Do major customers promote firms’ innovation?

作     者：Jinsong Tan Huijuan Cao Xiangting Kong 

作者机构：Center for AccountingFinance and InstitutionsSun Yat-sen UniversityChina Business SchoolSun Yat-sen UniversityChina 

出 版 物：《China Journal of Accounting Research》 (中国会计学刊（英文版）)

年 卷 期：2019年第12卷第2期

页      面：209-229页

学科分类：12[管理学] 0202[经济学-应用经济学] 02[经济学] 1202[管理学-工商管理] 0201[经济学-理论经济学] 1201[管理学-管理科学与工程(可授管理学、工学学位)] 020205[经济学-产业经济学] 

基　　金：supported by funds from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (General Program 71572206, 71272196 and Major Program 71790603) Guangdong Key Research Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences (Major Project 2012JDXM-0002) China Ministry of Finance’s Project to Support Accounting Masters, Natural Science Foundation of Guangdong Province (2018A0303130328) Guangdong Planning Office of Philosophy and Social Science (GD18CYJ09) Sun Yat-sen University (16wkpy04) 

主　　题：Supply chain Innovation Customer concentration Financial constraint 

摘      要：This study examines whether and how a concentrated supply chain relationship affects a firm’s innovation decisions. Using data from Chinese listed firms in the manufacturing industry, we find that a concentrated customer base constrains a firm’s R&D investment, where a 1% increase in customer concentration is associated with a 0.011% decrease in R&D investment. To establish causality, we use the instrumental variable method, the reverse causality model, and the Granger causality test to re-examine the relationship and arrive at a consistent conclusion. Results from mechanism analysis suggest that a concentrated customer base constrains the internal fund availability and that the negative relationship between customer concentration and firms’ innovation is less pronounced for firms with more external financial support. Additional analysis reveals that the negative effect of customer concentration mainly affects R&D investment expenditure and that customer concentration also constrains innovation output in China. Overall, our paper reveals the dark side of close customer-supplier relationships and provides new insights into how supply chain relationships affect firms’ innovation decisions.