From carbon policy to public health: an analysis of pricing decisions in electronics supply chains for costing emissions reduction

Carbon emissions and waste throughout the entire lifecycle of electronic products pose a serious threat to public health. This paper focuses on the synergistic governance perspective of carbon trading and public health, constructs a closed-loop supply chain Stackelberg game model, introduces the “unit health damage cost,” and explores the decision-making evolution mechanism under multiple constraints. Research indicates: (1) The internalization of health costs has dual effects. While it effectively strengthens incentives during periods of low carbon prices, excessive compliance pressure can suppress green investment, resulting in a pronounced inverted U -shaped pattern for emission reduction incentives. (2) Price transmission triggers market selection. Compliance costs are passed through to end consumers via prices, marginalizing high-emission enterprises due to price disadvantages and compelling their technological transformation. (3) Structural imbalances in profit distribution occur. Suppliers and retailers bear the primary external cost burden, while recyclers' profits remain decoupled from carbon governance mechanisms. From the perspective of overall social welfare, the public health benefits brought about by the government's emission reduction supervision far outweigh the short-term economic losses of the supply chain, and are conducive to the low-carbon development of the electronic product supply chain and the long-term win-win situation for social welfare. Accordingly, this paper proposes establishing a differentiated policy framework encompassing both compensation for health damages and specialized subsidies for recovery, thereby achieving a win-win outcome for both economic growth and public health.