Closing a Supplier's Energy Efficiency Gap Through Assessment Assistance and Procurement Commitment

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Nguyen, Jason; Donohue, Karen; Mehrotra, Mili
• 署名单位: University of New South Wales Sydney; University of Minnesota System; University of Minnesota Twin Cities
• 刊物名称: MANAGEMENT SCIENCE
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0025-1909
• DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2017.2941
• 发表日期: 2019
• 页码: 122-138
• 关键词: Energy efficiency; energy efficiency assessment; energy audit; supply chain sustainability; supplier development; buyer-supplier interactions

摘要

This paper analyzes the energy efficiency (EE) investment decisions of a capital-constrained manufacturer that competes with an alternative supplier for the business of a large industrial buyer. Through a series of game-theoretic models, we characterize when it is beneficial for the buyer to offer EE instruments, including assessment assistance and procurement commitment, and how these instruments interact with third-party assessment assistance to affect the supplier's EE investment level. We find that assessment assistance helps reduce the EE gap but procurement commitment is required to eliminate it. We also find that the availability of third-party assessment assistance reduces the buyer's incentive to offer both of its instruments, a scenario that potentially lowers the supplier's EE investment level. Our findings provide insights for buyers and policy makers interested in improving supply-chain EE.