Figure 1.
![Expected mean values of selected financial ratios for construction industry compared with other industries.
Note: BKL, short-term bank loan to assets ratio; D/A, total debt to assets ratio; LTD, long-term debt to assets ratio; STD, short term debt to assets ratio. Vertical bars represent 0.95 confidence intervals.
Source: Authors’ calculations based on [BACH, 2023].](https://sciendo-parsed.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/6471f9f7215d2f6c89db748c/j_ijme-2024-0023_fig_001.jpg?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Content-Sha256=UNSIGNED-PAYLOAD&X-Amz-Credential=ASIA6AP2G7AKO6OGLGK3%2F20260323%2Feu-central-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20260323T002417Z&X-Amz-Expires=3600&X-Amz-Security-Token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjEKf%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2FwEaDGV1LWNlbnRyYWwtMSJIMEYCIQCqSnDvC97vv76HiPeV5HZCBc3KSW2z5VIixoUMwOXW4gIhANM2rlh2RH1VWghl994NYPvvnaIAKPKrarZYwC1BWggIKrwFCHAQAhoMOTYzMTM0Mjg5OTQwIgwAITpqVWXUwVvvcuQqmQVWT9DUI0GwsuW8MG1L0eNmjbUvt9%2F9toDDn0UWyRWn1NzC%2BnSkOWMATTeZZ8cLhZi2fksIvFhEh%2Fz6PWHzP%2B8XVdsVsgCbgUVFAG5zBOYS3cvEYxXehvft1%2FGn1H%2F9yN1zYbuClwpbsaOkbg3oEtXTk4CCwlj2upBrFwNnBM2zRLJP5CUb03mzWnPGKwvtY5ZDdPfoykWFWr%2BS5F3wSGUhcCgvYBKbhD%2F%2FH%2BepL7N6jbbsoOm1fmnO1g6kE5c0Xs%2BMe9Ekb%2FG%2FRffzNYE3umIU%2BROPx8yQ16SR0J%2BZBK%2FbeHO6yHt2tO94bBlbTzcak4mQtsngr8bqyPQvEEUOcsLi60k1ukrIewhfigTwTOaeuJ0EltDS9BOGi6TDmMtON7kGLYVBcifnT84psu%2BqvZnFMe8JND0P56snkcZQFksm5GO72h4kpxnOqHRgnK%2BXilP8f3Fu4ZlVLC20mR7Kk8D8RoRfAMqgZ%2BVyN0VTTjDaZQD5QLNyYE3622tU9x5OLZjUq1UQ1jz0tURw%2FpoAbN9YHjGdXZs8NYzYvkQlPhPrzEJV7gbM762KxURjr5rsJKqdI%2FhdCEaYk3Vi0ePHtdzo6cGzaVyzxZISZMXTqFkDCsVT0MYgi4GqeSkNtGM3IpwXOeaWEYSIlbZVfDWhJvnMUZOFtYHBfpfjQ2%2F9FGgTh5W5HN%2Fi7E4j9%2FnVYqYlzCogUYZGY7iRbkUsbrW%2BqyjyxMHG7R%2BjtEkhrJs0S3t9OJRz68vdflh3cFSUlofzlsb9QXgZg0FDdcPqUH8XQQ%2F1ecIMz0MOQH8LWwT%2B5BzrWSnfK3zU60aSctaD6cS5DcpJKZQFYi0QAnWLnIi2m1S7jFqvSF7%2FPWh07BfNtf79TjV6pgxL%2BpImUzDI8oHOBjqwAV6n5VmmE9gfEYxre9%2BaEwABovps6qHVLm2XXq8y1vqoef3I61uJIs3%2ByzctFPfwSMQmG0FsSx%2F4mp7a3ycsQxHse8AgZJwljFz7OWq1Iooz5owdq6I5a%2BLNG%2BrA3SC5vBYW%2FD6e4ye0ERQIYwBXHLrLrXaEy4wRUEoKjJXXFlhJvvthpL7ZLMG69e%2B9jE6h%2FTYWo6yadDWfwIptyp6aeZCErBlTa37K7jW1BwNAmAh1&X-Amz-Signature=ca2ec6bf9a958c81ae4df289091f6644a42614fcfcac5fc8cffb476f53c4e912&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&x-amz-checksum-mode=ENABLED&x-id=GetObject)
Figure 2.
![Mean values of trade credit ratios in the construction industry across countries.
Note: The mean values are calculated for all size groups of construction firms (S, M, L) and for all years available for a given region or country in the period 2000–2020.
