Impacts of information about COVID-19 on pig farmers'production willingness and behavior:Evidence from China

This paper examines the impacts of information about COVID-19 on pig farmers'production willingness by using endorsement experiments and follow-up surveys conducted in 2020 and 2021 in China.Our results show that,first,farmers were less willing to scale up production when they received information about COVID-19.The information in 2020 that the second wave of COVID-19 might occur without a vaccine reduced farmers'willingness to scale up by 13.4%,while the information in 2021 that COVID-19 might continue to spread despite the introduction of vaccine reduced farmers'willingness by 4.4%.Second,farmers whose production was affected by COVID-19 were considerably less willing to scale up,given the access to COVID-19 information.Third,farmers'production willingness can predict their actual production behavior.

Factors influencing willingness to participate in ophthalmic clinical trials and strategies for effective recruitment

AIM:To explore the factors influencing individuals’willingness to participate in ophthalmic clinical trials.METHODS:A questionnaire survey was conducted from January to April 2021 among patients and their family members at Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center,Sun Yat-sen University,in Guangzhou,China.The survey gathered data on respondents’willingness,demographic and socioeconomic profiles,as well as their reasons and concerns regarding engagement in clinical trials.RESULTS:Of the 1078 residents surveyed(mean age 31.2±13.1y;65.8%females)in Guangzhou,749(69.5%)expressed a willingness to participate in future ophthalmic clinical trials.Specific characteristics associated with greater willingness included a younger age,lower annual income,higher education,prior participation experience,previous ophthalmic treatment,and a better understanding of clinical trials.With the exception of age,these characteristics were significantly linked to a higher willingness.The primary barrier to participation,expressed by 64.8%of those willing and 54.4%of those unwilling,was“Uncertain efficacy”.In terms of motivations,the willing group ranked“Better therapeutic benefits”(35.0%),“Professional monitoring”(34.3%),and“Trust in healthcare professionals”(33.1%)as their top three reasons,whereas the unwilling participants indicated“Full comprehension of the protocol”(46.2%)as the key facilitator.CONCLUSION:This study reveals a substantial willingness to participate in ophthalmic clinical trials and demonstrates the predictive role of demographic and socioeconomic factors.Variations in motivators and concerns between willing and unwilling participants highlight the significance of tailored recruitment strategies.Importantly,the need for and trust in healthcare professionals stand out as powerful motivations,underscoring the importance of enhancing physician-patient relationships,adopting patient-centered communication approaches,and addressing individualized needs to improve accrual rates.

Impact of Sharing Marketing on Marketing Willingness of Employees in Internet Decoration Industry

With the development of information technology,sharing marketing,as an innovative marketing method,plays an important role in promoting the marketing willingness and enthusiasm of employees in the Internet decoration industry.Based on the data obtained from the ques-tionnaire survey,this paper makes an empirical analysis of the impact of the economic value,social value,perceived ease of use,perceived convenience,enabling conditions and subjective norms of sharing marketing on the marketing willingness of employees in the Internet decoration industry.The results showed that the questionnaire had good internal consistency and construct validity.Through empirical analysis,it can be found that the economic value,social value,perceived ease of use,perceived convenience,enabling conditions and subjective norms of sharing marketing have a significant positive impact on employees'marketing willingness.

On Tibetan Students' Willingness to Communicate in EFL Classroom

Set as the primary and ultimate goal of language teaching process by MacIntyre et al.(1998),willingness to communicate in second language(L2 WTC) has been put much attention in L2 acquisition field.This study examined quantitatively the willingness to communicate in English as a foreign language(EFL WTC) in Tibetan context with a questionnaire.Tibetan college students' EFL WTC was found significantly lower than Han students.No significant difference was found between Tibetan male and female students in their EFL WTC.Causes were explored andsome pedagogical suggestions were made in this study.

Analysis on Influential Factors of Peasants' Willingness to Exit Homestead in Regions with Different Economy Development Levels——Taihe Village,Chaohu County-Level City,and Ancang Village,Taihu County as Examples

The research concluded peasants＇ willingness on homestead exiting and influential factors by questionnaire survey and interviewing in two villages with varied levels of economic development in Anhui Province.Comparisons were performed on subjective factors and objective factors were explored by Logistic regression.The results showed that both of education background and homestead use have positive correlation with peasants＇ willingness on homestead exit;the number of family members has negative effects on peasants in advanced village but the number of migrant workers or members living in cities has positive effects;the area of homestead has positive effects on peasants in underdeveloped village.Therefore,the emphasis should be varied on homestead exit upon village economy and it is necessary to reinforce homestead exit promotion at improving immigrants＇ reception work,social security,employment,and education.

