Search Results (23)

The environmental pollution problem caused by the construction industry has been paid attention to by scholars. However, few existing studies on supply chain management explore the interplay between information-sharing strategies and green-effort strategies in a green building materials supply chain. This study explores green building materials design and information-sharing dynamics in a supply chain consisting of a common building enterprise and two competing building materials manufacturers. The building enterprise decides whether to share demand information with manufacturers, who then determine product greenness, while the building enterprise determines the retail price. The findings reveal that information sharing has dual effects on manufacturers’ profitability, depending on competitive dynamics and demand sensitivity to building materials greenness. Additionally, the interplay between information sharing and green design strategies highlights the importance of aligning product design decisions with optimal information-sharing practices. While information sharing consistently improves environmental performance in a bilateral monopoly system where a single manufacturer provides building materials to a single building enterprise, it can induce adverse environmental outcomes in competitive scenarios. These results provide actionable guidance for developing green supply chain strategies that balance economic and environmental goals. Full article

In the trade environment of a globalized economy, tariffs play a crucial role in transnational supply chains. At the same time, the power structure of the supply chain also plays an important role in the decision making and income distribution of a transnational supply chain. Therefore, we construct game-theoretic models to analyze the impacts of tariffs and power structures on the decision making and revenue distribution of transnational supply chains. First, we consider a bilateral monopoly model consisting of a Chinese manufacturer and a U.S. retailer and analyze the effects of tariffs and power structures on decision making and revenue distributions in this supply chain. Then, we extend the model to a duopoly competition model consisting of two Chinese manufacturers and one American retailer, further analyzing the roles of tariffs and power structures. The results indicate that in the bilateral monopoly model, the impact of tariffs on the manufacturer’s profits is always greater than on the retailer’s profits under a manufacturer-led circumstance. However, in a competitive model, when the market size is large, the impact of tariffs on the manufacturer’s profits exceeds that of the retailer’s profits; conversely, when the market size is smaller, the impact of tariffs on the retailer’s profits is greater than on the manufacturer’s profits. Furthermore, we find that in the duopoly competition model, under the manufacturer-led circumstance, both the manufacturer and the retailer earn the highest profits. Full article

Here, we study vertical foreclosure in a dynamic setup with learning-by-doing production technologies. There is a downstream monopoly and an upstream duopoly, where manufacturers produce differentiated products and can gain proficiency through the accumulation of their production. We study the dynamic interactions in the vertical chain when the monopolist sets the prices; we find that customer foreclosure may arise in equilibrium when the products are close substitutes and be welfare-enhancing. The rate of learning is lower than the social optimal and a social planner would tend to impose exclusivity more often compared to the downstream monopolist. Full article

This paper examines remanufacturing decisions in the context of outsourcing, which have important implications for environmental and economic sustainability. Specifically, we model the competition between an experienced Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and an emerging Independent Remanufacturer (IR). The OEM can decide the manufacturing quantities of a brand-new product, and the IR can collect the OEM’s used products and remanufacture them for resale. The information structure is asymmetric, as only the OEM knows the market size. We identify the equilibrium quantities of both firms, which are shown to be strongly influenced by the IR’s cost efficiency and the consumers’ willingness to pay for the IR’s products. Asymmetric information also plays an important role. Is it always better to hide information? Interestingly, the OEM makes the most profit when the IR has full information on the market size. We find that when the market size is high, the OEM’s and IR’s production and encroachment decisions are the same as when both parties have equal information. The OEM also does not benefit from hiding market information from the IR when the market size is low. Indeed, if the IR’s cost efficiency is moderate and the market size is low, the OEM’s profits are actually hurt by hiding market information. Here, the diminished profits from hiding market information arises from the OEM’s substantially reduced production quantity to prevent IR encroachment. The OEM’s production quantity is higher if the OEM shares market information and the IR encroaches on the market. Thus, by sharing information, the OEM’s benefit gained from increased production quantity outweighs the cost of losing its monopoly. Additionally, consumer surplus increases when the IR engages in remanufacturing, while social surplus increases only when either the OEM’s or IR’s product is strongly favored. Even if the IR does not engage in remanufacturing, the resulting OEM monopoly can still lead to a higher environmental impact under certain market conditions. This arises when the OEM lowers production quantities when the IR encroaches on the market, thereby improving the overall environmental impact. Therefore, policymakers seeking to improve environmental and economic sustainability by encouraging IRs must consider these complex competition dynamics and consumer preferences, as they indirectly influence OEMs’ production decisions. Full article

