Optimal Financial Decisions and Pricing Strategies in Competitive Manufacturing Supply Chains
研究了国内制造商与外国竞争对手在定价竞争下，如何选择银行、债券或众筹等融资方式，发现成本上升或竞争力下降时制造商偏好灵活利率融资，且初始资本增加会转向银行融资，但高预算和质量不一定带来高利润。
This study investigates the impact of financing methods and pricing competition on supply chain operations. It focuses on a domestic manufacturer competing with a foreign competitor to maximize retail market gains, with options for financing including banks, bonds, and crowdfunding. Game-theoretic models are used to explore participants’ behavior in the supply chain, considering three power structures: a Nash game and two Stackelberg games with alternating leadership. Results reveal that domestic manufacturers prefer financing options with flexible interest rates, such as crowdfunding, or low-interest alternatives such as bonds, when facing rising production costs or reduced competitiveness (when the foreign manufacturer holds a leader position). This preference impacts retailers, potentially leading to reduced product prices, benefiting retailers. Also, increasing initial capital prompts the domestic manufacturer to prefer bank methods. Interestingly, a higher budget and quality do not always guarantee higher profitability and can result in additional costs (for instance, in Nash game structure), depending on power structure type and market size. Furthermore, with increased price sensitivity, crowdfunding becomes less viable, leading to a preference for bank and bond financing. This can conflict with retailers’ optimal financial choices, highlighting the complexity of financial decisions in supply chains and their crucial role in global competition.