Signalling through the noise: private certification, information asymmetry and Chinese SMEs’ access to finance

References

• Akerlof, G.A., 1970. The market for “lemons”: quality uncertainty and the market mechanism. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 84, 488–500. doi:10.2307/1879431
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Allen, F., et al., 2012. China’s financial system: opportunities and challenges. In: J.P.H. Fan and R. Morck, eds. Capitalizing China. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 63–143.
   Google Scholar
• Ayyagari, M., Demirgüç-Kunt, A., and Maksimovic, V., 2010. Formal versus informal finance: evidence from China. Review of Financial Studies, 23 (8), 3048–3097. doi:10.1093/rfs/hhq030
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Bai, C., Lu, J., and Tao, Z., 2006. Property rights protection and access to bank loans. Economics of Transition, 14 (4), 611–628. doi:10.1111/ecot.2006.14.issue-4
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Belman, D. and Heywood, J.S., 1997. Sheepskin effects by cohort: implications of job matching in a signaling model. Oxford Economic Papers, 49 (4), 623–637. doi:10.1093/oxfordjournals.oep.a028628
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Brandt, L. and Li, H., 2003. Bank discrimination in transition economies: ideology, information, or incentives? Journal of Comparative Economics, 31 (3), 387–413. doi:10.1016/S0147-5967(03)00080-5
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Choi, E.K., 2009. The politics of fee extraction from private enterprises, 1996–2003. The China Journal, 62, 79–102.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Connelly, B.L., et al., 2011. Signaling theory: a review and assessment. Journal of Management, 37 (1), 39–67. doi:10.1177/0149206310388419
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Corbett, C.J. and Yeung, A.C., 2008. Special issue on meta-standards in operations management: cross-disciplinary perspectives. International Journal of Production Economics, 113 (1), 1–2. doi:10.1016/j.ijpe.2007.02.044
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Cushing, K.K., McGray, H., and Lu, H., 2005. Understanding ISO 14001 adoption and implementation in China. International Journal of Environment and Sustainable Development, 4 (3), 246–268. doi:10.1504/IJESD.2005.007740
   Google Scholar
• Escanciano, C., Fernández, E., and Vázquez, C., 2001. ISO 9000 certification and quality management in Spain: results of a national survey. The TQM Magazine, 13 (3), 192–200. doi:10.1108/09544780110385500
   Google Scholar
• Firth, M., et al., 2009. Inside the black box: bank credit allocation in China’s private sector. Journal of Banking & Finance, 33 (6), 1144–1155. doi:10.1016/j.jbankfin.2008.12.008
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Fryxell, G.E., Chung, S.S., and Lo, C.W., 2004. Does the selection of ISO 14001 registrars matter? registrar reputation and environmental policy statements in China. Journal of Environmental Management, 71 (1), 45–57. doi:10.1016/j.jenvman.2004.01.005
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Geng, Y. and Côté, R., 2003. Environmental management systems at the industrial park level in China. Environmental Management, 31 (6), 784–794. doi:10.1007/s00267-002-2854-9
   PubMed Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Heras‐Saizarbitoria, I. and Boiral, O., 2013. ISO 9001 and ISO 14001: towards a research agenda on management system standards. International Journal of Management Reviews, 15 (1), 47–65. doi:10.1111/ijmr.2013.15.issue-1
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Hillier, B. and Ibrahimo, M.V., 1993. Asymmetric information and models of credit rationing. Bulletin of Economic Research, 45 (4), 271–304. doi:10.1111/boer.1993.45.issue-4
   Google Scholar
• Huang, Y., 2008. Capitalism with Chinese characteristics: entrepreneurship and the state (Vol. 1). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
   Google Scholar
• International Organization for Standardization, 2012. The ISO survey of management system standard certifications – 2012 [online]. Available from: http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_survey_executive-summary.pdf [Accessed 1 September 2014].
