Deep-tier financing under Web3.0: Visibility enhancement in de-core supply chain finance

Web 3.0 technology drives the transformation of supply chain finance (SCF), alleviating the financing challenges faced by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This paper constructs a three-tier, four-participant SCF model and employs a game-theoretic approach to explore the impact of the de-core trend and visibility enhancement in SCF on supply chain efficiency, disruption risk, and profit. The transition from the traditional model (Model T), the digital model (Model D), to the advanced digital model (Model AD) represents a reduction in system complexity and an improvement in efficiency, reflecting the progressive deepening of supply chain visibility and the de-core trend. Specifically, Model T relies on the credit guarantee of the manufacturer (core enterprise), which causes high financing costs and inefficiency. Although Model D reduces the dependence on the manufacturer, the financing process still has to go through the 1st tier supplier (supplier in the adjacent-tier of the core enterprise), incurring higher risks. Model AD achieves complete information transparency through the digital SCF platform, enabling the 2nd tier supplier (deep-tier supplier far from the core enterprise) to directly obtain loans from the financial institution. This direct lending mechanism simplifies the process, mitigates risks, and increases efficiency and profits. This research underscores the necessity of reducing dependence on core enterprises and proposes a pathway for optimizing SCF, offering a fresh perspective on risk management for both financial institutions and supply chain participants.