Given the growth in socially conscious consumption, firms are increasingly concerned with sourcing from responsible suppliers. However, a firm's sourcing decisions are not always apparent to consumers. Therefore, we investigate two mechanisms, signaling and disclosure, which a firm can use to communicate its sourcing decisions to consumers in a setting where only some consumers care about the firm's sourcing practices. We develop a supplier selection model with an embedded game in which the firm signals its supplier choice through price. Then, motivated by the observation that some firms have begun to disclose their supplier information, we consider a model in which the firm may voluntarily disclose information, but at a cost. We find that, under signaling alone, a firm which sources from a more responsible supplier may distort its price upward to signal its responsible sourcing. This leads to reduced profit, implying that the firm may have an incentive to source from a less responsible supplier. However, if supplier disclosure is an option, the firm will choose to source responsibly if the disclosure cost is small and the proportion of socially conscious consumers is large. Our findings highlight the importance of transparency and socially conscious consumption in driving responsible sourcing.

中文翻译：

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不对称信息下的负责任采购：价格信号与供应商披露

鉴于具有社会意识的消费的增长，公司越来越关注从负责任的供应商那里进行采购。但是，公司的采购决策并不总是对消费者显而易见。因此，我们研究了两种机制，即信号传递和公开机制，在只有一些消费者关心公司的采购实践的情况下，企业可以使用这两种机制将其采购决策传达给消费者。我们开发了一个带有嵌入式游戏的供应商选择模型，其中该公司通过价格表示其供应商选择。然后，由于观察到一些公司已开始披露其供应商信息，我们考虑了一种模型，其中该公司可以自愿披露信息，但要付出一定的代价。我们发现，仅根据信号发送，从负责任的供应商处采购的公司可能会扭曲其价格，以表明其负责任的采购。这导致利润减少，这意味着该公司可能有动力从不太负责任的供应商那里采购。但是，如果可以选择提供供应商披露信息，那么，如果披露成本很小且具有社会意识的消费者所占比例较大，则企业将选择负责任的来源。我们的发现强调了透明度和具有社会意识的消费在推动负责​​任采购方面的重要性。如果披露成本较小且具有社会意识的消费者所占比例较大，则企业将选择负责任的来源。我们的发现强调了透明度和具有社会意识的消费在推动负责​​任采购方面的重要性。如果披露成本较小且具有社会意识的消费者所占比例较大，则该公司将选择负责任的来源。我们的发现强调了透明度和具有社会意识的消费在推动负责​​任采购方面的重要性。