Research on Price Wars in Supply Chain Networks Based on Multistage Evolutionary Prisoner’s Dilemma Game

<div>(a) The performance of the SCN as a function of the end-consumers’ demand fluctuation. (b) The performance of the SCN as a function of the temptation to defect for different consumer demand fluctuations when <span class="nowrap"><svg height="11.7782pt" id="M359" style="vertical-align:-3.42938pt" version="1.1" viewbox="-0.0498162 -8.34882 36.9709 11.7782" width="36.9709pt" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,0,0)"><path d="M471 401C471 442 455 448 440 448C421 448 389 439 366 424C314 390 233 331 165 242H163L187 345C193 372 197 393 197 409C197 435 189 448 174 448C146 448 80 408 23 349L40 327C64 351 97 373 107 373C115 373 118 366 111 337L29 -4L36 -12C56 -4 83 3 110 9C123 69 136 126 150 172C227 283 336 381 377 381C392 381 396 370 379 298L326 74C290 -77 273 -172 273 -197C273 -219 316 -261 346 -261L353 -246C348 -227 352 -174 374 -66L457 310C467 352 471 381 471 401Z"></path></g><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,10.055,0)"><path d="M535 323V373H52V323H535ZM535 138V188H52V138H535Z"></path></g><g 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634Z"></path></g><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,9.768,0)"><path d="M535 323V373H52V323H535ZM535 138V188H52V138H535Z"></path></g><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,21.031,0)"><path d="M249 635C141 635 70 555 70 471C70 401 114 353 179 316C143 294 106 267 90 252C68 231 45 202 45 157C45 50 130 -12 237 -12C322 -12 435 52 435 169C435 256 372 304 303 343C349 374 375 398 383 407C401 429 411 458 411 487C411 569 344 635 249 635ZM238 603C285 603 337 567 337 482C337 422 310 385 276 358C205 393 145 426 145 500C145 552 179 603 238 603ZM248 20C183 20 125 70 125 163C125 218 158 268 206 300C284 261 355 217 355 143C355 66 308 20 248 20Z"></path></g></svg> (here, <span class="nowrap"><svg height="9.39034pt" id="M362" style="vertical-align:-3.42943pt" version="1.1" viewbox="-0.0498162 -5.96091 6.54569 9.39034" width="6.54569pt" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,0,0)"><path d="M471 401C471 442 455 448 440 448C421 448 389 439 366 424C314 390 233 331 165 242H163L187 345C193 372 197 393 197 409C197 435 189 448 174 448C146 448 80 408 23 349L40 327C64 351 97 373 107 373C115 373 118 366 111 337L29 -4L36 -12C56 -4 83 3 110 9C123 69 136 126 150 172C227 283 336 381 377 381C392 381 396 370 379 298L326 74C290 -77 273 -172 273 -197C273 -219 316 -261 346 -261L353 -246C348 -227 352 -174 374 -66L457 310C467 352 471 381 471 401Z"></path></g></svg>,</span> <span class="nowrap"><svg height="9.39034pt" id="M363" style="vertical-align:-3.42943pt" version="1.1" viewbox="-0.0498162 -5.96091 6.63704 9.39034" width="6.63704pt" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,0,0)"><path d="M478 372C478 418 458 448 431 448C409 448 389 431 389 410C389 404 391 400 394 395C398 388 406 371 406 348C406 253 308 122 251 51H249C254 122 249 257 231 336C212 421 189 448 159 448C126 448 75 412 23 327L48 306C83 354 103 371 115 371C125 371 134 360 144 334C185 224 192 64 183 -19C146 -100 116 -202 110 -244L125 -261C154 -259 208 -234 222 -220C222 -194 225 -84 235 -23C247 -3 273 36 308 79C379 165 478 288 478 372Z"></path></g></svg>,</span> and <svg height="8.8423pt" id="M364" style="vertical-align:-0.2064009pt" version="1.1" viewbox="-0.0498162 -8.6359 6.25863 8.8423" width="6.25863pt" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><g transform="matrix(.013,0,0,-0.013,0,0)"><path d="M449 634C442 637 425 643 405 650C376 660 341 666 307 666C181 666 98 590 98 485C98 400 170 343 215 310L246 288C307 243 343 204 343 147C343 67 291 18 219 18C104 18 61 124 51 202L23 199C28 124 27 71 27 47C47 22 122 -16 204 -16C324 -16 428 60 428 174C428 256 379 309 307 360L276 382C223 419 179 455 179 516C179 576 221 632 293 632C379 632 410 564 418 487L448 490C446 536 446 592 449 634Z"></path></g></svg> denote the size of price alliance, the defectors’ exposure rate, and the average candidate firms, respectively).</div>

Mathematical Problems in Engineering

fig8

Figure 8

Figure 8: Research on Price Wars in Supply Chain Networks Based on Multistage Evolutionary Prisoner’s Dilemma Game 