Effects of COVID-19 outbreak in pricing and collaboration of a health-social dual-channel supply chain.

The coronavirus pandemic has affected most aspects of product supply and consumer behaviors and led to transformations in the supply chain. The COVID-19 pandemic and the requirements to reduce its prevalence have led many people to shop online and encouraged many manufacturers to sell their products online. In this study, a manufacturer, who intends to possess an online sales channel, and a retailer, who has an in-person sales channel, are considered. Then, pricing strategies and collaboration mechanisms between them in the health-social dual-channel supply chain are investigated. This study is developed in three models, including centralized, decentralized, and collaborated under Stackelberg game, whereas the optimal price of products in each channel, level of implementation of health and safety protocols in retailers, advertising level, and status of online shopping performance are obtained for improving customer trust. Moreover, the demand is represented as a function of selling prices of products in online and in-person shops, compliance level of health protocols, level of online shopping performance, and advertising in health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the centralized model provides more profit for the manufacturer, the collaborated model provides the highest profit for the retailer. Thus, since the supply chain profit of centralized and collaborated models is close, the collaboration model is the best option for members in this situation. Sensitivity analysis is finally performed to evaluate the impact of key parameters, and then according to obtained results, some management insights are suggested for the dual-channel supply chain during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Simulations of scenarios for urban household water and energy consumption.

The expansion of cities and their impacts currently constitutes a challenge for the achievement of sustainable development goals (SDGs). In this respect, assessments of resource consumption and the delivery of appropriate policies to support resource conservation are of paramount importance. Previous works in the literature have focused on one specific resource (e.g., water, energy, food) at the household level, while others have analysed the inter-relations among different resources (i.e., the nexus approach) at larger spatial scales (e.g., urban level). Moreover, household behavioural attitudes are generally excluded while assessing resource consumption scenarios. This work overcomes previous limitations by proposing a causal-loop structure derived from the literature, from which simulations of different scenarios can be generated that consider the nexus between food, energy and water at the household level. These simulations can provide alternative scenarios to assess the impacts of monetary policies as well as education and communication actions on the enhancement of resource savings and consider both their current use and household preferences. The metropolitan area of Napoli was chosen as the testbed area for the simulations. The results, in relation to the testbed, proved that communication actions would be most appropriate to increase the level of resource savings. The business-as-usual scenario was especially sensitive to variations in individual preferences towards pro-environmental behaviours and showed their higher impacts on the results. Improvements of this method and its derived scenarios in the context of the urban planning process could support the implementation of informed policies towards the conservation of key resources and promotion of sustainable citizen behaviour.

Live and Wet Markets: Food Access versus the Risk of Disease Emergence.

Emerging zoonotic diseases exert a significant burden on human health and have considerable socioeconomic impact worldwide. In Asia, live animals as well as animal products are commonly sold in informal markets. The interaction of humans, live domestic animals for sale, food products, and wild and scavenging animals, creates a risk for emerging infectious diseases. Such markets have been in the spotlight as sources of zoonotic viruses, for example, avian influenza viruses and coronaviruses, Here, we bring data together on the global impact of live and wet markets on the emergence of zoonotic diseases. We discuss how benefits can be maximized and risks minimized and conclude that current regulations should be implemented or revised, to mitigate the risk of new diseases emerging in the future.

To buy or not buy food online: The impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on the adoption of e-commerce in China.

Drawing on a recent online survey combined with city-level data, this paper examines the impact of the COVID-19 on consumers' online food purchase behavior in the short term. To address the potential endogeneity issues, we adopt an instrumental variable (IV) strategy, using the distance from the surveyed city to Wuhan as the instrumental variable. We show that our IV method is effective in minimizing potential bias. It is found that the share of confirmed COVID-19 cases increases the possibility of consumers purchasing food online. This is more likely to be the case for young people having a lower perceived risk of online purchases and living in large cities. Despite some limitations, this paper has policy implications for China and other countries that have been influenced by the COVID-19 epidemic. Specifically, government support and regulation should focus on (i) ensuring the safety of food sold on the internet, (ii) protecting the carrier from becoming infected, and (iii) providing financial support to the poor since they may have difficulties in obtaining access to food living in small cities. Moreover, how to help those who are unable to purchase food online because of their technical skills (e.g., the elderly who are not familiar with smart phones or the internet) also deserves more attention for the government and the public.