How many banks does it take to lend? Empirical evidence from Europe

We provide empirical evidence on the determinants of the number of bank lenders using a sample of more than 3000 loans to firms from 24 European countries. Our testable hypotheses are built upon different theoretical frameworks drawn from the existing literature, referring to firm characteristics, strategic considerations, geographical distances, bank market concentration, efficiency of legal system, and development of alternative sources of funds. Our main results show that the number and the international diversity of lenders is increased by loan and firm characteristics which reduce agency costs, and by financial structure and legal environment characteristics which mitigate expropriation risk.Lending relationships, number of lenders, bank loans, financial governance, asymmetric information, Europe.

No Going Back: The Interactions Between Processed Inventories and Trade Credit

Our paper focuses on testing the advantages in controlling the buyer and salvaging goods supplied where we have information on the nature of the transacted good and information on the inventory of buyers and sellers. We find transactions in specialized goods tend to be conducted more often using trade credit, but willingness to extend trade credit also depends on the ability of the firm to resell goods when demand is uncertain and on inventory costs. The advantages in salvage of goods is also limited by the extent to which goods have been processed by the receiving firm. These findings are derived from 82,000 French firms in four sectors over the period 1999-2007. Our results confirm the findings of the existing literature based on US and UK data, while also giving more support to the inventory transactions cost motive for firms with specialized goods.Trade credit, Inventories

Effets de Pairs dans l'Éducation, le Sport et les Arts pour des jeunes Canadiens

Rapport de recherche présenté à la Faculté des arts et des sciences en vue de l'obtention du grade de Maîtrise en sciences économiques

Les pratiques de gestion du poste client : Le cas d’un panel de PME françaises

Dans cette contribution, nous examinons le rôle du crédit interentreprises dans le financement du cycle d’exploitation des PME françaises à l’aide d’une base de données construite à partir d’une enquête réalisée auprès d’un panel de chefs d’entreprise. L’analyse des comportements en matière de gestion des créances clients souligne l’importance stratégique de la taille et de la position des entreprises dans le processus de financement des ventes. En référence aux théories financières sur la question, nous testons une fonction d’offre de crédit interentreprises à l’aide de variables quantitatives et qualitatives. Les résultats obtenus valident principalement les motifs d’offre liés à une réduction des asymétries d’information entre les contractants.In this contribution, we analyze the role of trade credit in the financing of current asset for French small and medium-sized enterprises using specific data collected in a recent survey based on a panel of managers. We provide direct evidence that inter-firm credit offered by SMEs is sensitive to the strategic importance of firm size and position in the financing process of sales. Using existing theories on the subject, we test a supply function for trade credit with quantitative and qualitative data. Results mainly validate supply-side theories relative to a reduction of asymmetric information between contractors.En esta contribución, examinamos la función del crédito inter-empresas en el financiamiento del ciclo de explotación de las pequeñas y medianas empresas francesas con la ayuda de una base de datos construida específicamente a partir de una encuesta realizada cerca de un panel de empresarios. El análisis de los comportamientos en materia de gestión de los créditos clientes subraya la importancia estratégica de le talla y de la posición de las empresas en el proceso de financiamiento de las ventas. En referencia a las teorías financieras sobre la cuestión, sometemos a un test una función de oferta de crédito inter-empresas con la ayuda de variables cuantitativas y cualitativas. Los resultados obtenidos principalmente validan los motivos de oferta vinculados a una reducción de las asimetrías de información entre los contratantes.Dieser Beitrag untersucht die Rolle von Krediten, die Unternehmen untereinander sprechen, bei der Finanzierung der Geschäftstätigkeit von französischen KMU. Die Datenbasis bildet eine Befragung bei einem Panel von Unternehmensleitern. Die Analyse der unterschiedlichen Handhabung von Debitorenforderungen unterstreicht die strategische Wichtigkeit der Grösse und Position von Unternehmen bei der Finanzierung von Verkäufen. Mit Bezug auf die Finanztheorien, testen wir die Funktion von interunternehmerischen Krediten anhand von qualitativen und quantitativen Variablen. Die erhaltenen Resultate validieren mehrheitlich die Motive zur Kreditvergabe dahingehend, dass sie einer Verringerung der Informationsasymmetrie zwischen den Vertragspartnern dienen soll

A Top-Down Approach to Managing Variability in Robotics Algorithms

One of the defining features of the field of robotics is its breadth and heterogeneity. Unfortunately, despite the availability of several robotics middleware services, robotics software still fails to smoothly handle at least two kinds of variability: algorithmic variability and lower-level variability. The consequence is that implementations of algorithms are hard to understand and impacted by changes to lower-level details such as the choice or configuration of sensors or actuators. Moreover, when several algorithms or algorithmic variants are available it is difficult to compare and combine them. In order to alleviate these problems we propose a top-down approach to express and implement robotics algorithms and families of algorithms so that they are both less dependent on lower-level details and easier to understand and combine. This approach goes top-down from the algorithms and shields them from lower-level details by introducing very high level abstractions atop the intermediate abstractions of robotics middleware. This approach is illustrated on 7 variants of the Bug family that were implemented using both laser and infra-red sensors.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, Presented at DSLRob 2013 (arXiv:cs/1312.5952