relatively greater increase in leverage ratios than non-state-owned firms. State-owned firms have greater increases in book leverage ratios, market leverage ratios and long-term debt ratios by 5.2, 4.9 and 1.1 per cent, respectively. It is also shown that loan ratios have increased more in state-owned firms than non-state-owned firms during the credit expansion period.
Research limitations/implications
The paper explores only the impacts of credit expansion on capital structure of listed real estate firms in China. Further studies can be conducted to investigate the impact of credit supply on corporate investment decisions of real estate firms and on real estate markets.
Practical implications
The findings can help explain the surge in land and housing prices after 2008 in China. Deng et al. (2015) find that state-owned real estate firms paid more for land price than non-state-owned firms, which contributed to upward pressure on housing prices. This paper shows that such “over-investment” may be due to the increase of debt financing and availability of bank loans to real estate firms. Thus the credit market can affect real estate markets through debt financing at company level.
Originality/value
This paper is the first to investigate the impact of credit supply on capital structure of real estate companies, and presents evidence of the importance of credit supply as a determinant of capital structure.
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Develops an original 12‐step management of technology protocol and applies it to 51 applications which range from Du Pont’s failure in Nylon to the Single Online Trade Exchange…
Abstract
Develops an original 12‐step management of technology protocol and applies it to 51 applications which range from Du Pont’s failure in Nylon to the Single Online Trade Exchange for Auto Parts procurement by GM, Ford, Daimler‐Chrysler and Renault‐Nissan. Provides many case studies with regards to the adoption of technology and describes seven chief technology officer characteristics. Discusses common errors when companies invest in technology and considers the probabilities of success. Provides 175 questions and answers to reinforce the concepts introduced. States that this substantial journal is aimed primarily at the present and potential chief technology officer to assist their survival and success in national and international markets.
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This paper aims to test for a potential target accounts payable ratio and the determinants of accounts payable ratio.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to test for a potential target accounts payable ratio and the determinants of accounts payable ratio.
Design/methodology/approach
The author use data from 104 firms over the period 2000-2014 and analyse these data using the system-generalised method of moments methodology.
Findings
The author find that Jordanian firms have a target accounts payable ratio and more than 65 per cent of the deviation from target is closed within a year. He find a positive impact of growth, positive growth and supply of credit on the accounts payable ratio. Furthermore, large firms use less trade credit to finance their purchases.
Research limitations/implications
A number of limitations affect this study to be considered in future research. Future researchers could cover longer period of time. To generalise the results, non-listed firms may be included in the sample.
Practical implications
In addition to extending the finance literature, this study has managerial implications regarding trade credit policy. There is strong evidence that the trade credit policy is affected by firm’s access towards capital market funds. Thus, regulators and policy maker should bear in mind that the banking system should help firms to achieve their target accounts payable ratio. In addition, firm’s management should be aware of the importance of trade credit to finance sales growth. All of these results should assist firm managers to find the factors that affect the target accounts payable ratio, which ultimately may affect the firm value and performance.
Originality/value
To the best of author’s knowledge, this is the first study on the partial adjustment model and determinants of accounts payable in Jordan. Thus, the authors aim to contribute to the existing literature, as there are very few studies test for target trade credit policy.
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