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Chinese Journal of Management Science ›› 2026, Vol. 34 ›› Issue (1): 72-84.doi: 10.16381/j.cnki.issn1003-207x.2022.0841

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Debt Financing or Equity Financing? Service Innovation Financing Strategies of a Fresh-product Platform Cold Chain

Ying Feng, Yangchao Feng, Suyu Chen, Yanzhi Zhang()   

  1. School of Economics and Management,China University of Mining and Technology,Xuzhou 221116,China
  • Received:2022-04-21 Revised:2022-12-15 Online:2026-01-25 Published:2026-01-29
  • Contact: Yanzhi Zhang E-mail:zyzcumt2003@163.com

Abstract:

The cold chain service innovation can improve its own productivity and attract more demand with high-quality services. However, capital constraints, high financing costs and risks have been the challenges faced by cold chain service innovation.It focuses on a fresh-product platform cold chain composed of a supplier, a third-party logistics service provider (TPL) and a platform service provider (platform) in this paper. Considering the TPL financing from the platform for cold chain service innovation, the impact of his financing strategies including debt financing and equity financing on the cold chain operation is explored. Research shows the service innovation cost factor and the financing interest rate are both important factors restricting cold chain service innovation in debt financing, since their rise will inhibit the improvement of the innovation level and reduce the cold chain performance. The decline in TPL’s own funds will damage himself, and benefit the platform. In equity financing, the impact of the cost factor on the system is the same as that in debt financing. The rise in valuation or the increase in fixed assets will prompt the platform to increase capital investment, thereby encouraging the TPL to carry out service innovation which benefit both the TPL and the supplier. Comparing the two financing strategies, it is found that equity financing will lead to a higher platform commission rate and a lower product sales price, which will inhibit supplier’s motivation to participate in equity financing. If TPL’s financing purpose is to improve innovation service level, he should refer to the market size to determine his financing strategy, that is, when the market is small (larger), equity financing (debt financing) should be preferred. Numerical examples show that the profits of each member and the system in debt financing are more sensitive to the product price elasticity than in equity financing. When the price elasticity is lower (higher), all members prefer equity financing (debt financing). Furthermore, introducing the innovation failure risk, it is found there exists a threshold of the innovation failure rate in each financing strategy. TPL will only finance when the failure rate is lower than the corresponding threshold, otherwise it will give up financing due to the high financing risk. In equity financing, the trend of TPL’s anti-risk capability changing with system parameters is roughly opposite to that in debt financing.The research conclusions provide theoretical supports for how to seek financing channels, choose financing strategies, and improve the service level of cold chain when the TPL service innovation is short of funds. It also provides a reference for platform service providers to make reasonable decisions on platform commissions and set financing interest rates.

Key words: TPL, fresh-product platform, cold chain service innovation, debt financing, equity financing

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