Operational decisions of low-carbon supply chains with triple bottom line under carbon tax policy
ISSN: 0368-492X
Article publication date: 28 March 2023
Issue publication date: 5 April 2024
Abstract
Purpose
Under the carbon tax policy, the authors examine the operational decisions of the low-carbon supply chain with the triple bottom line.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses the Stackelberg game theory to obtain the optimal wholesale prices, retail prices, sales quantities and carbon emissions in different cases, and investigates the effect of the carbon tax policy.
Findings
This study’s main results are as follows: (1) the optimal retail price of the centralized supply chain is the lowest, while that of the decentralized supply chain where the manufacturer undertakes the carbon emission reduction (CER) responsibility and the corporate social responsibility (CSR) is the highest under certain conditions. (2) The sales quantity when the retailer undertakes the CER responsibility and the CSR is the largest. (3) The supply chain obtains the highest profits when the retailer undertakes the CER responsibility and the CSR. (4) The environmental performance impact decreases with the carbon tax.
Practical implications
The results of this study can provide decision-making suggestions for low-carbon supply chains. Besides, this paper provides implications for the government to promote the low-carbon market.
Originality/value
Most of the existing studies only consider economic responsibility and social responsibility or only consider economic responsibility and environmental responsibility. This paper is the first study that examines the operational decisions of low-carbon supply chains with the triple bottom line under the carbon tax policy.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the editor and three anonymous referees for carefully reviewing this paper and making valuable suggestions for improving the quality. This work is supported by the National Social Science Fund of China (22BGL115), the Humanity and Social Science Foundation of Ministry of Education of China (21YJA630068) and the Social Science Funds of Jiangsu Province (21GLB020).
Citation
Ma, P. and Lu, Y. (2024), "Operational decisions of low-carbon supply chains with triple bottom line under carbon tax policy", Kybernetes, Vol. 53 No. 5, pp. 1888-1919. https://doi.org/10.1108/K-07-2022-1055
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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