Drawing on signaling theory, we propose that religious culture leads suppliers to alter their beliefs about their customers’ trustworthiness. Strong religious cultures are interpreted as a signal of fewer agency problems and less information asymmetry, which helps firms gain more trade credit from suppliers. The empirical tests performed in this study show that firms headquartered in areas with strong religious cultures receive more trade credit than other firms. This positive relation is more prominent when such firms are located in areas with lower levels of social trust. A further analysis reveals that the increasing effect of religious culture on trade credit eases financing constraints. Overall, our findings indicate that religious culture can be a broad indicator of firms’ ethical preferences that influences their access to trade credit by signaling their potential for a high level of trustworthiness.

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调查宗教文化何时增加贸易信贷：信号理论方法

借鉴信号理论，我们提出宗教文化导致供应商改变他们对客户可信度的信念。强烈的宗教文化被解释为代理问题减少和信息不对称减少的信号，这有助于企业从供应商那里获得更多的贸易信贷。本研究中进行的实证检验表明，总部位于宗教文化浓厚地区的公司比其他公司获得更多的贸易信贷。当这些公司位于社会信任度较低的地区时，这种正相关关系更为突出。进一步分析表明，宗教文化对贸易信贷的影响越来越大，缓解了融资约束。总体，