The Effect of Customers Concentration on Company Risks

The companies with major customers can supply a considerable source of cash flows by selling a large portion of their products to them. Since the lack of purchase, loss, or bankruptcy of major customers can result in a significant reduction in cash flows in the company, thus the risk is the companies with major customers is higher than other companies. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate the effect of customer concentration on company risks. For this purpose, the effect of customer concentration on three criteria of stock price crash risk, bankruptcy risk, and employment risk was studied. The research sample included 127 companies listed in the Tehran Stock Exchange during 2011-2018. Multivariate regression models with panel data were used by the random-effects method to test the research hypotheses. The research findings indicated that customer concentration has a significant positive effect on stock price crash risk, bankruptcy risk, and employment risk. In other words, stock price crash risk, bankruptcy risk, and employment risk are higher in the companies where the concentration of major customers is higher.