Willingness to pay for colorectal cancer screening in Guangzhou

AIM To measure the willingness to pay for colorectal cancer screening in Guangzhou, and to identify those factors associated with it. METHODS A face-to-face questionnaire survey for pre-screening population from free and non-free colonoscopy districts was used to collect information on demographic characteristics, health behaviours, the intention of the cancer screenings and willingness to pay for colorectal cancer screening. A total of 1243 participants who took part in the pre-screening for colorectal cancer in Guangzhou were collected in the study. Categorical data were compared using the χ~2 test to analyse significant differences. Non-conditional logistic regression and multi-class logistic regression were also performed for multivariate analysis and to estimate the odds ratios.RESULTS The percentage of participants willing to pay for colorectal cancer screening was 91.7%. "Unnecessary" was the dominant reason that participants gave for their unwillingness, accounting for 63.1%. Of those who were willing to pay, 29.2%, 20.7%, 14.8%, 13.0% and 22.4% of participants were willing to pay less than $100, $100-$199, $200-299, $300-$399 and more than $400, respectively. Non-logistic regression analysis showed that respondents who were male, had a high level of education, were from the family with more children/older to raise, and accepted colorectal cancer screening were willing to pay for this screening. Multi-class logistic regression analysis showed that respondents with higher annual household income per capita, from government and private enterprises, government agency/institution and peasants, and less family medical expenditure were willing to pay more.CONCLUSION Willingness to pay for colorectal cancer screening in Guangzhou is high, but the amount of willing to pay is not much.

Residents’ Willingness to Pay for Improving Air Quality in Jinan, China

Along with the progress of urbanization and environ- mental deterioration, residents’ desire for improved air quality is increasing. In order to quantify an individual’s willingness-to-pay (WTP) for improved air quality in Jinan of eastern China, a contingent valuation method (CVM) was employed. A sample of 1,500 residents was chosen on the basis of multistage sampling methods with face-to-face interviews by using a series of hypo-thetical, open-ended scenario questions which were designed to elicit the respondents’ WTP. Results showed that 59.7% of respondents were able to express their WTP and the mean WTP is 100 Chinese Yuan (CNY) per person per year. A probit model on the probability of a positive WTP and a regression model were developed to find the relationship between endogenous variables and WTP. Most parameters in the econometric analysis had the expected sign. Annual household income and expenditure on treating respiratory diseases significantly influence WTP. The rates of positive WTP and the monetary amount are larger for men than for women. Results also showed that people who lived in more polluted areas were willing to pay more for clean air. Unlike developed countries, clean air may only be considered as a public good in China in that more than 40% of respondents had no incen- tive to bear the costs of attempting to achieve better air quality, which indicates the relatively low environmental consciousness.

Willingness of farmers to participate in food traceability systems:improving the level of food safety

In order to solve frequently emerging food safety problems and adapt to the developing trends in the international food safety field, the Chinese government is establishing and developing food traceability systems. Whether or not food traceability sys- tems can guarantee food safety is a problem well worth discussing. Hence, we constructed a theoretical model to explore the effect of incentives in a food traceability system in order to improve food safety levels. The following results were obtained： enhancing the ef- fectiveness of a food traceability system, increasing the payment to farmers who supply safe agricultural products and strengthening the penalty for unsafe food supply actions are necessary conditions to improve the level of food safety. How to encourage farmers to use food traceability systems is another problem explored in our investigation. Based on a field survey on the willingness of vegetable growers to participate using a vegetable traceability system in Beijing, the first city in China to develop such a system, we used a de- scriptive statistics and a binary logistic regression model to investigate the factors which dominate the decision on the part of farmers to participate in a food safety system. The results indicate that i： younger farmers are more likely to get involved in a food traceability system than older farmers, ii： income from non-agricultural activities decreases the willingness of farmers to participate, iii： the high- er the cost-benefit ratio of growing vegetables, the more likely for farmers to engage in a food traceability system, iv： farmers with a great concern for food safety information have a high propensity to participate and v： increased penalties against unsafe food supply actions and high-risk expectation are adverse incentives. In contrast, high-price expectation is a positive incentive for farmers to par- ticipate, while agricultural training, government subsidies and being part of an industrial organization will significantly strengthen the confidence of farmers to participate in a food safety system.

