Cooperative Behaviors of Manufacturing Supply Chains Under the Carbon-Neutral Strategy: An Evolutionary Gaming Model

The increasingly severe global climate change has made the carbon-neutral strategy urgent. In the manufacturing supply chain (MSC), identifying different stages of carbon-neutral transition and exploring the dynamic adjustment of carbon-neutral behaviors (CNB) have become issues to be addressed. Therefore, we established an evolutionary game model for three parties (the government, the manufacturer and the supplier), and further ensures research rigor through approaches including the comparison and selection of methods, integration with real-world scenarios, and the expansion of model scenarios. Results show that the carbon-neutral transition can be determined as a multi-stage framework of “government rectification stage - tripartite collaboration stage - MSC autonomy stage”. First, in the government rectification stage, MSC is mainly affected by government regulation and reputational benefits. The government must implement regulation by setting the carbon tax. Second, in the tripartite collaboration stage, the free rider gain began to play an important role. The government subsidy should be assigned within a specific range, which can motivate the parties in the MSC to implement carbon-neutral strategy under the premise of effective regulation. Third, in the MSC autonomy stage, MSC realizes carbon-neutral strategic cooperation by coordinating reputational benefits and free rider gain. The government should gradually leave the market.