Theory of supply chains : a working capital approach

This paper presents a "time-to-build" theory of supply chains which implies a key role for the financing of working capital as a determinant of supply chain length. We apply our theory to offshoring and trade, where firms strike a balance between the productivity gain due to offshoring against the greater financial cost due to longer supply chains. In equilibrium, the ratio of trade to GDP, inventories and productivity are procyclical and closely track financial conditions