The effect of different sources of financing on firm performance: Evidence from Chile

This study explores the impact of various public and private financing sources on Chilean companies' sales performance, labor productivity and capital productivity. Analysing data from 51,069 companies collected across four rounds of the Longitudinal Survey of Companies (2013 - 2019), fixed-effects econometric models were employed for their robust fit and reliability. The findings show that financing through capital and bond issuance positively influences all three performace measures, while supplier credit, non-bank financing and public funding enhance sales and labor productivity but not capital productivity. Company characteristics, including age, industrial sector, group affiliation and export activity, also significantly affect performance, with export activity negatively impacting capital productivity. This research makes a unique contribution by disaggregating financing into distinct categories and addressing a notable gap in Latin American studies, offering detailed insights into the financing-performance relationship in this regional conext.