Analysis of an imperfectly competitive cellulosic biofuel supply chain

We study the strategic behavior in an imperfectly competitive cellulosic biofuel supply chain. An optimization-based supply chain model is used to obtain long-run planning outcomes, based on which we develop market models considering both perfect and imperfect competitions. The equilibrium among stakeholders in the multi-echelon supply chain can be obtained by solving a collection of first-order conditions associated with their profit-maximization problems. For the imperfect competition, the model, additionally, allows firms with significant market share at different segment of the supply chain to exercise market power. We apply the models to an illustrative case study of California. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.