Open-source 3-D printing has played a pivotal role in revolutionizing the additive manufacturing (AM) landscape by making distributed manufacturing economic, democratizing access, and fostering far more rapid innovation than antiquated proprietary systems. Unfortunately, some 3-D printing manufacturing companies began deviating from open-source principles and violating licenses for the detriment of the community. To determine if a pattern has emerged of companies patenting clearly open-source innovations, this study presents three case studies from the three primary regions of open-source 3-D printing development (EU, U.S., and China) as well as three aspects of 3-D printing technology (AM materials, an open-source 3-D printer, and core open-source 3-D printing concepts used in most 3-D printers). The results of this review have shown that non-inventing entities, called patent parasites, are patenting open-source inventions already well-established in the open-source community and, in the most egregious cases, commercialized by one (or several) firm(s) at the time of the patent filing. Patent parasites are able to patent open-source innovations by using a different language, vague patent titles, and broad claims that encompass enormous swaths of widely diffused open-source innovation space. This practice poses a severe threat to innovation, and several approaches to irradicate the threat are discussed. Full article

Blockchain is widely used in the manufacturing industry. This paper establishes a dual-channel supply chain composed of a manufacturer and an e-retailer. A monopoly manufacturer conducts indirect online selling through retailers as well as direct offline selling. The manufacturer chooses to adopt a self-built blockchain traceability system (SBT) or a third-party blockchain traceability system (TBT). Game analysis is developed to depict the pricing decision for the manufacturer and e-retailer. The optimal pricing decisions of the supply chain between manufacturer and e-retailer for different blockchain traceability strategies are obtained. We explore the influence of consumers’ traceability awareness on the decisions of dual-channel supply chain members when adopting different blockchain traceability strategies. The main results show that when the fee paid to the blockchain service provider is low, the manufacturer will prefer to adopt TBT. Moreover, we prove that consumers’ traceability awareness, the cost of adopting TBT, the blockchain traceability technology level, and the research and development cost factor of blockchain technology could affect the decisions of supply chain members. Finally, some management suggestions are provided. Full article

Artificial lighting is ubiquitous in modern society, with detrimental effects on sleep and health. The reason for this is that light is responsible not only for vision but also for non-visual functions, such as the regulation of the circadian system. To avoid circadian disruption, artificial lighting should be dynamic, changing throughout the day in a manner comparable to natural light in terms of both light intensity and associated color temperature. This is one of the main goals of human-centric lighting. Regarding the type of materials, the majority of white light-emitting diodes (WLEDs) make use of rare-earth photoluminescent materials; therefore, WLED development is at serious risk due to the explosive growth in demand for these materials and a monopoly on sources of supply. Photoluminescent organic compounds are a considerable and promising alternative. In this article, we present several WLEDs that were manufactured using a blue LED chip as the excitation source and two photoluminescent organic dyes (Coumarin 6 and Nile Red) embedded in flexible layers, which function as spectral converters in a multilayer remote phosphor arrangement. The correlated color temperature (CCT) values range from 2975 K to 6261 K, while light quality is preserved with chromatic reproduction index (CRI) values superior to 80. Our findings illustrate for the first time the enormous potential of organic materials for supporting human-centric lighting. Full article

This article presents part of the results of the restoration of a house within the walls of the ancient city of Monopoli in Puglia, Italy. The aim is to propose a methodological approach for the conservation of minor assets of ancient centers that are aimed at recognizing, on the one hand, the historical and cultural value of the asset and, on the other, the seismic vulnerability of the artefacts, which is a key topical problem for the conservation of historic cities. A brief introduction on the context of belonging, which is characterized by similar cases, precedes the following preliminary investigations: a historiographical investigation on the urban landscape; then, a critical inquiry and related essays. Preliminary investigations have rendered it possible to highlight: on the one hand, the phases in respect of the transformation of the building in question (i.e., 3rd century BC–19th century AD); and on the other hand, to identify a 15th century gunboat and an underground room that is characterized by ancient walls. The data, acquired in the cognitive phase and confirmed by the essays, determined the project. In other words “knowledge for the restoration of artefacts” was achieved. The project is aimed at reversibility, recognition and compatibility. Furthermore, it provides for the recovery and enhancement of the underground environment with horizontal structures and connections between the two levels that will possess reversibility criteria through the use of dry technologies. The restoration site started with the excavation of the base, which was a very complex process from an operational point of view. Moreover, on the one hand, such a process highlighted the hidden structures of the ancient city. On the other hand, it has highlighted an important criticality in relation to the foundation system, which is closely linked to the process evolution of the manufactured article. The restoration site of the external walls, carried out with sustainable techniques and materials, has brought to light this ancient fifteenth-century gunboat. Full article

