Risk aversion, marketing outlets, and biological control practice adoption: insight from pear farmers in China.

Biological control (BC) is an important component of green control techniques, and its adoption in the production of fresh produce holds economic and ecological importance as an alternative to chemical pesticides, yet its current adoption rate is not high. To clarify the issue, this study analyzes the factors that influence growers' adoption of BC practices in China's orchard systems. We focus on how marketing outlets and risk attitudes affect farmers' adoption of BC practices. A field survey of 327 pear growers was conducted in three main pear-producing areas of Hebei, Shandong, and Hubei provinces of China between October and December 2020. Results show that farmers' risk aversion has a significant and negative impact on their adoption of BC practices. The market environment is another dramatic factor affecting farmers' adoption. Both green certification and cooperative marketing have a significant role in promoting farmers' adoption of BC practices. Our findings highlight the importance of risk reduction and market environment to BC adoption. Furthermore, it can provide critical information for policymakers in formulating strategies to promote the application and extension of BC practices among farmers in developing countries, such as China.

Survey on public awareness, attitudes and self-protective behavior adoption in different periods of COVID-19.

Introduction: The outbreak and spread of the pandemics have been an issue of critical concern globally, posing a significant threat to the health sector globally. This study aimed to examine the basic knowledge and attitudes toward the recommended protective measures at different times, respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, and provide recommendations for developing targeted strategies and measures for preventing and controlling public health emergencies. Methods: The study used self-filled questionnaires to examine the public's knowledge, attitudes, and practices on COVID-19 at two different period, from 20 to 31 March 2020 (the beginning period) and 22-27 April 2022 (the regular epidemic prevention and control period). Descriptive and quantitative analyses were used for statistical analysis. Results and discussion: The survey collected 2375 valid questionnaires. A comparison of the two periods reveals that as the epidemic continued over a long period, the level of knowledge, attitudes toward preventive measures, risk perceptions, and adoption behavior of the respondents at the beginning of the epidemic were significantly higher than during the regular epidemic prevention and control period. With the upsurge in the spread of the epidemic, the public needs a multi-channel, targeted, and all-round guidance and information on prevention and control of the COVID-19, and internalizes knowledge into individual's behavior of actively responding to diseases.When the epidemic lasts for a long time, the relevant agencies should strengthen their monitoring role to promote public compliance with the recommended measures.

How Do Spillover Effects Influence the Food Safety Strategies of Companies? New Orientation of Regulations for Food Safety.

The food safety strategies of companies are a key point in the reduction of food safety risks. In order to encourage the evolution of food safety strategies of companies from food fraud to safety investment, this study builds an evolutionary game model, taking large and small companies as participants, to reveal the dynamic process of spillover effects influencing the choice of food safety strategies of companies. The study shows that (1) the food safety strategies of companies change from safety investment to food fraud, along with the increasing opportunity costs of safety investment. (2) The costs structure of small companies mainly determines whether the industry reaches the equilibrium of safety investment, while the costs structure of large companies mainly determines whether the industry reaches the equilibrium of food fraud. (3) Both competition effects and contagion effects encourage companies to choose safety investment. The more obvious spillover effects of incidents on food safety are, the more likely it is that companies will choose safety investments. (4) Increasing the costs to companies for incidents on food safety and reducing the opportunity cost of safety investment motivates companies to choose safety investment. Consequently, a new orientation of regulations for food safety is formed: the government should allocate different regulatory resources to counteract food fraud behaviors or technologies with a different benefit, should increase the technical costs and costs incurred from committing acts of food fraud, and should expand spillover effects of incidents on food safety.

Consumer food stockpiling behavior and willingness to pay for food reserves in COVID-19.

Consumer behavior changes differently in emergencies. Understanding consumer food stockpiling behavior during COVID-19 pandemic can provide critical information for governments and policymakers to adjust inventory and response strategies. This paper analyzed consumer food stockpiling behavior, including the change of food reserve scale and willingness to pay for fresh food reserves in COVID-19. Our paper shows that the scale of food reserve extends from 3.37 to 7.37 days after the outbreak of COVID-19; if available, consumers on average are willing to pay 18.14 yuan (60.47%) premium for fresh products reserves. The result shows that food stockpiling behavior is fueled by a set of multiple motivations and subjective risk perception. Female, high education level and high-income consumers were more likely to reserve larger scale food reserves, but consumers' willingness to pay for fresh food reserves is determined by income. This study was conducted when new infection cases continued to rise in the world. The story of food stockpiling during the COVID-19 pandemic in China is similar with the rest of world. Consumer stockpiling behavior in China can also be expanded to other countries to predict the change of food demand and understand more about consumer preferences in emergencies.