Abstract:We investigate a closed-loop supply chain (CLSC) where the retailer and the third-party recycler compete against each other to collect waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) given that collection effort is their private information. Using the principle-agent theory, we develop a CLSC model with dual collection channel without the government's reward-penalty mechanism (RPM). An information screening contract is designed for the manufacturer to attain real information on collection effort levels; meanwhile, the optimal decision-making results of other decision variables are derived. Next, we take RPM into account to further examine the efficacy of the government's guidance mechanism in improving collection rate and profits of CLSC members. Our results indicate that (i) the collection competition reduces the total collection quantity and the expected profits of all the CLSC members without RPM; (ii) all CLSC members' expected profits are improved if both two collection agents select a high collection effort level without and with RPM; (iii) RPM increases buyback price, collection price, collection quantity, and franchise fee but decreases wholesale price and retail price; with the reward-penalty intensity increasing, the manufacturer's expected profit first decreases and then increases, while the expected profits of H-type retailer and H-type third-party recycler continue to increase. We find that RPM may ultimately stimulate the collection agents to collect more WEEEs, while the intense collection competition reduces the profits of CLSC members.
This paper examines the waste of electrical and electronic equipments (WEEE) and draws on variational inequalities to model the closed-loop supply chain network. The network consists of manufacturers, retailers and consumer markets engaging in a Cournot-Nash game. Retailers are responsible for collecting WEEE in the network. It is assumed that the price of the remanufactured goods is different from that of the newly manufactured ones. The network equilibrium occurs when all players agree on volumes and prices. Several properties of the model are examined and the modified projection method is utilized to obtain the optimal solutions. Numerical examples are provided to illustrate the impact of CLSC parameters on the profits of channel members and consumer benefits, and to provide policy support for governments. We find that it is necessary to regulate a medium collection rate and a certain minimum recovery rate. This is also advantageous to manufacturers in producing new manufactured products. The impact of collection rate and recovery rate on manufacturers are greater than that on retailers. Consumers can benefit from the increase of the recovery rate as well as the collection rate.
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