Commercial Surveys

Commercial Surveys

Structural and Institutional Barriers to the Application of Supply Chain Finance Instruments in the Iranian Steel Industry: A Case Study of Gaam Bonds — Explaining the Role of Network Complexity and Contagion Risk

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
Hamed Adeli Nik 1
Hasan Ghanbari Maman 2
Morteza Tahami Pour 3
mohamad hosein pourkazemi 3
1 PhD Candidate in Monetary Economics, Faculty of Economics and Political Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University
2 Assistant Professor in Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Shahid Beheshti University, haghanbari@ sbu.ac.ir
3 Assistant Professor in Faculty of Economics and Political Science, Shahid Beheshti University
10.22034/bs.2026.2089427.3244
Abstract
This study investigates the “credit transmission capacity” within the supply chain of Iran’s steel industry, with a particular focus on the role on the role of innovative financial instruments such as “Gaam Bonds” in managing working capital. The central research question concerns the identification of the optimal threshold for applying these instruments in multi-tier supply networks, where institutional costs and systemic risks may outweigh financial benefits. Adopting an analytical-qualitative approach and drawing upon theories of institutional economics and production network analysis, this study demonstrates that the success of credit transmission is not merely a function of quantitative expansion, rather, it fundamentally depends on the “production correlation structure” and the positioning of the instrument within key “anchor” nodes of the network. The findings reveal that the effective depth of credit transmission is a function of the distance from the anchor node. Furthermore, “information asymmetry” and “transaction costs” in deeper supply tiers create a threshold, denoted as d∗d^*d∗, beyond which the efficiency of these instruments declines. Comparative analysis shows that Gaam Bonds, due to uncertainties in discount rates and liquidity constraints, exhibit lower diffusion in the steel-ingot segment of the supply chain compared to traditional Letters of Credit (LC). Finally, the research suggests that policymaking in this domain should shift from a firm-level perspective toward a network-centric approach, prioritizing liquidity stabilization at strategic bottleneck nodes.
Keywords
Gam Bonds
Suooly Chaik finance
Deep Tier Financing
Iranian Steel Industry Supply Chain
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Commercial Surveys
Volume 23, Issue 134 - Serial Number 134
November and December 2026
Pages 1-23

  • Receive Date 23 May 2026
  • Revise Date 02 June 2026
  • Accept Date 02 June 2026