The Retailer's Capital-constrained Risk-averse Closed-loop Supply Chain Financing Strategy Considering Product Heterogeneity.

The recycling and remanufacturing of materials is an important method of improving the efficiency of resource utilisation. However, it is often subject to financial constraints that increase the risk of chain breakage in the closed-loop supply chain of recycling and remanufacturing. Furthermore, market uncertainty exacerbates this risk. Consequently, it is necessary to investigate different financing models for the supply chain. In this paper, we utilise a closed-loop supply chain comprising a risk-averse manufacturer, a capital-constrained retailer and a remanufacturer responsible for recycling and remanufacturing as a case study. We employ game theory and mean-variance theory to investigate the financing strategies of the closed-loop supply chain under capital constraints. Firstly, a financing decision model in which the retailer has the ability to obtain bank loans is constructed as a reference model. On this basis, the financing model of commercial credit financing and the combined financing model of equity transfer and bank financing are considered separately in order to explore the impact of the retailer's financing strategy on heterogeneous product pricing and risk-averse supply chain returns. The computational results demonstrate that the manufacturer provides financial support to the remanufacturer by reducing the patent license fee, which enables the remanufacturer to invest more resources in recycling activities and, consequently, enhances the efficiency of resource utilization within the supply chain. The simulation results indicate that the retailer and the remanufacturer prefer the commercial credit financing model, although the combined strategy of equity transfer and bank financing can result in gains. It is also noteworthy that the manufacturer's risk aversion benefits not only the entire supply chain but also consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]