Responsibility sharing strategy of product ecological design and collection in manufacturer-retailer closed-loop supply chain

Abstract

In order to enhance the product ecological design and collection efficiency of closed-loop supply chain (CLSC), the manufacturer and the retailer cooperate with each other by responsibility sharing. Finding a more effective cooperative sharing model has always been a research hotspot. This paper proposes three kinds of responsibility sharing models, namely, the retailer sharing the manufacturer’s product ecological design responsibility (SD), the manufacturer sharing the retailer’s collection responsibility (SC), and the manufacturer and retailer respectively sharing each other’s collection and product ecological design responsibility (SDC). A single-period multi-stage Stackelberg model consisting of the manufacturer and the retailer is constructed. The impacts of the responsibility sharing ratios on the optimal decisions and profits of the closed-loop supply chain are investigated. In addition, the optimal product ecological design and collection rate decisions and profits of the two-echelon supply chain under responsibility sharing models are compared and the optimal sharing ratios are identified. Last, based on the optimal sharing ratios, the environmental impacts of the models with and without responsibility sharing are compared. The results show that responsibility sharing can improve the collection efficiency of the supply chain. From the perspective of the product design, Model SD can always incentivize the manufacturer to improve the product ecological design. In addition, model SDC and SC has same optimal collection responsibility sharing ratio whereas model SDC has higher optimal product ecological design responsibility sharing ratio than model SD. Last, the optimal choice of responsibility sharing models from the viewpoint of the environment depends on the relative environmental impact of the product using recycled materials.