Investigating supply chain participants’ circular economy action effects on firm financial performance from a stakeholder theory perspective

The circular economy (CE) model has recently emerged and been practiced by many firms due to pressure for desirability of sustainability. It is important for researchers and practitioners to understand the effects of firms' CE actions on their own and their supply chain partners' financial performance to better implement CE practices. However, existing literature has not analyzed the impact of firms' CE actions from a holistic supply chain framework to find how a firm's CE actions affect its supply chain partners' financial performance. In this study, we investigate this issue from the stakeholder theory perspective with empirical evidence from the China Stock Market and Accounting Research database and the Chinese Research Data Services Platform database for 2006–2021 to perform regressions. Our findings suggest a firm's CE actions have both a positive direct effect to improve its own financial performance and a spillover effect to enhance its partners' (i.e., suppliers' and customers') financial performance. Additionally, a higher supply chain concentration level strengthens the CE direct effect. Further, we find a positive moderating influence of industry competition on stimulating the CE direct effect and its positive moderating effect on the spillover effect of downstream customers' CE efforts on the financial performance of the focal firms. Our findings urge firms to implement and encourage their partners to make CE efforts to enhance their financial performance. Firms should also strengthen centralized purchasing and supply with downstream partners to utilize the amplified CE efforts' effect, particularly when they face fierce competition.