Multiperiodic Procurement Problem with Option Contracts under Inflation

Abstract

This paper studies the problem of the multiperiod replenishment decisions for the retailer under inflation. In order to manage the risks of price and demand caused by inflation, the retailer has an opportunity to order products and purchase options from the supplier in each period. We formulate the multiperiod inventory model for the retailer with option contracts and then derive his myopic ordering policy in each period and his myopic expected total discounted profit over the entire time horizon. By taking the case without option contracts as a benchmark, we explore the effect of option contracts on the retailer's decisions and performance under inflation. We find that the application of option contracts might induce the retailer to reduce the firm order and increase the total order in each period under inflation. We also find that the application of option contracts might benefit the retailer under inflation.