Remanufacturing with trade-ins under carbon regulations

Abstract Observing prevalent concerns about the influence of carbon emissions on climate change, we address the problem of remanufacturing with trade-ins under carbon regulations. We analyze the optimal pricing and production decisions of the manufacturer under the carbon tax policy and the cap and trade program. The results show that the introduction of carbon regulations can promote sales of remanufactured products while reducing the demands of new products. However, the implementation of carbon regulations has negative impacts on the manufacturer's profits. Nevertheless, the manufacturer's profits can be improved through deliberately designed government subsidy schemes. We also demonstrate that the government has the incentive to propose such subsidy schemes because the total emissions can be reduced under well-designed regulations, but not at the cost of the manufacturer's profits.