   Google Scholar
• Jang, W. and Lin, C., 2008. An integrated framework for ISO 9000 motivation, depth of ISO implementation and firm performance: the case of Taiwan. Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, 19 (2), 194–216. doi:10.1108/17410380810847918
   Google Scholar
• Kirmani, A. and Rao, A.R., 2000. No pain, no gain: a critical review of the literature on signaling unobservable product quality. Journal of Marketing, 64 (2), 66–79. doi:10.1509/jmkg.64.2.66.18000
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Korkeamäki, T., Pöyry, S., and Suo, M., 2014. Credit ratings and information asymmetry on the Chinese syndicated loan market. China Economic Review, 31, 1–16. doi:10.1016/j.chieco.2014.08.001
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Kunnanatt, J.T. 2007. Impact of ISO 9000 on organizational climate: strategic change management experience of an Indian organization. International Journal of Manpower, 28 (2), 175–192. doi:10.1108/01437720710747983
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Levine, R., 1997. Financial development and economic growth: views and agenda. Journal of Economic Literature, 35 (2), 688–726.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Maskus, K.E., Otsuki, T., and Wilson, J.S., 2005. The cost of compliance with product standards for firms in developing countries: an econometric study. Washington, DC: World Bank Publications.
   Google Scholar
• Minard, P., 2015. Government discretion: how high a barrier to entry for Chinese private enterprises? Journal of Asian Public Policy, 8 (2), 134–148.
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Montiel, I., Husted, B.W., and Christmann, P., 2012. Using private management standard certification to reduce information asymmetries in corrupt environments. Strategic Management Journal, 33 (9), 1103–1113. doi:10.1002/smj.1957
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• North, D.C., 1990. Institutions, institutional change and economic performance. New York: Cambridge University Press.
   Google Scholar
• Pearson, M.M., 2007. Governing the Chinese economy: regulatory reform in the service of the state. Public Administration Review, 67 (4), 718–730. doi:10.1111/puar.2007.67.issue-4
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Poncet, S., Steingress, W., and Vandenbussche, H., 2010. Financial constraints in China: firm-level evidence. China Economic Review, 21 (3), 411–422. doi:10.1016/j.chieco.2010.03.001
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Potoski, M. and Prakash, A., 2009. Information asymmetries as trade barriers: ISO 9000 increases international commerce. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 28 (2), 221–238. doi:10.1002/pam.v28:2
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Ruan, W. and Xiang, E., 2013. Which companies find it easier to obtain bank loans? evidence from China. Corporate Ownership and Control, 10 (3), 389–401.
   Google Scholar
• Spence, M., 1973. Job market signaling. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 87 (3), 355–374. doi:10.2307/1882010
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Stevenson, T.H. and Barnes, F.C., 2002. What industrial marketers need to know now about ISO 9000 certification: a review, update, and integration with marketing. Industrial Marketing Management, 31 (8), 695–703. doi:10.1016/S0019-8501(01)00180-8
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Terlaak, A. and King, A.A., 2006. The effect of certification with the ISO 9000 quality management standard: a signaling approach. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 60 (4), 579–602. doi:10.1016/j.jebo.2004.09.012
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Tsai, K.S., 2004. Imperfect substitutes: the local political economy of informal finance and microfinance in rural China and India. World Development, 32 (9), 1487–1507. doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2004.06.001
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Uzumeri, M.V., 1997. ISO 9000 and other metastandards: principles for management practice? The Academy of Management Executive, 11 (1), 21–36.
   Google Scholar
• Wang, C. and Niu, T., 2014. Bank finance heterogeneity in China: micro-level evidence. Applied Economics Letters, 21 (2), 103–106. doi:10.1080/13504851.2013.842634
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Wang, Z., Yuan, H., and Gale, F., 2009. Costs of adopting a hazard analysis critical control point system: case study of a Chinese poultry processing firm. Review of Agricultural Economics, 31 (3), 574–588. doi:10.1111/raec.2009.31.issue-3
   Google Scholar
• Williamson, O.E., 1979. Transaction-cost economics: the governance of contractual relations. The Journal of Law and Economics, 22 (2), 233–261. doi:10.1086/jle.1979.22.issue-2
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Yeung, G., 2009. How banks in China make lending decisions. Journal of Contemporary China, 18 (59), 285–302. doi:10.1080/10670560802576034
   Web of Science ®Google Scholar
• Young, S., 1989. Policy, practice and the private sector in China. The Australian Journal of Chinese Affairs, 21, 57–80. doi:10.2307/2158660
   Google Scholar
• Zhang, M., 2008. From public to private: the newly enacted Chinese property law and the protection of property rights in China. Berkeley Business Law Journal, 5, 1–42.
   Google Scholar