Customer Concentration, Corporate financialization and Investment Efficiency: Evidence of China

Customer Concentration, Corporate financialization and Investment Efficiency: Evidence of China | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Customer Concentration, Corporate financialization and Investment Efficiency: Evidence of China JingShuo Yan This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-6445487/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract This study explores the impact of corporate financialization on the relationship between customer concentration and investment efficiency. Based on data from A-share listed companies in China from 2014 to 2022, we find that financialization effectively mitigates the negative impact of customer concentration on investment efficiency. Specifically, financialization reduces the risks associated with price fluctuations and delayed payments due to reliance on a few major customers. It also alleviates financing constraints and stabilizes fixed asset investments, thereby enhancing investment efficiency. Furthermore, this effect is more pronounced in non-state-owned enterprises, manufacturing firms, and firms adopting an analytical strategy. Additionally, in environments with lower institutional ownership and analyst coverage, the ”substitution effect” of financialization is more significant. To address endogeneity concerns, we employ IV, PSM, and alternative variable regressions, confirming the robustness of our findings. This study expands the research perspective on customer concentration and investment efficiency and provides valuable insights for financial policy formulation. Business and commerce/Business and management Business and commerce/Economics Customer Concentration Corporate Financialization Investment Efficiency Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-6445487","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":456255860,"identity":"8785b9f1-7f6a-4fe0-8f84-dbeac6627145","order_by":0,"name":"JingShuo Yan","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAABDElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYFCCA8wPPvywseNn70ERxauFzXBmT1qyZM8ZorUwMEjzsB1m3HAjh0gtBgePPzDm4TnMbHDz7cHPhW12efIOzA8/MJy5h1vLgTMGD+dYpPNJ3s5Llp7ZllxseIDNWILhRjE+LQwGb3ismflu5xhI87YxJ25sYDBjYPiQgEfL8QcSPGzMjA03zxj/5m2rB2ph/0ZAywEDSR42Z8YJN3jMgLYcTpzPwAO05QZuLZIHzphBAznHzJrn3PHEDcw8xRIJZ3Br4btx/DE0Ks8Y3+Ypq06c396+8cOHY7i1KNw4gMRjZAM69TCQgVsDA4N8fwMy9w9QpAG7ylEwCkbBKBi5AAAb0V9+wDsXagAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==","orcid":"","institution":"University of Hanyang","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"JingShuo","middleName":"","lastName":"Yan","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2025-04-14 11:23:12","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6445487/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6445487/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":102538638,"identity":"57363045-06f6-4435-ac9e-ae871b0108c0","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-02-12 18:09:19","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":449142,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"CustomerConcentrationCorporatefinancializationandInvestmentEfficiency.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-6445487/v1_covered_26ff15d6-7c2b-4dfd-bef9-6a515666be87.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Customer Concentration, Corporate financialization and Investment Efficiency: Evidence of China","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Customer Concentration, Corporate Financialization, Investment Efficiency","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-6445487/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-6445487/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eThis study explores the impact of corporate financialization on the relationship between customer concentration and investment efficiency. 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