Chinese Public's Willingness to Pay for CO＿2 Emissions Reductions: A Case Study from Four Provinces/Cities

Contingent Valuation Method(CVM) was used to investigate the Chinese public's willingness to pay(WTP) for a policy to reduce CO2 emissions. Face to face interviews were conducted to collect 1,653 valid questionnaires from Beijing, Shanghai, Shandong province, and Fujian province. A model was constructed to understand the factors that influence WTP. The results indicate that the Chinese public is willing to pay CN 201.86 annually to support the policy of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Participants from Beijing show the highest WTP, followed by participants from Fujian and Shandong, while those from Shanghai report the lowest WTP. The findings reveal that participants with higher income, higher satisfaction with their current life, and awareness of climate issues are willing to pay more for CO2 emissions reductions. In addition, those who are young, male and members of the Communist Party also indicate a higher WTP. The results imply that translating the public's willingness to protect climate into actions should be taken into account in China's low carbon policy. There is a need to consider the difference in degree of willingness, among different social groups, to pay for emissions reductions if the market-based mechanisms such as carbon tax were designed to facilitate emissions reductions.

Research on the Willingness to Accept Compensation and Compensation Sharing of Returning Land for Farming to Forestry in Zhangjiakou and Chengde Region

[Objective] The aim was to study the willingness to accept compensation and compensation sharing of returning land for farming to forestry in Zhangjiakou and Chengde region.[Method] Based on the investigation of farmers’ willingness to accept ecological compensation in Zhangjiakou and Chengde region,farmers’ willingness to accept compensation was quantized,and the calculation model of sharing rate of ecological compensation was established,finally the sharing rate of ecological compensation was calculated choosing water supply quantity as reference.[Result] Farmers’ willingness to accept compensation in Zhangjiakou and Chengde region was 2 740.5 yuan/(hm2·a),and returned farmland area was 429 700 hm2 in 2008,so the willingness to accept ecological compensation was up to 1.178 billion yuan/a.In addition,the ecological compensation sharing rate of government was 37.60% in Beijing,42.75% in Tianjing and 19.64% in Tangshan,and their ecological compensation funds were 443,504 and 231 million yuan,respectively.[Conclusion] The study could provide important foundation for the establishment of ecological compensation standard and implementation of ecological compensation in Zhangjiakou and Chengde region.

Willingness of Rural Households in Mountainous Areas towards Land Transfer——A Case of Beiliang Village, Wuxiang County, Shanxi Province

In this paper, the Beiliang Village, Wuxiang County of Shanxi Province is chosen as the study object. The methods investigation and interview are applied. And then the status quo of land transfer is analyzed from the aspects of private land transfer, the form of land transference, the land transfer fee, the contracts of the land transfer and farmers' knowledge on land transfer law and so on. Through the investigation and research on peasant households' willingness towards land transfer and the factors that affect the land transfer, the willingness of farmers' land transfer in recent years are transferred. Farmers' land transfer willingness in recent years is clear. On the strength of the analysis, the scientific basis for the reasonable transfer of land in mountainous areas is put forward for optimizing the land distribution and promoting the sustainable and healthy development of rural economy. The countermeasures aim at accelerating land transfer, increasing farmers' income; stringing the development of rural education, increasing the support on three agricultural problems concerning agriculture, countryside and farmers, and standardizing the rural land transfer behaviors are put forwarded as well.

South Carolina forestland owners’ willingness to accept compensations for carbon sequestration

Background: Carbon sequestration through recommended forest management practices is an ecosystem service that helps mitigate climate change and its impacts while generating carbon credits for forestland owners to sell in cap-and-trade programs. The California’s cap-and-trade program (California’s carbon market hereafter) allows forestland owners from any part of the contiguous United States to supply carbon credits to compliance entities. In this study, we estimate South Carolina (SC) private forestland owners’willingness to accept compensations to participate in the California’s carbon market using a contingent valuation method. Results: We estimate forestland owners’mean willingness to accept as$67 per acre per year. Our results reveal higher probability of participation of forestland owners with interests in preserving forest ecosystems than those who do not. Additionally, forestland owners who trust in information about climate change from scientists or government are willing to participate more than those who do not. Conclusions: Various factors hinder landowners’ability to participate in carbon markets. Forestland owners in SC consider legislative uncertainty and long-time commitment as the main barriers to participation in California’s carbon market. From this research, average forestland tenure in SC is 27 years, which is far less than the 100-year time commitment of the California’s carbon market. Of those who agreed to participate, choosing between adopting and not adopting any of the three main forest management practices in the California’s carbon market:28% are likely to adopt improved forest management (IFM) practices, 24% are likely to adopt reforestation due to understocked forestlands, and 14% are likely to adopt avoided conversion. In another development, the concept of aggregation has dominated discussions in the California’s carbon market of late. It is an advocacy to include small-scale forestlands in the California’s carbon market. To aggregate, different forestland owners will combine their forestlands to participate. We find that 79% of SC forestland owners are willing to aggregate to participate. However, this research is unable to determine how much total forestland is available in SC for carbon market. We recommend future research in the State on forestland owners’participation in carbon market should consider evaluating forestland availability.

