Untangling the Impact of ESG Performance on Financing and Value in the Supply Chain: A Congruence Theory Perspective

Jiawei Xu, Jianjun Lu, Li Chai, Baofeng Zhang, Dakuan Qiao and Shuai Li

Business Strategy and the Environment, 2025, vol. 34, issue 2, 2190-2206

Abstract: The interdependent nature of supply chains allows a firm's financing activities to be influenced by the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance of the firm's supply chain partners. Drawing upon congruence theory, this paper explores the impact of ESG performance congruence among different supply chain members on both firm financial constraints and market value. This study employs response surface analysis and cluster analysis to examine the data of Chinese listed firms and their supply chains from 2009 to 2022. From the dyadic perspective of customer–supplier, the results suggest that the congruence of customer and supplier ESG performance reduces customers' financial constraints while increasing suppliers' financial constraints. The reduction in customers' financial constraints enhances customers' firm value. This study further reveals different configuration patterns of ESG performance within the supply chain from the triadic perspective of customer–focal firm–supplier. Our findings enrich the empirical research on ESG performance within supply chains, offering significant insights for managers and investors in allocating supply chain resources and formulating ESG investment strategies.

Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.4098

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:34:y:2025:i:2:p:2190-2206

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://onlinelibrary ... 1002/(ISSN)1099-0836

Access Statistics for this article

Business Strategy and the Environment is currently edited by Richard Welford

More articles in Business Strategy and the Environment from Wiley Blackwell
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().