Impacts of CSR Undertaking Modes on Technological Innovation and Carbon-Emission-Reduction Decisions of Supply Chain

Taking a low-carbon supply chain composed of one producer and one retailer as the object, this paper explores the impacts of different corporate social responsibility (CSR)-undertaking-mode choices on the carbon-emission reduction and technological innovation decisions of the low-carbon supply chain. Under three CSR-undertaking modes, the optimal decisions of carbon-emission-reduction intensity and technological-innovation level of low-carbon supply chain are explored by using the Stackelberg game. Through a comparative analysis of the optimal equilibrium solutions, we found that, with the enhancement of CSR awareness of member firms, the carbon-emission-reduction intensity, technological innovation level, and product sales volume of the low-carbon supply chain under different CSR-undertaking modes are all improved, and the total profits and total welfare of the low-carbon supply chain are all increased. The carbon-emission-reduction intensity, technological innovation level, and product sales volume are all the highest under the mode of the retailer undertaking CSR, the second highest under the mode of the producer and retailer jointly undertaking CSR, and the lowest under the mode of the producer undertaking CSR mode. Therefore, under the background of technological innovation carried out by the producer, it is most conducive to promoting the development of low-carbon supply chain for the retailer to undertake social responsibility.