Do major customers encourage innovative sustainable development? Empirical evidence from corporate green innovation in China

Chang Huang, Xiao Chang, Yang Wang (Lead / Corresponding author), Nicolas Li

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    48 Citations (Scopus)
    297 Downloads (Pure)

    Abstract

    This paper examines the impact of customer concentration on green innovation in Chinese listed firms between 2006 and 2018 through the dynamic panel generalized method of moments regressions. It is reported that major customers positively impact corporate green innovation, indicating that firms have more incentives to engage in innovative green practices to maintain stable relationships with major customers. In addition, the positive relationship between customer concentration and green innovation is more pronounced in state-owned enterprises, firms located in the provinces with a high level of marketization, and after China's new Environmental Protection Law implementation. Moreover, we observe that the positive impact of customer concentration on corporate green innovation is more significant among industrial firms and firms operating in heavily polluting industries. Furthermore, industrial competition is an essential channel for major customers to affect corporate green innovation.
    Original languageEnglish
    Number of pages22
    JournalBusiness Strategy and the Environment
    Early online date15 May 2022
    DOIs
    Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 15 May 2022

    Keywords

    • corporate environmental responsibility
    • customer concentration
    • green innovation
    • patents
    • sustainable development

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Geography, Planning and Development
    • Business and International Management
    • Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
    • Strategy and Management

    Fingerprint

    Dive into the research topics of 'Do major customers encourage innovative sustainable development? Empirical evidence from corporate green innovation in China'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

    Cite this