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Incentives through inventory control in supply chains

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  • Qu, Zhan
  • Raff, Horst
  • Schmitt, Nicolas

Abstract

The paper shows that taking inventory control out of the hands of competitive or exclusive retailers and assigning it to a manufacturer increases the value of a supply chain especially for goods whose demand is highly volatile. This is because doing so solves incentive distortions that arise when retailers have to allocate inventory across sales periods, and thus allows for better intertemporal price discrimination. Assigning inventory control to a manufacturer is also shown to have effects on total inventory and social welfare.

Suggested Citation

  • Qu, Zhan & Raff, Horst & Schmitt, Nicolas, 2018. "Incentives through inventory control in supply chains," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 486-513.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:indorg:v:59:y:2018:i:c:p:486-513
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ijindorg.2018.06.001
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    Cited by:

    1. Lenhard, Severin, 2022. "Imperfect competition with costly disposal," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    2. Chris Muris & Horst Raff & Nicolas Schmitt & Frank Stähler, 2023. "Inventory, Sourcing, and the Effects of Trade Costs: Theory and Empirical Evidence," CESifo Working Paper Series 10253, CESifo.
    3. Lenhard, Severin, 2022. "Imperfect Competition with Costly Disposal," VfS Annual Conference 2022 (Basel): Big Data in Economics 264038, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    4. Qu, Zhan & Raff, Horst, 2017. "Centralized versus decentralized inventory control in supply chains and the bullwhip effect," CEPIE Working Papers 17/17, Technische Universität Dresden, Center of Public and International Economics (CEPIE).
    5. QU, Zhan & RAFF, Horst, 2023. "Two-part tariffs, inventory stockpiling, and the bullwhip effect," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 308(1), pages 201-214.
    6. Tianwen Song & Qiang Zhang & Junmu Ran & Wenxue Ran, 2021. "Research on Supplier Collaboration of Daily Consumer Goods under Uncertainty of Supply and Demand," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-15, May.
    7. Zhan Qu & Horst Raff, 2021. "Vertical Contracts in a Supply Chain and the Bullwhip Effect," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(6), pages 3744-3756, June.
    8. Severin Lenhard, 2021. "Imperfect Competition with Costly Disposal," Diskussionsschriften dp2105, Universitaet Bern, Departement Volkswirtschaft.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Inventory; Supply chain; Demand uncertainty; Storable good; Price discrimination;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
    • L12 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Monopoly; Monopolization Strategies
    • L22 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Firm Organization and Market Structure
    • L81 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Retail and Wholesale Trade; e-Commerce

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