中文摘要
在灾害期间采购必需产品可以挽救生命与生计；然而，探讨这一关键问题的研究仍然有限。本文与一家采购企业合作，在新冠疫情暴发初期开展了一项独特的B2B田野实验，当时对个人防护用品存在迫切需求。我们发现，当采购企业购买产品用于捐赠而非转售时，供应商会报出显著更短的交货提前期，从而更快交付产品。同样，当企业提供危机信息——即危机水平较高地区的COVID-19病例数——以凸显产品的迫切需求时，供应商也会报出更短的交货提前期。有趣的是，更快的交付并不以采购企业付出代价为前提：买方既更快收到产品，又支付更低价格。我们与同一企业合作，在新常态下重新开展该田野实验，发现买方的捐赠意图会带来更短的交货提前期，但不会带来更低的批发价格。此外，向供应商提供当地社区的COVID-19信息对其决策没有影响。总体而言，本文首次提供了灾害期间及之后供应商交货提前期与批发价格决策的经验证据，从而有助于企业及时高效地交付应急产品，并设计其慈善与信息策略。
Abstract
Procuring essential products during disasters can save lives and livelihoods; nevertheless, limited research has explored this critical issue. In this paper, we collaborate with a buying company to run a unique B2B field experiment during the early COVID-19 outbreak that prompts an urgent need for personal protective equipment. We find that suppliers would deliver products faster by quoting a significantly shorter lead time when the buying company purchases products for donation rather than for resale. Similarly, suppliers quote a shorter lead time when the company provides crisis information—the number of COVID-19 cases in the region with high crisis levels—to highlight the urgent need for products. Interestingly, faster delivery does not come at the expense of the buying company. Buyers receive the products faster but also pay less. We collaborate with the same company to rerun the field experiment in the new normal and find that the buyer’s intent of donation leads to shorter lead time but not to lower wholesale price. Moreover, providing the COVID-19 information of the local community to suppliers has no impact on their decisions. Overall, our paper provides the first empirical evidence on suppliers’ lead time and wholesale price decisions during and after a disaster, thereby helping companies to deliver emergency products in a timely and efficient manner as well as designing their philanthropic and information strategies.