Reported Willingness and Associated Factors Related to Utilization of Voluntary Counseling and Testing Services by Female Sex Workers in Shandong Province,China

Objective To explore reported willingness and factors associated with utilization of voluntary counseling and testing services by female sex workers （FSWs） in China and to offer recommendations to optimize use of such services. Methods A questionnaire to explore willingness to use VCT was designed based on social ecological theory and formative qualitative research. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among FSWs from entertainment venues. Single and multiple logistic regression analyses were employed to examine factors associated with reported willingness to utilize VCT. Results A total of 970 FSWs provided valid questionnaires, with 69% （669） expressing willingness to utilize VCT. Factors at the interpersonal level associated with reported willingness included knowledge about VCT, desire to get help if diagnosed as HIV positive, ability to imagine life after an HIV positive diagnosis, and perceived support for VCT from peers, managers, and family members. Availability of free antiretroviral （ARV） treatment represented a factor at policy level. Other factors included intention to leave sex work in the near future, having had a previous HIV test, and lack of a suspected STD history. Conclusions The rate of reported willingness to use VCT among FSWs was substantially higher than that of actual VCT utilization （11%）. The next step is to explore the connection between reported willingness and actual use. Based on these findings, peer education, VCT knowledge dissemination, and free ARV treatment should be emphasized to increase FSWs＇ willingness to use VCT.

Biham-Middleton-Levine model in consideration of cooperative willingness

In this paper, the Biham-Middleton-Levine （BML） model with consideration of cooperative willingness has been proposed to study the traffic flow in urban networks. An evolutionary game with a cooperative willingness profile is intro-duced to deal with conflicts between disturbing neighbors. Simulation results suggest that imitating cooperative willingness can ease the effect of premature seizure on traffic flow due to the introduction of evolutionary games. Phase diagrams with a strategy profile and cooperative willingness profile have been investigated in detail. Our findings also prove that by imitating the more successful, cooperative willingness instead of simply the more successful strategies, the evolution of cooperation is significantly promoted, hence improving the order of cooperation and relieving the pressure of traffic networks.

Willingness to Pay for Measures of Managing the Health Effects of Heat Wave in Beijing,China:a Cross-sectional Survey

Objective There are evidences that heat wave events cause deaths and emergency cases. This article used the contingent valuation method to find the willingness to pay for the protective measures and investigated the factors that influence the willingness to pay. Methods A cross-sectional face-to-face household survey was completed by 637 urban long-term residents and 591 rural long-term residents aged 15-79 in Beijing, China. Binary logistic regression was used to identify factors that influenced the payment rate or payment amount for the protective measures, including independent variables for district, gender, age, education, income, air conditioner ownership, heat wave experience, and chronic non-communicable disease. Results The payment rate was 41.1% for protective measures provided by the government and 39.5% by measures provided by the market. Most of the respondents were willing to pay 40 CNY per capita annually for measures provided by the government or the market. The factors influencing willingness to pay were district, gender, income, air conditioner ownership, heat wave experience, and chronic non-communicable disease. Conclusion Protective measures for heat waves need to be provided immediately. More attention should be paid to the situation of vulnerable groups, such as people who live in urban areas, those without air conditioning, and those who have experienced a heat wave in the past.

