Recent events, most notably the Global Financial Crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic, have made it increasingly apparent that liquidity is synonymous with corporate survival. In this paper, we explore how governments can fulfill an important need as suppliers of liquidity. Building on the financing advantage view of state ownership, we theorize how state-owned enterprises (SOEs) may provide capital by offering trade credit to customer firms. The data indicate a positive relation between the level of state ownership and the provision of trade credit. Using an institution-focused framework, we further determine that the nation’s institutional environment systematically affects the opportunities and motivations for SOEs to grant trade credit. Specifically, we find that SOEs grant more trade credit in countries with less developed financial markets, weaker legal protection of creditors, less comprehensive information-sharing mechanisms, more collectivist societies, left-wing governments, and higher levels of unemployment. Firm-level factors also influence the credit-granting decisions of SOEs, with SOEs with lower levels of state ownership and higher extents of internationalization offering lower amounts of trade credit. Overall, our study offers novel insights regarding the important role of state-owned firms as providers of liquidity.

最近发生的事件，尤其是全球金融危机和 COVID-19 大流行，已经越来越明显地表明，流动性是企业生存的代名词。在本文中，我们探讨了政府如何满足作为流动性提供者的重要需求。基于国有企业的融资优势观点，我们对国有企业 (SOE) 如何通过向客户公司提供贸易信贷来提供资本进行了理论化。数据表明国家所有制水平与贸易信贷提供之间存在正相关关系。使用以制度为中心的框架，我们进一步确定国家的制度环境系统地影响国有企业授予贸易信贷的机会和动机。具体来说，我们发现国有企业在金融市场欠发达的国家给予更多的贸易信贷，债权人的法律保护较弱，信息共享机制较不全面，集体主义社会较多，左翼政府和失业率较高。企业层面的因素也会影响国有企业的授信决策，国有企业的国有化程度较低、国际化程度较高的国有企业提供的贸易信贷额度较低。总体而言，我们的研究为国有企业作为流动性提供者的重要作用提供了新的见解。国有企业较低的国有化程度和较高的国际化程度提供较少的贸易信贷。总体而言，我们的研究为国有企业作为流动性提供者的重要作用提供了新的见解。国有企业较低的国有化程度和较高的国际化程度提供较少的贸易信贷。总体而言，我们的研究为国有企业作为流动性提供者的重要作用提供了新的见解。