信任、交易成本与商业信用模式

Trust,Transaction Cost and Mode of Trade Credit

本文研究信任这一非正式制度对企业交易成本和商业信用模式的影响。以我国各省的信任调查数据为研究基础,本文发现地区间信任差异将导致企业的签约形式显著不同,商业信用模式存在较大差异。地区间信任度越低,该地区企业的签约成本越高,具体表现为:企业较多地采用预付账款和应付票据等成本较高的商业信用模式,且相应的销售费用和折扣支出也越多。与以往文献关注法律等正式制度安排的差异不同,本文不仅验证了转轨经济环境下信任等非正式制度的重要性,同时还为"地区"与"个体"间信任的传递特征提供了经验证据,这有助于深入理解我国现阶段企业交易行为和"地区"与"个体"间的信任关系。

This paper investigates how trust, as an informal institution, affects corporate transaction cost and financial structure. Using trust index of different provinces in China, we find that differences of trust level in different regions of China cause different contract forms in different regions. The lower the regional trust level, the higher transaction costs of firms in that region. We prove this relationship between trust level and transaction costs because we find that firms in regions with a lower trust level use trade credit mode with higher transaction costs such as prepayments or notes payable and have more selling expenses and discounts per sales revenue. The conclusion of this paper supports that the local trust environment influences transaction behaviors and contract structure of firms and also indicates that trust has the same vital economic significance to firms as formal institutions. This paper also verifies the transmission characteristics of trust between ＂groups＂ and ＂individual＂, which is practically significant for us to understand the interest relationship between the ＂groups＂ and ＂individual＂.