Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

acceptedVersion

Publication Date

11-2021

Abstract

Corporate customers are an important stakeholder in global supply chains. We employ several unique international databases to test whether socially responsible corporate customers can infuse similar socially responsible business behavior in suppliers. Our findings suggest a unilateral effect on corporate social responsibility (CSR) only from customers to suppliers, an evidence further supported by exogenous variation in customers’ close-call CSR proposals and by product scandals. Customers exert influence on suppliers’ CSR through positive assortative matching and their decision-making process. Enhanced collaborative CSR efforts help improve operational efficiency and firm valuation of both customers and suppliers but increase only the customers’ future sales growth.

Keywords

Corporate social responsibility, Corporate customers, Global supply chains, Economic benefits

Discipline

Corporate Finance | Finance | Finance and Financial Management

Research Areas

Finance

Publication

Journal of Financial Economics

Volume

142

Issue

2

First Page

598

Last Page

626

ISSN

0304-405X

Identifier

10.1016/j.jfineco.2020.01.003

Publisher

Elsevier

Copyright Owner and License

Authors

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfineco.2020.01.003

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