Consumer Panic Buying and Quota Policy under Supply Disruptions

【题目】供应中断时的恐慌购买和配额政策

【时间】2014年12月18日（周四）3.00-5.00

【地点】清华经管学院伟伦楼385

【语言】英文

【摘要】We study consumer panic buying under supply disruptions and investigate how the retailer should adjust inventory and quota policies to respond to panic buying. First, we examine the impact of different factors on consumer decisions and illustrate the rationales behind the seemly irrational panic buying behavior. We identify a threshold for consumer product valuation above which a consumer tends to stockpile product for future consumption. Then we conduct rational expectations equilibrium analysis to characterize the retailer's inventory policy and show how it is affected by disruption risk, production valuations and consumers' risk attitude. Furthermore, we evaluate the cost of ignoring consumer behavior. Interestingly, we find that the cost is the most significant (as much as 25% of profit) when supply risk is intermediate. Finally, we examine the effectiveness of limiting consumer purchasing quota for the retailer with limited capacity, and show when quota policy is beneficial to the retailer.

【简历】香港城市大学助理教授寿碧英的简历