Cross-Border Ownership and Input Access: Evidence from the Lithium Supply Chain
Authors: Kei Irizawa
Abstract
How does cross-border ownership shape the lithium supply chain? Using global data on mines and refineries, I estimate a model in which ownership can lower refiners' effective ore costs, encourage mines to restrict spot sales, and soften competition. To study these effects, I examine policies motivated by national security concerns about reliable access to critical mineral inputs: divestiture of Chinese stakes in overseas producers and a ban on ore exports to China. Divestiture increases spot ore supply but leaves lithium output nearly unchanged, while continued trade preserves Chinese access to ore. The export ban reduces global lithium supply because refining capacity elsewhere cannot fully replace lost Chinese production. Ownership transfers do not reserve ore for domestic production; restricting Chinese access imposes a substantial supply cost at existing capacities.
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Passive Partial Forward Ownership and Strategic Trade Policy in Vertically Related IndustriesYun-Rui Li, Chien-Hui Lee, J. Lee et al. · 2026 · Games · Not summarized yet
This paper models how forward ownership affects input prices and output in vertically related industries, rather than estimating ownership effects in lithium markets.
Abstract
Forward ownership allows upstream suppliers to internalize part of downstream profit, but its implications for strategic trade policy under competition between independent supply chains remain unclear. This paper develops a three-stage third-market model with two exclusive vertical supply chains whose upstream suppliers are located in the Rest of the World. Solving the model for general passive ownership shares, we compare no ownership (NN), unilateral ownership (YN), and bilateral ownership (YY). Within the maintained interior region, forward ownership lowers intermediate-input prices, mitigates double marginalization, and increases aggregate output; bilateral ownership produces the lowest …
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Shared Stakes, Shared Brains: Common Ownership and Inventor Mobility Along Supply ChainsKai Wang, Yu-Chen Yin, Li-Hong Wang · 2026 · Corporate governance: An International Review · Not summarized yet
This paper studies common ownership in supply chains, focusing on how shared stakes shape inventor mobility rather than access to physical inputs.
Abstract
This study investigates the influence of common ownership on inventor mobility along supply chains and examines its role in shaping the interfirm governance conditions for human‐capital reallocation within portfolios. Using Chinese listed supplier–customer pairs from 2012 to 2023, we find that inventors are more likely to move along supply chains when common owners hold larger stakes in both suppliers and customers. Through mechanism tests, we reveal that common owners increase the likelihood of such flows by facilitating collaboration and information exchange. This effect is more evident when common owners are long‐term, institutional, or state‐owned, and when supply chains have a weaker co…
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Reverse Mixed-Ownership Reform and Corporate Carbon Information Disclosure Quality: Evidence from ChinaBin-Qing Xie · 2026 · Advances in Economics, Management and Political Sciences · Not summarized yet
This paper examines state-backed equity and carbon disclosure in Chinese firms, not cross-border ownership and input sourcing.
Abstract
Using Chinese A-share private firms observed from 2015 to 2021, this study asks whether reverse mixed-ownership reform changes the quality of corporate carbon information disclosure. The reform is measured as the entry of state-backed equity, while disclosure quality is assessed through computational text analysis of CSR and sustainability reports. The estimates indicate a positive and statistically significant association: firms receiving state capital report carbon information more fully. The result survives the endogeneity treatment and the additional robustness checks. The cross-sectional evidence further shows that the association is stronger where government intervention is greater, am…
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The Impact of Cross-Border Data Regulation on the Resilience of China’s Industrial and Supply ChainsHuan Yu, Yan-Ning Jin, Yao Li · 2026 · Academic Journal of Management and Social Sciences · Not summarized yet
This paper analyzes how cross-border data rules affect industrial supply-chain resilience, rather than how ownership and ore-export restrictions affect lithium supply.
