【摘要】 本文根据2015—2021年国家市场监督管理总局的食品批次抽检信息构造企业层面的食品安全水平指标，并将《应收账款质押登记办法》的第一次修订实施作为准自然实验，运用广义双重差分模型考察商业信用融资对上市企业食品安全水平的影响及其机制。研究结果表明，商业信用融资对食品安全水平具有重要的治理作用。商业信用融资不仅能拓宽企业的融资渠道，还能有效发挥供应商的监督作用，降低企业的风险承担水平，促进其产品创新能力，从而提升食品安全水平。异质性分析发现，商业信用融资对食品安全水平的促进作用在信任水平较低、营商环境较差的地区更加明显。本文研究将商业信用融资的公司治理机制拓展到食品领域，提出了金融市场食品安全治理的新途径。商业信用的供应方作为食品企业产品质量的利益攸关集团，对产品质量的治理具有积极作用，为食品安全治理提供了产业链监督的新思维。更多还原

【Abstract】 Food safety constitutes a critical nexus between public health as well as the sustainable development of society and the economy. A pivotal yet underexplored question is whether corporate governance mechanisms under debt financing can effectively elevate food safety standards, and whether creditors may emerge as key actors in the multi-stakeholder governance of food safety. To address this, this paper employs a novel micro-level empirical approach, matching food inspection issue data published by China’s State Administration for Market Regulation(SAMR) from 2015 to 2021 with A-share listed food companies. We construct a firm-level food safety compliance index and leverage the first amendment to the Rules for the Registration of Accounts Receivable Pledge as a quasi-natural experiment. Using a generalized difference-in-differences(DID) design, we examine the causal effect of trade credit financing on food safety standards and its underlying mechanisms. This paper reveals that trade credit financing exerts a significant governance effect on food safety standards. Specifically, it not only alleviates financing constraints but also activates supplier monitoring, thus reduces corporate risk appetite, and fosters product innovation, which in turn, collectively enhancing food safety compliance. Cross-sectional analysis demonstrates that these effects are more pronounced in regions with lower institutional trust and weaker business environments, highlighting trade credit’s substitutive role in formal governance. Potential Theoretical and Empirical Contributions are as followed: First, by integrating creditor governance into food safety research, we delineate the micro-level transmission channels through which trade credit financing influences product quality. This identifies a financial market-based auxiliary mechanism for social governance. Second, while prior studies focus on firm-level outcomes(e.g.,investment efficiency),we shift attention to product-market consequences, particularly food quality, a direct determinant of consumer welfare. This provides novel evidence on how creditor governance safeguards public interests. Third, departing from macro-level proxies, we construct a weighted firm-level food safety compliance index that accounts for inspection intensity across food categories and firms. This mitigates subjectivity biases inherent in aggregate measures. Fourth, we use the Accounts Receivable Pledge Rule amendment as an exogenous shock, coupled with generalized DID,addresses endogeneity concerns endemic to trade credit research and offers a methodological template for future work. Fifth, we unpack supplier monitoring(via supplier distance/concentration) and firm-level channels(innovation, risk management). Heterogeneity tests underscore how institutional environments shape trade credit’s governance efficacy, yielding policy insights for financial reforms and food safety governance.更多还原