Customer concentration and corporate social responsibility performance: Evidence from China

Wen Wen, Yun Ke and Xuejiao Liu

Emerging Markets Review, 2021, vol. 46, issue C

Abstract: This study examines whether and how a supplier firm’s customer concentration affects its corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance in emerging markets. Using a sample of Chinese listed firms, we find that customer concentration is negatively associated with supplier CSR performance. Cross-sectional analyses reveal that the negative relation is more pronounced in suppliers without foreign customers or foreign investors, suppliers that are non-state-owned, and suppliers operating in poor legal environments. Finally, channel tests suggest that reduced demand of disclosure from customers and limited awareness of CSR are potential mechanisms through which customer concentration negatively affects CSR performance.

Keywords: Customer concentration; Corporate social responsibility (CSR); Foreign customers; Foreign investors; Legal environment; State-owned enterprises (SOEs) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: G30 M14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (17)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1566014120300704
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

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:eee:ememar:v:46:y:2021:i:c:s1566014120300704

DOI: 10.1016/j.ememar.2020.100755

Access Statistics for this article

Emerging Markets Review is currently edited by Jonathan A. Batten

More articles in Emerging Markets Review from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().