Do major customers encourage innovative sustainable development? Empirical evidence from corporate green innovation in China
研究2006-2018年中国上市公司数据，发现客户集中度越高，企业绿色创新越多，尤其在国企、市场化程度高地区和新环保法实施后更显著。
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.