Abstract
Digital transformation has created huge economic benefits for cross-border data flow around the world, but it has also caused real problems such as violating privacy and leaking business secrets. For China, how to manage data well and maintain the stability of the industrial supply chain is a difficult policy problem in the negotiation of international rules. This article analyzes two opposite effects of cross-border data regulation. On the one hand, strict regulatory review and uncertain policy results will increase the compliance burden of enterprises. This will lead to the interruption of information exchange in the supply chain, which will weaken the ability of the supply chain to recove…
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Market Power in Foreign Input Markets: Evidence From Chinese Manufacturing FirmsWen-Xiao Dong, Long-Fei Guo, Xin-Hao Wang · 2026 · World Economics · Not summarized yet
This paper measures Chinese manufacturers’ bargaining power in foreign input markets, a sourcing issue distinct from ownership links in lithium supply.
Abstract
Large manufacturers may obtain better terms from foreign suppliers when they account for an important share of demand. We study this buyer power using matched customs and production data for Chinese manufacturing firms from 2000 to 2007. Measuring buyer power for each imported product and source country reveals substantial differences across firms that aggregate input measures conceal. Pure processing‐trade firms have higher average buyer power, whereas pure ordinary‐trade firms experience larger increases over time. Within firms, buyer power is higher when processing trade accounts for a larger share of imports and when input tariffs are lower. Together, these patterns connect firms' purcha…
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Backward Partial Vertical Ownership for Supply Reliability Under Disruption RiskB. Gong, Xiao-Bing Liu, Yan-Lei Guo · 2026 · Systems · Not summarized yet
This paper models backward ownership as a way to improve supplier reliability under disruption risk, rather than estimating ownership effects on lithium access and output.
Abstract
Supply disruption management requires not only operational risk mitigation but also sustained incentives for upstream reliability investment. This study examines whether backward partial vertical ownership can improve delivery reliability when a dominant retailer procures from a manufacturer whose reliability-enhancing effort is costly. We develop a retailer-led Stackelberg model and compare a linear-procurement no-ownership benchmark with a backward-ownership structure in which the retailer obtains a proportional residual claim without direct operational control. The results show that ownership allows part of the upstream return generated by procurement support to flow back to the retailer,…
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Does Nuclear Energy Technology Innovation Enhance Uranium Supply Chain Security? Evidence on Domestic Gains and Cross-Border RisksChao Li, Zi-Qi Cheng, Yu-Qiong Li · 2026 · Energies · Not summarized yet
This paper studies uranium supply-chain security and overseas equity resources, rather than lithium ownership and the effects of divestiture or export restrictions.
Abstract
The global revival of nuclear power raises questions about whether nuclear energy technology innovation strengthens uranium supply chain security. Using a panel of 42 nuclear-related countries and regions from 2007 to 2025, this study constructs a 16-indicator security index covering domestic production and supply, overseas equity resources, domestic resource reserves, and international trade, and measures nuclear energy technology innovation using lagged forward citations to nuclear patents. The results show that innovation significantly improves domestic uranium supply chain security (the baseline coefficient is 0.011, equivalent to about 8.3% of the sample mean). Mediation analysis identi…
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Trade Intermediation and Resilience in Global SourcingOscar Perelló · 2026 · CESifo working papers · Not summarized yet
This paper examines intermediaries’ role in securing imported inputs under risk, rather than ownership-based access to lithium ore.
Abstract
I study the role of trade intermediaries in mitigating supply chain risk. Chilean intermediated imports rise and fewer firms import directly when origin-product risk increases. Firm-to-firm transactions reveal that intermediaries maintain larger and more stable supplier networks, while only larger producers diversify suppliers. I rationalize firms’ sourcing strategies in a model with matching costs and insecure supplier links. Intermediation lowers expected input costs despite brokerage fees, allowing producers to secure inputs without diversifying themselves. A 10 percent increase in global risk lowers operating profits by 3.5 percent and raises consumer prices by 0.9 percent. These losses …
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Updated on 9 November 2026.