CSR Input and Recycling Decisions for Closed-Loop Supply Chain with Asymmetric Demand Information

In reality, there is often information asymmetry between upstream and downstream enterprises in a closed-loop supply chain (CLSC) system, which can have a profound impact on the decisions of member enterprises and the operation of system. Under the condition of asymmetric market demand information of manufacturer, the CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) input and recycling decision-making problems for CLSC were researched. Four decision-making models of CLSC were constructed for manufacturer and retailer to implement CSR input and recycling respectively, and the impacts of consumer CSR input sensitivity coefficient and demand information asymmetry on operation optimization of CLSC were analyzed. The results show that the increased sensitivity of consumers to CSR input is not only conducive to improving the CSR input level and recycling rate of used products in CLSC, but also benefits manufacturer and retailer to increase profits. In terms of increasing CSR input levels, the manufacturer has the best effect when implementing CSR input and recycling by herself. While, in terms of increasing the recycling rate of used products and market demand, the retailer is more effective when he is responsible for CSR input and the manufacturer is responsible for recycling waste products. Moreover, in contrast to information symmetry, the demand information asymmetry of manufacturer will always lead to a decrease in her own profits, but not necessarily reduce the profits of retailer, and the operation mode that retailer is responsible for CSR input and manufacturer is responsible for recycling used products is more conducive to the overall operation of CLSC system.