Scientific journal paper Q1
Does the information content and value relevance of trade debt in early-stage firms help in raising external equity?
Luís Barbosa (Barbosa, L.); Marc Cowling (Cowling, M.); Gulamhussen, M. A. (Gulamhussen, M. A.);
Journal Title
Small Business Economics
Year (definitive publication)
N/A
Language
English
Country
Netherlands
More Information
Web of Science®

Times Cited: 0

(Last checked: 2025-12-04 21:30)

View record in Web of Science®

Scopus

Times Cited: 0

(Last checked: 2025-11-30 18:21)

View record in Scopus

Google Scholar

Times Cited: 0

(Last checked: 2025-10-24 12:21)

View record in Google Scholar

This publication is not indexed in Overton

Abstract
We assess the information content and value relevance of trade debt for external equity providers deploying the Kauffman Survey Data on early-stage firms. Our findings indicate that trade debt attracts external equity by virtue of its information content and determines its amount by virtue of its value relevance in unprofitable but growing firms. These findings remain robust after controlling for nonfinancial information on firms and their owners, macroeconomic conditions, and tests of reverse causality. The findings persist for firms that are labor-intensive, use simple technologies, and recur to high levels of trade debt. Our findings highlight critical links between debt and equity markets in early-stage firms, and the need to factor the signaling earnings potential (information content), and the relation between book and market estimates (value relevance), when it comes to assessing and valuing early-stage firms. We detail the academic, practice, and policy implications of these findings.
Acknowledgements
FCT: UIDB/00315/2020 PTDC/IIM-FIN/7188/2014
Keywords
Asymmetric information,Financing policy,New firms
  • Economics and Business - Social Sciences
Funding Records
Funding Reference Funding Entity
UIDB/00315/2020 Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
PTDC/IIM-FIN/7188/2014 Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
Related Projects

This publication is an output of the following project(s):

With the objective to increase the research activity directed towards the achievement of the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals, the possibility of associating scientific publications with the Sustainable Development Goals is now available in Ciência_Iscte. These are the Sustainable Development Goals identified by the author(s) for this publication. For more detailed information on the Sustainable Development Goals, click here.