本科毕业论文(设计)外文+翻译原文:FinancingofSMEsAbstractThemainsourcesoffinancingforsmallandmediumsizedenterprises(SMEs)areequity,tradecreditpaidontime,longandshorttermbankcredits,delayedpaymentontradecreditandotherdebt.Themarginalcostsofeachfinancinginstrumentaredrivenbyasymmetricinformationandtransactionscostsassociatedwithnonpayment.AccordingtothePeckingOrderTheory,firmswillchoosethecheapestsourceintermsofcost.Inthecaseofthestatictrade-offtheory,firmschoosefinancesothatthemarginalcostsacrossfinancingsourcesareallequal,thusanadditionalEurooffinancingisobtainedfromallthesourceswhereasunderthePeckingOrderTheorythesourceisdeterminedbyhowfardownthePeckingOrderthefirmispresentlylocated.Inthispaper,wearguethatbothofthesetheoriesmissthepointthatthemarginalcostsaredependentoftheuseofthefunds,andtheassetsideofthebalancesheetprimarilydeterminesthefinancingsourceforanadditionalEuro.AnempiricalanalysisonauniquedatasetofPortugueseSME’sconfirmsthatthecompositionoftheassetsideofthebalancesheethasanimpactofthetypeoffinancingusedandthePeckingOrderTheoryandthetraditionalStaticTrade-offtheoryarerejected.’sthemainsourcesoffinancingareequity(internallygeneratedcash),tradecredit,bankcreditandotherdebt.Thechoiceoffinancingisdrivenbythecostsofthesourceswhichisprimarilydeterminedbycostsofsolvingtheasymmetricinformationproblemandtheexpectedcostsassociatedwithnon-paymentofdebt.Asymmetricinformationcostsarisefromcollectingandanalysinginformationtosupportthedecisionofextendingcredit,andthenon-paymentcostsarefromcollectingthecollateralandsellingittorecoverthedebt.SinceSMEs’managementandshareholdersareoftenthesameperson,equityandinternallygeneratedfundshavenoasymmetricinformationcostsandequityisthereforethecheapestsource.2.AssetsidetheoryofSMEfinancingIntheprevioussectionwehavesuggestedthatSME’sinPortugalarefinancedusinginternalgeneratedcash,cheaptradecredits,longandshort-termbankloansandexpensivetradecreditsandotherloans.Inthissectionthemotivesbehindthedifferenttypesoffinancingarediscussed.2.1.CheapTradecreditsThefirstexternalfinancingsourcewewilldiscussistrade-credits.Tradecreditsareinterestingsincetheyrepresentfinancialservicesprovidedbynon-financialfirmsincompetitionwithfinancialintermediaries.Theearlyresearchwithinthisareafocusedontheroleoftradecreditsinrelationtothecreditchannelorthesocalled“Meltzer”effectandinrelationtotheefficiencyofmonetarypolicy.Thebasicideaisthatfirmswithdirectaccesstofinancialmarkets,ingenerallargewellknownfirms,issuetradecreditstosmallfinanciallyconstrainedfirms.Themorerecentresearchbreakstheroleoftradecreditsintoastrategicmotiveandfinancialmotiveforissuingandusingthesecredits.StrategicmotivesThefirsttheorycentersonasymmetricinformationregardingthefirm’sproducts.Tradecreditsareofferedtothebuyerssothatthebuyercanverifythequantityandqualitybeforesubmittingpayments.Byofferingtradefinancethesuppliersignalstothebuyersthattheyofferproductsofgoodquality.Sincesmallfirms,ingeneral,havenoreputationthenthesefirmsareforcedtousetradecreditstosignalthequalityoftheirproducts.Theuseoftradecreditsisthereforedrivenbyasymmetricinformationoftheproductsandisthereforemorelikelytobeusedbysmallfirms,ifthebuyerhaslittleinformationaboutthesupplier,ortheproductsarecomplicatedanditisdifficulttoassestheirquality.Thesecondstrategicmotiveispricing.Offeringtradefinanceonfavorabletermsisthesameasapricereductionforthegoods.Thusfirmscanusetradecreditstopromotesaleswithoutofficiallyreducingpricesorusethemasatoolforpricediscriminationbetweendifferentbuyers.Tradecreditsaremostadvantageoustoriskyborrowerssincetheircostsofalternativefinancingarehigherthanforborrowerswithgoodcreditratings.Thustradecreditscanbeusedastoolfordirectpricediscriminationbutalsoasanindirecttool(ifallbuyersareofferedthesameterms)infavorofborrowerswithalowcreditstanding.“hand”.FinancingmotivesThebasisforthisviewisthatfirmscompetewithfinancialinstitutionsinofferingcredittootherfirms.Thetraditionalviewoffinancialinstitutionsisthattheyextendcredittofirmswhereasymmetricinformationisamajorproblem.Financialinstitutionshaveadvantagesincollectingandanalyzinginformationfrom,inparticular,smallerandmediumsizedfirmsthatsufferfromproblemsofasymmetricinformation.Thekeytothisadvantageoverfinancialmarketsliesinthecloserelationshipbetweenthe