Abstract:

The core enterprises in the supply chain not only assume the traditional operational roles such as production， but also can provide commercial credit financing services for capital constraint SMEs. This involves granting SMEs a certain commercial credit period， allowing them to sell goods first and pay for the core enterprises after the credit period expires. However， there are several issues in the practical implementation of this financing method. Due to the deferred payment of goods， commercial credit financing will squeeze the core enterprise's capital. Additionally， there is still a risk of SMEs not repaying the loan on time or defaulting on their debts. Blockchain possesses highly transparent， tamper-evident， traceable， and smart contract features that can solve the existing problems in supply chain financing. By establishing an alliance chain， enterprises within a supply chain can make the uploaded data， information， and transactions visible and transparent， ensuring their authenticity. Smart contract can automate tasks such as payment， settlement， and financial reconciliation， enabling the entire electronic transmission of information for trade finance transactions. This simplifies the process of recording and passing paper documents and reduces potential risks associated with human factors. The improved efficiency of business processing can， to a certain extent， shorten the commercial credit period provided to retailers. Furthermore， deploying blockchain can improve product sales to some extent. However， it's important to note that utilizing blockchain is not free and entails expensive hardware and software investment costs.Commercial credit financing， an internal supply chain financing mode， has been effective in alleviating the financial constraints of SMEs， and scholars have begun to study the role of blockchain technology in promoting supply chain operation and management， especially supply chain financing in recent years. However， most of the existing literature focuses on the impact of blockchain on the supply chain financing mode with the participation of external institutions such as banks， while less literature focuses on the internal supply chain financing mode. Based on the above analysis， considering that the adoption of blockchain requires the payment of fixed deployment cost and the unit product blockchain usage cost， as well as its potential to address issues such as SMEs' failure to repay on time， reduce commercial credit periods， and enhance market demand， two supply chain financing modes are proposed： traditional supply chain financing and blockchain supply chain financing. The optimal pricing and ordering decision of the supply chain under the two modes are solved， the equilibrium results of the two modes are compared， and the conditions for introducing blockchain into the supply chain are also analyzed. The following findings are revealed： （1） When the market demand increase rate after adopting blockchain surpasses the opportunity gain obtained through defaulting in the traditional financing mode， the wholesale price relationship in both modes is influenced by the unit product production cost. However， when the demand increase rate is lower than the opportunity gain obtained through defaulting， the wholesale price relationship is affected by the unit product blockchain usage cost. The ordering quantity relationship in both modes is dependent on the production cost. If the production cost exceeds a certain threshold， the optimal order quantity after adopting blockchain is greater than that in the traditional one. （2） If the market demand increase rate after adopting blockchain exceeds the opportunity gain obtained through defaulting， adopting blockchain can make the retailer more profitable when the unit product blockchain usage cost is below a certain threshold. If the market demand increase rate is lower， but the commercial credit period can be significantly reduced after adopting blockchain， then when the production cost is higher and the unit product blockchain usage cost is below a certain threshold， adopting blockchain is also beneficial to the retailer. Adopting blockchain can only be more profitable for the supplier if both the fixed deployment cost and the unit product blockchain usage cost are low.In summation， the research perspectives and results of this study can provide meaningful references for capital constrained supply chain in blockchain environment how to make financing and operational decisions.

Key words: blockchain, supply chain financing, commercial credit period, market demand increase rate