Building an internal capital market inside the supply chain: a new challenge[La mise en place d’un marché interne du capital au sein de la chaîne logistique : un nouveau défi]

This paper focuses on medium- and long-term investment in the supply chain as a condition of its sustainability and growth. The conditions for setting up internal capital are briefly described. This is a market where specific investments could be selected in a collaborative way by the supply chain partners. A large spectrum of possibilities is covered, from a case of strong information asymmetry inhibiting its creation, to a sufficient transparency scenario allowing capital asset pricing rules to take place. The chain is then compared, with respect to its investment behaviour, to a diversified or a conglomerate firm. An attempt is then made to infer what could be the most appropriate cost of capital to use inside the supply chain to decide which investments to undertake, knowing that agency costs should be taken into account. Finally it is advocated that a strong governance system should be settled within the supply chain to eradicate or at least to mitigate strategic behaviour coming from partners.