With the advent of the smart economy, Chinese digital platform companies have begun the process of digital innovation. The sudden outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic in early 2020 has added a strong impulse to the acceleration of this process, highlighting the unique characteristics of the platform economy in resource allocation. Although digital platforms have already entered people’s daily lives, the profit mechanism of digital platforms remains a black box to be cracked for the industry. The main contribution of this paper is to propose a framework model for the profit mechanism of digital platforms, which to a certain extent solves the problems essential to the digital realm faced by many traditional enterprises in the Internet age—knowing that the profit theory of traditional monopolies is not suitable for the rapidly changing internet economy, but that most of the time people still must use it. In this new profit framework, we first use the symbiotic logic of value sharing to explain the underlying logic of platform profitability; secondly, from the perspective of resource complementarity, we find that the key to digital platform companies’ profitability lies in the symbiotic synergy between platform companies and massive userbases; lastly, our study finds that the profit condition of platform enterprises is digital capability, not system possession. This article will analyze the bottom layer of the digital economy and, by identifying the various drawbacks of the traditional industrial economic monopoly theory, propose three key factors for the profitability of platform companies in the digital age: flexible strategy, digital capabilities, and symbiotic synergy capabilities. On this basis, a theoretical model of the profit of a digital platform is constructed. Research shows that the hybrid structure of digital platforms and the need for external diversification together lead to a platform’s resilience strategy. The realization process of the platform’s strategic flexibility and the process of consumers obtaining the residual value will lead to an explosion in network effects, causing the platform and users to complete value co-creation and realize value sharing. The implementation of a flexible platform strategy also promotes the further development of a differentiation strategy and a more-refined division of labor for manufacturers, lowers the barriers-to-entry in the industry, and enables the platform and the manufacturers to realize value co-creation. On the one hand, platform enterprises can obtain greater market performance; on the other hand, users’ personalized needs can be more satisfied. Full article

Due to their remarkable magnetic properties, such as a high maximum energy product, high remanence, and high coercivity, NdFeB magnets are used in a variety of technological applications. Because of their very limited recycling, high numbers of spent NdFeB magnets are widely available in the market. In addition to China’s monopoly on the supply of most rare earth elements, there is a need for the recovery of these critical metals, as their high import price poses an economic and environmental challenge for manufacturers. This paper proposes a pyrometallurgical recycling method for end-of-life NdFeB magnets by oxidizing them in air as first required step. The main goal of this method is to oxidize rare earth elements from NdFeB magnets in order to prepare them for the carbothermic reduction. The experimental conditions, such as the oxidation temperature and time, were studied in order to establish the phase transformation during oxidation using the Factsage Database and experimental conditions. Our thermogravimetric analysis TGA analysis revealed an increased sample mass by 35% between room temperature and 1100 °C, which is very close to the total calculated theoretical value of oxygen (36.8% for all elements, and only 3.6% for rare earth elements REE), confirming the complete oxidation of the material. The obtained quantitative analysis of the oxidation product, in (%), demonstrated values of 53.41 Fe₂O₃, 10.37 Fe₃O₄; 16.45 NdFeO₃; 0.45 Nd₂O₃, 1.28 Dy₂O₃, 1.07 Pr₂O₃, and 5.22 α-Fe. Full article

This study aims to investigate the impact of dual credit policy on the diffusion of new energy vehicles (NEVs) from the perspective of complex interactions among heterogeneous manufacturers. Thus, the market competition and credit cooperation relationships, constituting the complex interrelated system in NEV diffusion, are considered in this paper. To this end, we established a double-layer complex network to depict the asymmetric competition and cooperation structure, and developed an evolution game model on network, revealing the diffusion rule and trend of NEVs among manufacturers. Simulation results show that the existence of credit cooperation relationship can effectively improve the diffusion of NEVs, especially when implementing cooperative strategy that prioritizes helping manufacturers with low sale profits. Such a cooperative strategy is effective for maintaining high diffusion of NEVs even under low NEV credit’s trading price. Meanwhile, the monopoly competitive structure characterized by scale free is harmful to NEV diffusion. However, credit cooperation can eliminate the by-effect of monopoly structure greatly by adopting the strategy of distributing by sale profits. In addition, manufacturers are advised to learn from their competitors during the evolutionary process, which should be the focus of manufacturers to maximize the NEV diffusion under small world competitive structure. Full article