Assessment of Willingness to Pay as a Source of Financing for the Sustainable Development of Barobbob Watershed in Nueva Vizcaya, Philippines

This study employed the Contingent Valuation Method to assess the willingness to pay of water users, as a source of financing for the sustainable development of Barobbob Watershed. The WTP study was conducted among 345 waters users in 19 barangays in the municipalities of Solano and Bayombong. Uncensored data revealed that 63.8% (58.84% for the adjusted) of the respondents revealed willingness to pay for improved watershed management. The mean WTP amount, estimated through a logit model, Turnbull Distributor-Free Estimator and Lower Bound Estimate, is found to be PhP39.35, PhP27.80 and PhP25.90/month/household, respectively. Respondents WTP is influenced by bid amount, age, membership in environmental organization, experience with water-related problems, civil status, house ownership, and awareness on the concept of watershed. Respondents were willing to pay because they wanted a sustainable water supply for the present and future generations. A payment scheme is possible and it could provide a sustainable flow of fund, however, the willingness percentages still needed to be increased. Community education and public awareness (CEPA) campaign is necessary to enhance the water users’ knowledge and understand about the importance and values of watersheds. Ultimately, WTP percentage and WTP amounts would increase.

Willingness to Pay (WTP) for an Improved Environmental Quality in Ebonyi State, Nigeria

Increasing generation of rice husk requires better quality disposal options in Ebonyi State, Nigeria. The common practice has been incineration or dumping into dumpsite. The enormous heaps of these rice husks which have piled up since the 1960s now constitute nuisance. Removal of this rice husk from the environment is urgently needed because of the environmental pollution and health hazards it poses to the people and the environs. This study estimates the willingness to pay (WTP) for improved waste disposal services. Findings indicated that about 95% (152) of the households were willing to pay for removal of rice husk waste with an average amount of N957. Factors that positively affected WTP for the removal of rice husk from the environment include annual income (0.001), years of education (0.013), farm size (0.051), age (0.025) and farming experience (0.008), while household size (0.003) and distances of homes/farms from rice mill centers (RMCs) (0.001) were inversely related to WTP with the R2 value of 77%. About 90% (144) of the respondents generated rice husk with an average of 23 bags (kg). The study therefore recommends among others that through the help of extension agents, the general public should be informed on the need for waste recycling and the need for attitudinal change towards recycled product.

Analysis of Consumers' Willingness to Pay for Traceable Fresh Fruits in Shanghai City and Countermeasures

By the survey of consumers' behaviour of purchasing fresh fruits, this paper researches the group characteristics of people who consume traceable fresh fruits, and analyses the main factors influencing consumers' willingness to purchase. Based on this, corresponding proposals are put forward as follows: first, the government should not only focus on supervision and regulation over food security, but also strengthen the education of food security knowledge, publicity and promotion of traceable system; second, the government and related enterprise should particularly pay attention to the impact of consumers' individual characteristics on willingness to purchase and purchase behaviours, and work out feasible strategy of traceable food marketing, according to consumers' preferences, consumers' attention to health, consumers' attention to the healthy growth of children and other factors; finally, when implementing the system, the state and the government should take into full account the average income level of consumers, give full play to the effect of scale merit, and work out the reasonable price that can be accepted by most of consumers.

Study on Communication Effect of Food Safety Risk in Social Media:the Influence of Response Effort Level on Consumption Willingness Change

By constructing influence model for communication effect of food safety risk in social media environment,the influences of different response manners taken by relevant enterprises on consumers' cognition and purchasing intention are analyzed,and influence mechanisms of response effort level,interaction and content reliability on consumers' attitudes are revealed. Based on quasi-experimental study with three kinds of response effort levels,it is found that content reliability,interaction and effort degree of enterprise response under negative information of food safety event have significant impacts on communication effect and consumers' purchasing intention.

Pig farmers’ willingness to recover their production under COVID-19 pandemic shock in China-Empirical evidence from a farm survey

Pig farmers’willingness to recover production under the COVID-19 pandemic shock is significant to recover live pigs’supply in China in 2020.Increasing farmers’willingness to recover pig production contributes to enhance pig supply,stabilize the pig and pork market,and to improve pig farmers’income.This research studies the determinants of pig farmers’willingness to recover production under COVID-19 pandemic shock by applying survey data of 201 farmers in Huai’an City and Lin’an City and a logit regression model.The estimation results show that a farmer’s risk perception,the duration time of a farmer’s feed supply under COVID-19 pandemic shock,whether or not being a cooperative member,and a farmer’s knowledge on government’s policy designed to encourage pig production,a farmer’s education level and production experience are the key determinants to a farmer’s willingness to recover pig production.Thus,it’s important for policymakers to solve the problems for farmers to get access to feed during the pandemic,to encourage the development of cooperatives,as well as to issue and advocate policies to encourage pig production.The study contributes to the scant literature by providing fresh empirical evidences on determinants of farmers’willingness to recover pig production.It has significance to farmers and governments to enhance farmers’willingness to recover production,which contributes to secure pig supply in China after the COVID-19 pandemic.