This paper conducts a regression analysis using data from Chinese listed companies between 2008 and 2023, and finds the following: First, financial support significantly increases firms’ customer dependence; second, financial support indirectly promotes the enhancement of customer dependence by reducing firms’ excess administrative expenses; third, further heterogeneity analysis reveals that the impact of financial support on customer dependence varies significantly depending on whether the firm is audited by a Big Four accounting firm, with the effect being more pronounced in firms not audited by a Big Four firm.
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