AI labor and vendor customer concentration: Evidence on the rise of superstar firms

초록

We examine how firm-level investment in AI workers drives vendor customer concentration. Suppliers with higher AI labor proportions exhibit significantly greater customer concentration, a relationship robust across instrumental variable and novel subsample specifications addressing reverse causality. Utilizing a formal mediation framework, we identify AI-driven product innovation as a key mechanism. This concentration effect is particularly pronounced in low-switching-cost environments, proxied by low R&D intensity, where AI advantages capture dominant market positions. Ultimately, specialized AI human capital enables vendors to consolidate key relationships, acting as a critical catalyst for superstar firms by reinforcing winner-take-all dynamics in fluid markets.

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