Channel Competition Research Articles

Channel Choice in Live Streaming Commerce

Live streaming has significantly transformed the landscape of both offline and online retail operations. This article explores the optimal timing and circumstances under which a firm with a specific product should launch a live streaming channel, and if so, whether it should use third-party streaming, self-run streaming, or a combination of both. We demonstrate that no single channel structure is universally superior to the others: the firm's optimal channel strategy depends on the third-party streamer's popularity and bargaining power, the investment and broadcasting effort cost for the live streaming channel, consumer's channel preference and extra cost for watching live streaming, cross-channel spillover, as well as the price sensitivity of a product. In general, live streaming is most beneficial for firms selling products that aren't highly price sensitive, where traditional pricing tool is less important for attracting consumers. Start-ups should collaborate with either highly popular streamers or those with a small but dedicated following, avoiding those with intermediate popularity. In contrast, established firms should partner with streamers who have a moderate level of popularity. An established firm considering leveraging two or more channels concurrently should additionally take into consideration the cross-channel spillover, channel encroachment cost, and channel competition. Our research reveals that, contrary to expectation, price in live streaming channels may not always be lower than those in traditional channels. Furthermore, highly popular streamers do not always demand higher revenue-sharing ratios and slotting fees. This research sheds light on the key decisions for firms considering live streaming commerce: whether to adopt it, when to integrate it into their strategy, and how to effectively implement it.

Overseas production or domestic production? Impacts of tax disparity and market difference

Overseas and domestic production are two commonly employed strategies for multinational firms (MNFs) to manage their global production operations. Recent tax-cutting initiatives have made domestic production an attractive option for MNFs. We aim to investigate whether such initiatives can effectively induce MNFs to produce domestically, especially when they cater to both domestic and foreign markets. In this study, we develop a game-theoretical model that considers an MNF with two subsidiaries - a production subsidiary and a retail subsidiary - located in different markets, and a third-party seller that resells the MNF's product in the domestic market. We take into account two important differences between the two markets, namely the tax disparity and the market potential difference. Our analysis reveals that a higher foreign market potential can strengthen the MNF's tax-saving incentive under the domestic production strategy. We find that a relatively lower domestic tax rate may not induce the MNF's domestic production even if the foreign market potential is low. On the other hand, when the domestic channel competition is intense, a higher domestic tax rate may still incentivize the MNF to produce domestically. These results depend on the tradeoffs among the tax-saving benefit, the third-party seller's free-riding, and the channel competition. We caution that promoting domestic production through a low tax rate may harm domestic consumer surplus, highlighting the need for policymakers to carefully consider the impact of tax policies on consumers.

Insights into the antagonistic effects of calcium on cadmium accumulation in peanuts (Arachis hypogaea L.)

Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) plant has a high requirement for calcium (Ca) during its growth and development, and possesses the ability to accumulate cadmium (Cd) from soil. However, the precise mechanisms underlying the antagonistic effects between Ca and Cd remain unclear. This study aimed to explore the dynamic changes in Cd accumulation in peanut seedlings by varying the Ca-to-Cd concentration ratio (CRCa/Cd) from 250 to 3500. Additionally, the influence of ion channel competition and cell wall fixation in the root on Cd accumulation in peanuts was explored by analyzing Cd chemical forms, subcellular distribution, pectin content, and Cd2+ fluxes using a non-invasive micro-test technique (NMT). The findings revealed that Cd accumulation in peanut seedlings was significantly lower when the CRCa/Cd was higher than 2000. In the Ca-pretreated seedlings (cell wall fixation treatment), Cd content in the shoots and roots decreased by 18.9% and 25.0%, respectively, compared with the simultaneous exposure to Ca and Cd (ion channel competition treatment). Cd2+ influx in peanut roots decreased by 55.8% in the Ca-pretreated group. However, increasing the competitive strength of Ca2+ and Cd2+ did not affect Cd2+ influx under normal Ca conditions (>2 mM Ca). Meanwhile, Ca pretreatment significantly increased Cd distribution in the root cell wall, pectate, and protein-binding forms, while significantly reducing Cd distribution in root soluble components and inorganic Cd forms. The pectin content in the roots increased by 128% and 226% in the Ca and Cd simultaneous exposure treatment and Ca pretreatment, respectively. These results suggest that Ca pretreatment enhanced Cd retention in the root cell wall. Overall, exogenous Ca effectively mitigated Cd accumulation in peanut plants when the CRCa/Cd was below 2000, and Ca2+ channels partially facilitate the entry of Cd2+ into peanut roots. Under normal Ca supply conditions, exogenous Ca reduced Cd accumulation in peanuts primarily through root cell wall fixation rather than ion channel competition. Our findings provide insights into the mechanism by which Ca alleviates the uptake and transfer of Cd in peanuts.

