This article examines trade credit decision in Western Europe using a comprehensive sample of 182,296 SMEs for the period 2003-2013. We develop a theoretical framework based on information asymmetry, financial distress and the role of country informal institutions. The results show that country...

We investigate the impact of employment protection on firms' credit access by looking at both credit obtained from banks and firms' decision to apply for a loan. We find that greater flexibility in structuring the employees' working hours and in dismissing employees increases the probability...

This paper reassesses the role of financial intermediation in inducing the European financial crisis of 2008. Our empirical investigation sheds light on the causal effects of excessive household leverage on economic structural distortions, beyond the already established links between credit...

We use content analysis software to examine certain characteristics of communications arising from European Council meetings. These characteristics appear to explain a large proportion of variation in stock returns around the meeting dates. More specifically, stock market investors react...

We examine the use of trade credit in Western Europe by relying on a sample of 182,296 small firms for the period 2003-2013. Building on information asymmetry theory, we explore how a country’s culture can impact SMEs use of trade credit. We discover that countries’ cultural norms play a key...

Firms can be credit constrained either because a loan has been denied by the lender or because they decide not to apply for such a loan due to expected rejection. Using a large sample of European small and medium enterprises, we investigate the relationship between gender and credit constraints....