Source: Authors’ calculations based on [BACH, 2023].](https://sciendo-parsed.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/6471f9f7215d2f6c89db748c/j_ijme-2024-0023_fig_002.jpg?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Content-Sha256=UNSIGNED-PAYLOAD&X-Amz-Credential=ASIA6AP2G7AKO6OGLGK3%2F20260323%2Feu-central-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20260323T002417Z&X-Amz-Expires=3600&X-Amz-Security-Token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjEKf%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2FwEaDGV1LWNlbnRyYWwtMSJIMEYCIQCqSnDvC97vv76HiPeV5HZCBc3KSW2z5VIixoUMwOXW4gIhANM2rlh2RH1VWghl994NYPvvnaIAKPKrarZYwC1BWggIKrwFCHAQAhoMOTYzMTM0Mjg5OTQwIgwAITpqVWXUwVvvcuQqmQVWT9DUI0GwsuW8MG1L0eNmjbUvt9%2F9toDDn0UWyRWn1NzC%2BnSkOWMATTeZZ8cLhZi2fksIvFhEh%2Fz6PWHzP%2B8XVdsVsgCbgUVFAG5zBOYS3cvEYxXehvft1%2FGn1H%2F9yN1zYbuClwpbsaOkbg3oEtXTk4CCwlj2upBrFwNnBM2zRLJP5CUb03mzWnPGKwvtY5ZDdPfoykWFWr%2BS5F3wSGUhcCgvYBKbhD%2F%2FH%2BepL7N6jbbsoOm1fmnO1g6kE5c0Xs%2BMe9Ekb%2FG%2FRffzNYE3umIU%2BROPx8yQ16SR0J%2BZBK%2FbeHO6yHt2tO94bBlbTzcak4mQtsngr8bqyPQvEEUOcsLi60k1ukrIewhfigTwTOaeuJ0EltDS9BOGi6TDmMtON7kGLYVBcifnT84psu%2BqvZnFMe8JND0P56snkcZQFksm5GO72h4kpxnOqHRgnK%2BXilP8f3Fu4ZlVLC20mR7Kk8D8RoRfAMqgZ%2BVyN0VTTjDaZQD5QLNyYE3622tU9x5OLZjUq1UQ1jz0tURw%2FpoAbN9YHjGdXZs8NYzYvkQlPhPrzEJV7gbM762KxURjr5rsJKqdI%2FhdCEaYk3Vi0ePHtdzo6cGzaVyzxZISZMXTqFkDCsVT0MYgi4GqeSkNtGM3IpwXOeaWEYSIlbZVfDWhJvnMUZOFtYHBfpfjQ2%2F9FGgTh5W5HN%2Fi7E4j9%2FnVYqYlzCogUYZGY7iRbkUsbrW%2BqyjyxMHG7R%2BjtEkhrJs0S3t9OJRz68vdflh3cFSUlofzlsb9QXgZg0FDdcPqUH8XQQ%2F1ecIMz0MOQH8LWwT%2B5BzrWSnfK3zU60aSctaD6cS5DcpJKZQFYi0QAnWLnIi2m1S7jFqvSF7%2FPWh07BfNtf79TjV6pgxL%2BpImUzDI8oHOBjqwAV6n5VmmE9gfEYxre9%2BaEwABovps6qHVLm2XXq8y1vqoef3I61uJIs3%2ByzctFPfwSMQmG0FsSx%2F4mp7a3ycsQxHse8AgZJwljFz7OWq1Iooz5owdq6I5a%2BLNG%2BrA3SC5vBYW%2FD6e4ye0ERQIYwBXHLrLrXaEy4wRUEoKjJXXFlhJvvthpL7ZLMG69e%2B9jE6h%2FTYWo6yadDWfwIptyp6aeZCErBlTa37K7jW1BwNAmAh1&X-Amz-Signature=22bc3281d13d934a80c479b9f89e1a257575cc6c857877e27b333e1d8eebe34f&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&x-amz-checksum-mode=ENABLED&x-id=GetObject)
One-way ANOVA results with the grouping factor as the classification of country as the CEE or WE EU member; values of F statistics and p-value are in parentheses
| Size | Dependent variable | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| NTC | REC | PAY | |
| Small | 2.823 (0.094) | 1.626 (0.204) | 0.144 (0.704) |
| Medium | 1.676 (0.197) | 1.252 (0.264) | 0.341 (0.560) |
| Large | 5.932 (0.016) | 1.586 (0.209) | 17.84 (0.000) |
| All size groups | 2.432 (0.119) | 0.161 (0.688) | 3.184 (0.075) |
Estimation results of panel regressions for the construction industry in WE countries
| Variable | Model (1a) NTCa | Model (1b) REC | Model (1c) PAY | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Estimate | Std. error | Estimate | Std. error | Estimate | Std. error | |
| Const. | 0.249*** | 0.044 | 0.447*** | 0.035 | 0.175*** | 0.021 |
| BKL | 0.279** | 0.120 | ||||
| COL | –0.320*** | 0.030 | –0.532*** | 0.038 | –0.214*** | 0.024 |
| INV | –0.341*** | 0.046 | –0.404*** | 0.038 | –0.112*** | 0.032 |
| CSH | –0.411*** | 0.103 | –0.214*** | 0.069 | ||
| CGS | –0.047** | 0.019 | 0.066*** | 0.012 | ||
| ROA | 0.250** | 0.103 | ||||
