Precooling energy and carbon emission reduction technology investment model in a fresh food cold chain based on a differential game

The reasonable investment of suppliers and retailers in precooling and carbon emission reduction technology is important to maintain the freshness of products and improve the overall profit of the supply chain. This paper establishes a game model to examine the impact of the relationship between fresh food suppliers and retailers on the level of R&D investment in precooling technology and carbon emission reduction technology and thence on the overall revenue of the supply chain. This model considers the three cases of whether the two subjects cooperate or not and whether the retailer shares the cost of suppliers' investment in precooling technology. It is found that the overall supply chain revenue and the level of R&D investment in both technologies are higher in the case of cooperation between the two subjects than in the case of non-cooperation. In a decentralized case when the two subjects do not cooperate, the overall supply chain revenue, and the level of R&D investment in the two technologies, depend on the relationship between the retail price and the wholesale price.