Trade Credit Borrowing Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic: Evidence from Turkish Publicly Traded Firms

This study focuses on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on trade credit borrowing among publicly traded Turkish firms. Leveraging panel data analysis, including Difference Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) and Fixed Effects Ordinary Least Squares (FE-OLS) methods, we investigate changes in the amount and duration of trade credit utilized by firms during the pandemic. Our findings reveal a significant increase in both the amount and duration of trade credit obtained from suppliers amidst the pandemic's economic disruptions. Notably, this trend is particularly pronounced among high-debt and low-cash firms, suggesting a heightened reliance on trade credit as a financing mechanism.