Sales strategy selection for liner companies under shipping e-commerce considering canvassing ability competition

The rapid growth of e-commerce applications has promoted the establishment of shipping e-commerce channels by many liner companies in addition to their existing traditional Non-vessel operating common carrier (NVOCC) channel. Unlike NVOCC channels, shipping e-commerce channels guarantee shippers the availability of contracted container slots. However, some problems arise, including the competition with NVOCC channels, shipping slot sales’ risk, and the increasing liner companies’ costs. Therefore, this paper addresses optimal sales strategy selection in the liner transportation industry, including a single traditional NVOCC channel (TN) strategy, and a dual channel with both e-commerce and NVOCC channels (EN) strategy. Two contract scheme models are constructed considering the channel competition on canvassing ability, overselling behavior, demand fluctuation, and the limited liner vessel capacity. Findings show that the impact of overselling behavior on the profit under the EN and TN is not always negative, which is related to the shipping capacity and probability of the high canvassing ability. Comparative analyses reveal that the EN is dominant if the unit overselling compensation cost varies small. Meanwhile, the TN is profitable if the unit overselling compensation cost increases and the canvassing cost of e-commerce channel exceeds a certain value. Otherwise, the selection of sales strategy relies on the arrival rate, the canvassing cost of the e-commerce channel and shipping capacity. The results offer new insights to both theoretical research on container slot sales and the practical selection of sales strategy since shipping e-commerce has changed the slot selling mode in the container shipping industry, which could also enhance the competitiveness of liner companies in the container shipping industry.

Metabolic regulation of misfolded protein import into mitochondria.

Mitochondria are the cellular energy hub and central target of metabolic regulation. Mitochondria also facilitate proteostasis through pathways such as the 'mitochondria as guardian in cytosol' (MAGIC) whereby cytosolic misfolded proteins (MPs) are imported into and degraded inside mitochondria. In this study, a genome-wide screen in Saccharomyces cerevisiae uncovered that Snf1, the yeast AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), inhibits the import of MPs into mitochondria while promoting mitochondrial biogenesis under glucose starvation. We show that this inhibition requires a downstream transcription factor regulating mitochondrial gene expression and is likely to be conferred through substrate competition and mitochondrial import channel selectivity. We further show that Snf1/AMPK activation protects mitochondrial fitness in yeast and human cells under stress induced by MPs such as those associated with neurodegenerative diseases.

Hydrogen production to combat power surpluses in hybrid hydro–wind–photovoltaic power systems

The complementary operation of hydropower, photovoltaic, and wind power can promote the integration of renewable energy resources into the grid. However, the competition of power transmission channels among multiple energy raises surpluses significantly. This study equips a hydrogen production plant for the hydro–wind–PV hybrid system to utilize the power surplus. First, a multi-scale nested joint operation model that considers both long-term and short-term operation strategies is proposed to simulate the operation process of the hybrid system. Then, the potential surplus of the system is evaluated and used as the power source of the hydrogen production plant. Lastly, the optimal hydrogen production plant size is determined based on economic and technical analysis. A case study is performed with the Yalong River basin of China. The results show that (McElroy and Chen, 2017 (1)) The deployment of a 260 MW hydrogen production system has the potential to boost the annual power generation benefit of the hybrid system by 610 million CNY； (2) The fluctuation of hydropower station output is effectively reduced, subsequently mitigating operational risks. Especially during flood season, the power variation coefficient experiences a notable decrease of approximately 75%； Liu and Xu (2022) (3) The deployment of hydrogen production plants is more economically feasible than expanding power transmission channels, particularly when considering long-distance power transmission. Furthermore, given that hydrogen production plants frequently operate under fluctuating power conditions, the electrolyzers and compressors must exhibit prompt responsiveness to these power variations.

