고객기업의 ESG 성과가 공급기업의 매출집중도와 기업가치에 미치는 영향

This study examines whether a customer’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance affects the supplier’s operational decision-making and whether this relationship helps increase the supplier’s future firm value. We analyzed whether a major customer’s high ESG performance relates to the supplier’s concentration of sales to that firm and whether such a high concentration incrementally affects enhancing the supplier’s firm value. First, we find a positive relationship between a major customer’s ESG performance and the concentration of sales to that company. This result reflects suppliers’ expectations that customers with high ESG performance maintain long-term stable business relationships. This positive relationship is more pronounced when the costs of switching suppliers are low for customers. Second, we find that a major customer’s ESG performance and the concentration of sales to that customer positively affect the supplier’s future firm value. Specifically, these results show that the concentration of sales to firms with high ESG performance improves suppliers’ future profitability, ultimately increasing firm value. Our findings indicate that a customer’s ESG performance, a non-financial characteristic, is valuable information to suppliers when making sales decisions. We also provide new empirical evidence that the ESG performance of a major customer positively affects the firm value of suppliers.