Objective: The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of financial constraint on the speed of adjustment of business credit by considering the role of social responsibility of economic firms.
Methodology: This study employs an applied approach with a focus on causal and ex-post facto correlation. It examines the relationships among financial constraints, social responsibility, and trade credit adjustment speed. The statistical population comprises companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange, with data spanning the period from 2011 to 2023. Following a systematic elimination process for final sample selection, data from 146 companies were utilized for analysis. The hypotheses were tested using EViews 12 and Stata 14 software, employing the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) approach.
Findings: Statistical results indicate that financial constraints have a direct and significant impact on trade credit adjustment speed. Specifically, when financial constraints increase, managers tend to rely more on credit financing, thereby accelerating the trade credit adjustment process. Furthermore, social responsibility influences this relationship; the interaction between financial constraints and social responsibility leads to an increase in trade credit adjustment speed.
Conclusion: Social responsibility is not merely an isolated ethical or strategic dimension; rather, it acts as a powerful moderating factor, influencing how financial constraints affect the speed of trade credit adjustment. The key finding is that companies with high levels of social responsibility are capable of overcoming, to some extent, the challenges posed by financial constraints, and can even maintain or enhance their trade credit adjustment speed.