Manufacturer encroachment in a platform supply chain: An analysis of synergy effect, dysergy effect, and mutual exclusivity effect

AbstractThe prosperity of internet sales is stimulating a phenomenal growth of retail platforms and manufacturer encroachment. Encroachment spawns channel competition, potentially threatening the platform's profit, which in turn induces a series of countermeasures by the platform. Motivated by this trend, we develop a game‐theoretical model to explore the strategic and tactical interactions between a manufacturer and a platform, in which the manufacturer determines encroachment strategy and quality differentiation tactic, and the platform determines sales mode strategy and information sharing tactic. We find that the manufacturer is profitable and the platform is damaged from encroachment. Furthermore, the manufacturer's quality differentiation tactic can propel the platform to select reselling that indirectly enhances post‐encroachment profitability. In contrast, sales mode and information sharing can be mono or jointly utilized by the platform to counter encroachment. Significantly, we provide a novel inspection method to systematically analyze the cumulative performance of the platform's two countermeasures by introducing the synergy effect, dysergy effect, and mutual exclusivity effect. Interestingly, we highlight that the performance of mono‐countermeasures may be even more effective than that of combined countermeasures to mitigate the platform's loss caused by encroachment. This finding enriches not only the analytic understanding of received wisdom about whether more countermeasures can invariably hold competition edges but also provides useful managerial guidelines for strategic interaction research. Moreover, the manufacturer's increased encroachment capabilities may promote the platform to shift from reselling to agency selling, which reveals that manufacturer encroachment may be a critical factor in the popularity of agency selling.

Battery recycling models selection and contractual incentives: From an information sharing perspective

As the battery recycling market in China is still in an embroynic stage, the mechanisms, channels, pricing, and efficiency of battery recycling are shrouded in opacity. Battery recycling in China is currently dominated by electric vehicle manufacturer, supplemented by other market players such as battery producers and electric vehicle retailers. Due to the lack of information, battery recycling lacks cooperation and communication, and the whole market is dealing with "Information Island." Therefore, based on information sharing and channel competition, this paper designs a Stackelberg game model with an electric vehicle manufacturer, an electric vehicle retailer, and a third-party recycler as the primary participants. This study found that effective information sharing can reduce intensified market competition and promote the transformation of market players into “collaboration state”. To promote partnership in the battery recycling market, this paper proposes a revenue-sharing contract incentive for the electric vehicle retailer to share demand information about battery recycling. It finds a revenue-sharing contract based on information sharing can help companies and competitors make appropriate behavioral choices in the battery recycling market. This study demonstrates that information sharing benefits the electric vehicle manufacturer and the third-party recycler while offering no advantages to the electric vehicle retailer. The decreasing accuracy of demand signals results in the diminishing value of information sharing for the electric vehicle manufacturer and the third-party recycler. The revenue-sharing contract can incentivize the electric vehicle retailer to share information.

Limited‐time pricing strategy considering consumer regret under channel competition

AbstractThis study constructs a pricing strategy model that considers consumer busyness and low price duration to examine the effectiveness of limited‐time pricing in influencing consumer behavior. The results show that local store can develop a limited‐time promotion strategy to improve profit, and there is an optimal low price duration. As consumer busyness increases, online retailer's profit may decrease, as local store is better able to leverage consumer busyness to enhance competitiveness. Interestingly, when local store lower price, online retailer may actually need to increase price to obtain greater profit from consumers who missed out on store discounts.

Manufacturer's choice of online selling format in a dual-channel supply chain with green products

When selling green products on online platforms, manufacturers often have to choose their selling format between agency selling and reselling. This paper focuses on a green manufacturer selling substitutable products through an e-commerce platform (also known as an e-tailer) and an independent offline retailer. Our research makes a major contribution by examining how the manufacturer makes joint decisions on green product development, pricing, and the online selling format. Our analytical results show that, first, in the case of a low agency fee, agency selling leads to a greener product on the online channel, which benefits the manufacturer. Otherwise, reselling improves the product greenness on both channels, which benefits the manufacturer. More notably, higher consumer green awareness incentivizes the manufacturer to prefer agency selling. Second, counterintuitively, it is found that agency selling can be more profitable for the e-tailer when the agency fee is low and moderate, and vice versa. This is because a high agency fee will depress the manufacturer's online sales of green products, hurting the e-tailer. Finally, we extend our model to the cases with different marginal demand expansion parameters, different greenness-enhancing cost factors, a leading e-tailer, the simultaneous use of both formats, and different channel competition coefficients on the price and product greenness. We demonstrate the robustness of our main analytical results and obtain more managerial insights.