| TAT | –0.037*** | 0.011 | 0.047*** | 0.011 | 0.067*** | 0.007 |
| SIZE | S*, L* | S*** | S*** | |||
| CT | No | PT*** | LU** | |||
| YEAR | 2001*, 2010* | 2016** | No | |||
| No. obs. | 480 | 480 | 480 | |||
| R2 | n/a | 0.834 | 0.809 | |||
| AIC | –1876.2 | –1777.5 | –2066.1 | |||
| Panel specification tests | ||||||
| Joint sign. of diff. group means | F(23, 451) = 1.9 [0.008] | F(23, 451) = 7.4 [0.000] | F(23, 451) = 12.5 [0.000] | |||
| Breusch-Pagan | LM = 7.1 [0.008] | LM = 183.0 [0.000] | LM = 393.4 [0.000] | |||
| Hausman test | 1.6 [0.895] | 18.5 [0.001] | 30.5 [0.000] | |||
| Joint significance robust F test | ||||||
| Size | 1.6 [0.208] | 99.3 [0.000] | 41.0 [0.000] | |||
| Country | 8.7 [0.000] | 8.4 [0.008] | 8.6 [0.006] | |||
| Year | 46.0 [0.000] | 5.3 [0.030] | 30.5 [0.000] | |||
Definition of variables employed in the analysis
| Variable character | Symbol | Specification | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dependent | NTC | Net trade credit = (Accounts receivable – Accounts payable)/Assets | |
| REC | Trade credit supplied = Accounts receivable/Assets | ||
| PAY | Trade credit obtained = Accounts payable/Assets | ||
| Explanatory | BKL | Short-term bank loan = Current amounts owed to credit institutions/Assets | |
| COL | Collateral = Fixed assets/Assets | ||
| INV | Inventory = Inventories/Assets | ||
| Firm-specific financial ratios | CSH | Cash at hand = Cash and available bank amounts/Assets | |
| CGS | Costs of goods sold = Costs of goods sold, materials and consumables/Net turnover | ||
| LEV | Debt ratio = Debt/Equity | ||
| ROA | Return on assets = Net operating profit/Assets | ||
| TAT | Total asset turnover = Net turnover/Assets | ||
| Dummy variables | SIZE | Size groups of firms (S, M, L) | |
| CT | Countries (AT, BE, CZ, DE, ES, FR, HR, IT, LU, PL, PT, SK) | ||
| YEAR | Years (2000, …, 2020) | ||
Estimation results of panel regressions for construction industry in CEE countries
| Variable | Model (1a) NTC | Model (1b) RECa | Model (1c) PAY | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Estimate | Std. error | Estimate | Std. error | Estimate | Std. error | |
| Const. | 0.243*** | 0.039 | 0.550*** | 0.110 | 0.178*** | 0.020 |
| COL | –0.272*** | 0.048 | –0.537*** | 0.076 | –0.217*** | 0.019 |
| INV | –0.349*** | 0.056 | –0.421*** | 0.082 | ||
| CSH | –0.423** | 0.203 | –0.284*** | 0.081 | ||
| CGS | –0.077*** | 0.028 | ||||
| LEV | –0.094* | 0.053 | ||||
| ROA | 0.091** | 0.040 | ||||
| TAT | –0.049*** | 0.010 | 0.046** | 0.023 | 0.080*** | 0.007 |
| SIZE | No | No | S*** | |||
| CT | SK* | No | HR***, SK* | |||
| YEAR | 2016*** | 2012* | 2017* | |||
| No. obs. | 210 | 210 | 210 | |||
| R2 | 0.535 | n/a | 0.871 | |||
| AIC | –806.5 | –722.2 | –918.4 | |||
| Panel specification tests | ||||||
| Joint sign. of diff. group means | F(11, 193) = 2.8 [0.002] | F(11, 195) = 4.1 [0.000] | F(11, 195) = 6.0 [0.000] | |||
| Breusch-Pagan | LM = 4.7 [0.030] | LM = 25.3 [0.000] | LM = 55.9 [0.000] | |||
| Hausman test | H = 15.4 [0.009] | 5.5 [0.137] | 8.6 [0.035] | |||
| Joint significance robust F test | ||||||
| Size | n/a | n/a | 41.0 [0.000] | |||
| Country | 3.74 [0.079] | n/a | 8.6 [0.006] | |||
| Year | 12.67 [0.004] | 4.3 [0.000] | 3.2 [0.100] | |||