Manufacturers’ Vertical Integration Strategies in Chain-to-Chain Competition With Downstream Risks and Upstream Innovation
研究了两个竞争供应链中制造商在下游需求不确定和上游创新下的纵向整合选择，发现非整合在低创新效率、激烈竞争和稳定需求时成为均衡策略，解释了企业为何刻意保持非整合以维持竞争优势。
This study models two competing supply chains, each consisting of a supplier, a manufacturer, and a retailer, operating under downstream demand uncertainty and upstream innovation. Manufacturers can choose forward integration, backward integration, or non-integration. The results show that intense competition between integrated chains can expand the overall market, but high innovation efficiency may disadvantage a unilateral backward-integrated manufacturer. Three distinct vertical structures emerge in equilibrium. Notably, non-integration arises under low innovation efficiency, intense competition, and stable demand—an outcome that departs from prior research. Extended analyses show that non-integration remains optimal both when suppliers are non-strategic and when bilateral integration willingness is considered. In addition, examining the accuracy of asymmetric signals confirms the robustness of the baseline results. These findings clarify why manufacturers adopt diverse integration strategies and why some firms deliberately remain non-integrated to preserve competitive advantage.