Can export trade drive green transformation development of Chinese enterprises? based on the dual perspectives of export density and export domestic value-added rate

Using the Slack Based Measure model and the globally referenced Malmquist-Luenberger index, the green total factor productivity at the enterprise level is calculated from 2002 to 2013 in this paper. Based on this, the fixed effects model, system Generalized Method of Moments, and instrumental variable method are used to examine the impact of export trade on green transformation of enterprises from two perspectives: export density and export domestic value-added rate. The results show that the increased export density and export domestic value-added rate have greatly promoted the green development of enterprises. The internal mechanism is mainly reflected in the domestic market competition channels, management channels and terminal treatment channels. Heterogeneity analysis finds that the increase in export density has a significant promoting effect on the green transformation of coastal enterprises, enterprises engaged in general trade and comprehensive trade. The green effect of increasing the domestic value-added rate of exports on private enterprises and enterprises engaged in comprehensive trade is particularly evident. Both have a strong effect on improving green total factor productivity for enterprises established less than 40 years ago. The research conclusions provide important theoretical support for the coordinated and effective promotion of the development of open economy and green transformation.

Does market quality benefit from internationalization? Evidence from Chinese commodity futures markets

Internationalization is the primary way to facilitate the high-quality development of Chinese commodity futures markets. Based on liquidity provision theory, we investigate the impacts of opening to foreign traders on the market quality of China’s 10 commodity futures using the synthetic control method. Specifically, we measure market quality based on activity, liquidity, and price efficiency using tick-by-tick data. We find that opening to foreign traders reduced (improved) the market quality of iron ore (purified terephthalic acid and rapeseed oil) futures significantly and had limited impacts on palm oil, soybean No. 1, soybean No. 2, soybean oil, soybean meal, rapeseed meal, and peanut kernel futures. The competition channel plays a dominant role in the influence mechanism, whereas the adverse selection channel does not play a significant role. We conclude that coke, ferrosilicon, stainless steel, and glass futures have the highest priority to be opened. Our findings have practical significance for implementing the internationalization of commodity futures in emerging countries.

How digital finance impacts trade credit in supply chains: An analysis from Chinese A-share listed companies

Digital finance is reshaping trade credit. This study investigates the influence of digital finance on trade credit among A-share listed companies in China from 2011 to 2020. The paper matches this data with city-level digital finance index (DFI) data. Empirical results indicate that digital finance significantly benefits trade credit. This impact occurs through bank competition, regulatory penalties, and disclosure quality channels. Different levels of digital finance development and financing constraints of companies have a varying impact on trade credit. This paper provides a new perspective on trade credit in the firm's supply chain that enriches theoretical research on digital finance. The research results can help the country to implement digital finance development strategy better and offer relevant guidance and reference.

Decisions of dual-channel fresh agricultural product supply chains based on information sharing

PurposeThis paper studies the optimal decision-making and coordination problem of a dual-channel fresh agricultural product (FAP) supply chain. The purpose is to analyze the impact of information sharing on optimal decisions and propose a coordination mechanism to encourage supply chain members to share information.Design/methodology/approachThe two-echelon dual-channel FAP supply chain includes a manufacturer and a retailer. By using the Stackelberg game theory and the backward induction method, the optimal decisions are obtained under information symmetry and asymmetry and the coordination contract is designed.FindingsThe results show that supply chain members should comprehensively evaluate the specific situation of product attributes, coefficient of freshness-keeping cost and network operating costs to make decisions. Asymmetric information can exacerbate the deviation of optimal decisions among supply chain members and information sharing is always beneficial to manufacturers but not to retailers. The improved revenue-sharing and cost-sharing contract is an effective coordination mechanism.Practical implicationsThe conclusions can provide theoretical guidance for supply chain managers to deal with information asymmetry and improve the competitiveness of the supply chain.Originality/valueThis paper combines the three characteristics that are most closely related to the reality of supply chains, including horizontal and vertical competition of different channels, the perishable characteristics of FAPs and the uncertainty generated by asymmetric demand information.

Financial support to a supplier for quality improvement in a dual-channel supply chain

