查看文章

Outsourcing and decentralization are popular in large part due to the recognition that independent agents are more efficient and effective than corresponding divisions of vertically integrated firms. Yet supply chain coordination models implicitly assume that cost and other parameters are unaffected by decentralization, thus rendering the integrated firm a systemoptimal benchmark. A case in point are independent downstream firms vs. corresponding divisions of integrated firms, where the former's production or operating costs are likely to be lower. We examine the effect of reduction in these costs on lot sizes, wholesale prices and profits. We endow Lariviere and Porteus'(2001)" selling to the newsvendor" and Pasternack's (1985)" optimal pricing and return policies" models with downstream (possibly non-linear) operating costs and examine the consequences. We also explore a downstream firm's optimal investments in reducing its operating costs within a coordinated decentralized system.