Around the world, factoring is a growing source of external financing for corporations and small
and medium-size enterprises (SMEs). What is unique about factoring is that the credit provided
by a lender is explicitly linked to the value of a supplier’s accounts receivable and not the
supplier’s overall creditworthiness. Therefore, factoring allows high-risk suppliers to transfer
their credit risk to their high-quality buyers. Factoring may be particularly useful in countries
with weak judicial enforcement and imperfect records of upholding seniority claims, because
receivables are sold, rather than collateralized, and factored receivables are not part of the estate
of a bankrupt SME. Empirical tests find that factoring is larger in countries with greater
economic development and growth and developed credit information bureaus. In addition, we
find that creditor rights are not related to factoring. This paper also discusses “reverse factoring”,
which is a technology that can mitigate the problem of borrowers’ informational opacity in
business environments with weak information infrastructures if only receivables from highquality
buyers are factored. We illustrate the case of the Nafin reverse factoring program in
Mexico and highlight how the use of electronic channels and a supportive legal and regulatory
environment can cut costs and provide greater SME services in emerging markets.
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