Trading reserved capacity independently among supply chains

We propose a novel mechanism for pooling the reserved capacity (super capacity) of different supply chains, so that they can more effectively match their single-period inventory supplies with their demands. Through this mechanism, retailers can buy or sell unutilized super capacity independently as a commodity in a sub-industry before and during the selling season, which helps improve supply flexibility and increase the utilization of suppliers reserved capacity. Our findings provide a new channel coordination strategy for a group of supply chains to hedge against capacity and inventory risks by trading super capacity with their competitors, which yields individual and aggregate benefits.