We construct a dynamic bilateral monopoly game to analyze the bargaining between a foreign manufacturer and a domestic retailer regarding the wholesale price and explain the foreign upstream firm’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative and its economic impacts on the domestic market. Under free trade, the foreign upstream firm’s CSR initiative realizes improvements in consumer surplus and social welfare in the home country. A “win–win–win” strategy exists, as the foreign manufacturer has more of an incentive to implement CSR when the government implements a strategic trade policy. The consumer-friendly action implemented by the foreign upstream firm leads to adequate consumer welfare and social welfare, which mitigates the government’s political hostility. With the high bargaining power of the foreign upstream firm and the low weight of the consumer-friendly upstream firm, the government should set a higher tariff rate for the foreign upstream firm to extract rent and enhance social welfare. Full article

The demand for high-efficiency, low-energy consumption materials, with high durability and stability, has led to the rapid increase of the demand and prices of Rare Earth Elements (REE). The REE monopoly of some countries has held the shift of humanity towards sustainability and renewable energy sources back. The isolation, recovery, and recycle of REE from waste electric and electronic equipment (WEEE) constitute the disengagement strategy and can lead to significant economic benefits, via sustainability. The introduction of critical raw materials (RM), derived from WEEE, as additives to filaments used for the synthesis of composite materials, employed by Additive Manufacturing (AM) applications, has tremendous potential for the performance and the commercialization of the final products by adding unique characteristics, such as antibacterial properties, enhanced mechanical and magnetic properties, and thermal and electrical conductivity. The low cost of the recycled RM, the small numbers of process stages, and the inception of a zero-waste paradigm, present its upscalability, with a realistic view to its industrial employment. Although there are many articles in literature that have reviewed WEEE recycle, a comprehensive review on the conditions, parameters, procedure flow charts, and novel properties of the final composite materials with regards to every RM is missing. Full article

Governed through the World Trade Organization Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) since 1995, the current medical R&D system requires significant trade-offs between innovation and high monopoly prices for patented drugs that restrict patient access to medicines. Since its implementation, few amendments have been made to the original TRIPS agreement to allow low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) to facilitate access by generic manufacturers through flexible provisions, such as compulsory licensing and parallel import. Although a useful policy tool in theory, the routine use of TRIPS flexibilities in LMICs in the procurement of new essential medicines (EMs) is regarded as a ‘last resort’ due to strong political response in high-income countries (HICs) and new trade agreements’ restrictions. In this context, access-oriented biomedical Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) have emerged. More recently, leading multilateral health organizations have recommended different types of intellectual property (IP) interventions, voluntary biomedical patent pools, as strategies to reduce prices and increase the diffusion of novel EMs in LMICs. Nevertheless, the recent Ebola and COVID-19 outbreaks highlight growing concerns regarding the use of TRIPS flexibilities and the limited success of voluntary mechanisms in promoting access to medicines in the Global South amidst health crises. This review aims at describing the state-of-the-art empirical research on IP-related options and voluntary mechanisms applied by emerging PPPs to guarantee timely and affordable access to EM in LMICs and reflect on both models as access paradigms. Some suggestions are put forward for future research paths on the basis of these analyses and in response to contemporary debates on waiving key IP rights on COVID-19 therapies, diagnostics, and vaccines. Full article

Agroforestry plays a significant role in increasing agricultural productivity. In South Africa, there is a pressing need for promoting smallholder agriculture to promote sustainable rural livelihoods, to ensure food security, to lower inflation in food prices, and address rampant rural unemployment in the country. The agricultural economy is characterised by a monopoly structure where almost every single staple in South Africa is already produced by large manufacturers that can produce it at better quality and lower cost than the average smallholder enterprise or cooperative. Such a monopoly structure fundamentally undermines the development of local markets, where local small-scale producers sell to their local community. The novelty of this study is addressing the research gap that conventional rural livelihood analyses often neglect, i.e., the role of environmental products in general, and forest and agroforestry products. Using a log linear regression model with cross-sectional data collected from a sample of 300 households, this study explores the likely impact of agroforestry practices in promoting the livelihood of rural communities in the study areas. Results obtained from multiple linear regression analysis showed that average household income increased as a function of utilization of agroforestry practices. Agroforestry contributes to sustainable rural livelihoods in South African provinces where the predominant means of livelihoods is rural subsistence farming and agriculture. Since valuation of agroforestry products and services are technically difficult, farmers often underestimate the contribution of agroforestry to the household’s livelihood income. These findings have policy implications in promoting food security in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa and beyond. Full article