Outsourcing the production process to suppliers often places product quality beyond the direct control of buyers. While providing financial support to these suppliers can assist in overcoming working capital constraints in quality investments, there remains uncertainty regarding the reliability of suppliers in utilizing such investments for quality improvement. In theory, few papers have examined how effective the financial support is in encouraging quality investments by unreliable suppliers in a coopetitive context. This paper addresses the research gap by exploring whether a buyer will provide financial support to an unreliable supplier for quality improvement in a dual-channel supply chain. We develop models for cases where the buyer refrains from providing financial support, employs an advance payment scheme, or adopts an investment cost-sharing arrangement. Analysis of the equilibrium outcomes reveals that if the supplier has low working capital, the advance payment scheme benefits both parties; if the working capital is medium, no financial support is provided; otherwise, the investment cost-sharing scheme leads to a mutually beneficial outcome. Moreover, the advance payment (cost-sharing) scheme is more likely to be used when the supplier is perceived as more (less) reliable, the interest rate (cost-sharing ratio) decreases, or channel competition is lessened (intensified). Furthermore, we extend the base model to encompass scenarios where the retail prices are set simultaneously and where the supplier consistently leverages the investment to enhance product quality. We validate that the key findings remain valid in either case. Overall, our findings provide insights for buyers seeking to incentivize capital-constrained suppliers to enhance product quality through financial support under coopetition.

Mn-Doped M2CdCl4 (M = CH3NH3+, C2H8N+, and C3H10N+) Layered Hybrid Perovskite and Its Flexible Film Based on Simple Mechanochemical Synthesis.

Layered hybrid perovskites show significant advantages in the field of optoelectronics. However, the low quantum efficiency and complex preparation methods limit their applications. In this work, we developed a series of perovskite powders with a two-dimensional (2D) layered structure of organic-inorganic hybrid metal halides M2CdCl4:x%Mn (M = CH3NH3+, C2H8N+, C3H10N+) via facile mechanochemical methods. The prepared manganese Mn-doped MA2CdCl4 produces orange emission at 605 nm under both 254 and 420 nm excitation, which originates from a dual excitation channel competition mechanism, and its excitation channel could be changed with the increase of Mn2+ ion concentration. Typically, MA2CdCl4:20%Mn powder exhibits high photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) close to 90% at 605 nm due to the organic amine ions enlarging the Mn-Mn interlayer distances. In addition, we prepared MA2CdCl4:x%Mn@PVA flexible films, which also exhibit good luminescence at 254 nm excitation and were unexpectedly found to have a better response to Cs+, which could be a candidate for anticounterfeiting applications.

Ion molecule reaction dynamics for disentangling competing reactive pathways

ABSTRACT Chemical reactions are by definition dynamical. Reactants move towards each other, collide and products separate again. Therefore, it is important to look beyond the stationary description, and look at how molecules rearrange and how energy is partitioned during a reactive collision. Chemical reactions are complex and often involve competing chemical and/or atomistic pathways whose dominance depends on several factors as for example the involved quantum states or collision energy. Here, we focus on ion molecule reactions which play an important role in gaseous environments even though their steady-state abundance is often much lower than that of their neutral counterparts. We present the use of angle and energy differential cross sections from crossed beam imaging experiments to disentangle competing reaction pathways. The general term pathways includes different effects of specific reactant quantum states on the atomistic mechanism to the competition of different product channels.

Channel competition, manufacturer incentive and supply chain coordination

Channel competition, manufacturer incentive and supply chain coordination

Channel competition, manufacturer incentive and supply chain coordination

Channel competition, manufacturer incentive and supply chain coordination

Research on pricing and financing strategy of dual-channel closed-loop supply chain considering recycling channel competition

This paper investigates the pricing and financing strategies of a dual-channel closed-loop supply chain consisting of a financially constrained manufacturer, a retailer and a third-party recycler that competes with the manufacturer for recycling, considering the various financing options available to the manufacturer. The profit functions of the supply chain members with no capital constraint, no capital constraint, equity financing, bank financing and retailer equity financing are constructed respectively. The optimal decision of the closed-loop supply chain under different scenarios and the capital boundary of the manufacturer’s debt financing are determined based on the Stackelberg game method and the Kuhn-Tucker conditional approach. The results show that: (1) increased competition for recycling has a negative impact on all supply chain members, and an increase in the manufacturer’s own funds when the manufacturer is financially constrained reduces channel pricing, increases recycling rates and increases member profits; (2) an increase in the retailer’s share of the dividend leads to a reduction in the manufacturer’s direct sales price and recycling price and an increase in the wholesale price, but the retailer is still profitable and reduces retail prices and increases recycling rates. (3) A high or low equity dividend ratio will lead the manufacturer to choose bank financing when the manufacturer has little initial capital, and to choose no financing when the manufacturer has more initial capital. (4) An increase in own funds reduces the threshold and range of equity dividends for retailer entry financing, and an increase in the recycling competition factor has the opposite effect. (5) As consumers’ online channel preferences increase, retailers are willing to enter into financing partnerships with manufacturers within a range of dividends, regardless of the manufacturer’s initial capital level.