Greening China's supply chains: A coordinated policy approach.

Area of Science:

• Environmental Policy
• Supply Chain Management
• Game Theory

Background:

• China's focus on air pollution reduction drives supply chain greening initiatives.
• Strategic interactions among government, manufacturers, and retailers are central to sustainable supply chains.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a coordinated policy approach for greening supply chains.
• To investigate the impact of policy mixes (subsidies, environmental tax, carbon trading) on sustainable supply chain practices.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a non-cooperative evolutionary game model.
• Conducted simulations to analyze strategic interactions and policy effectiveness.

Main Results:

• Retailer green promotion stimulates bottom-up green technology innovation from manufacturers.
• Coordinated policies show greater potential for green innovation than individual policies.
• Policy success is threatened by regulatory gaps, greenwashing, and illicit emissions.

Conclusions:

• A combination of retailer engagement, policy complementarity, and adaptive policy management is vital for green supply chain transformation.
• Effective policy execution requires robust design, competence, and integrity from all stakeholders.