关键词: 区块链技术, 闭环供应链, 单/双渠道, 回收策略

Abstract: Given the deteriorating global climate, China has committed to achieving carbon peaking and neutrality as swiftly as possible. The production sector has become a pivotal area of focus for industrial transformation and development in the context of green and decarbonised efforts. Concurrently, recycling and remanufacturing represent advanced forms of the circular economy and are of critical importance to the advancement of China’s industrial upgrading and transformation. However, enterprises encounter obstacles in these domains, including insufficient recycling channels, challenges in regulating the quality of waste products, and intricate and opaque recycling procedures. Blockchain technology, renowned for its transparency and reliability, provides a comprehensive record of logistics and transaction data, and streamlines transactions, reduces remanufacturing costs and enhances recycling efficiency, which are pivotal factors for the growth of the recycling industry. This paper examines a secondary supply chain comprising a manufacturer and a retailer, with a particular focus on the selection of recycling channels and the development of recycling strategies within a closed-loop supply chain. The manufacturer and retailer jointly invest in a blockchain platform and share the associated technical costs. Within this framework, four two-stage game models are developed to assess whether single-or dual-channel supply chain enterprises should invest in blockchain technology. These models enable the comparison and analysis of recycling price, volume, blockchain technology investment levels, and optimal profits across the four scenarios, thereby exploring the impacts of blockchain technology and various channel recycling modes on the equilibrium decision-making of node enterprises.
   The study indicates that while blockchain technology does not affect wholesale and retail prices of products, it does increase recycling prices, recycling volumes, and overall profits for manufacturers and retailers, irrespective of single-or dual-channel recycling models. The level of blockchain technology investment positively impacts commissioned recycling prices and volumes but is inversely related to indirect recycling prices. Manufacturers benefit more from dual-channel recycling, whereas the opposite is true for retailers. Retailers only profit if the manufacturer’s contribution to blockchain technology input costs exceeds a certain threshold. As the cost coefficient increases, the manufacturer’s profit decreases while the retailer’s profit increases, eventually converging to a fixed value as the cost coefficient approaches infinity. Factors such as the cost coefficient of blockchain technology, the sharing ratio, recycling efficiency, and the unit cost savings from remanufacturing influence the level of blockchain technology inputs, recycling prices, and volumes. Based on these findings, several management implications are proposed. Both manufacturers and retailers should invest in blockchain technology to enhance the recycling of used products, thereby increasing their profits and generating social benefits. Manufacturers should prefer dual-channel recycling, while retailers should opt for single-channel strategies. As market leaders, manufacturers should balance recycling strategy, blockchain technology investment, and profit distribution to motivate retailers’ cooperation and ensure the supply chain’s stable operation.
   In the context of blockchain technology, supply chain enterprises should consider the cost coefficient of blockchain technology input, the cost-sharing ratio, the efficiency coefficient, and the impact of unit cost savings to make informed decisions about blockchain technology investment levels and recycling strategies. Future research could explore corporate recycling strategies that incorporate third-party recycling models within the context of blockchain technology. Additionally, in practice, consumers’ acceptance of recycled products influences single-or dual-channel recycling decisions. Therefore, future research could establish a multi-party game model that considers third-party consumers for further study. The issues surrounding single/dual channel recycling and pricing in the context of blockchain technology are also promising avenues for future research.

Key words: block-chain technology, closed-loop supply chain, single/dual channel, recycling strategy