scholarly journals The impact of epidemics on agricultural production and forecast of COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 409-425 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shurui Zhang ◽  
Shuo Wang ◽  
Lingran Yuan ◽  
Xiaoguang Liu ◽  
Binlei Gong

PurposeThis article investigates the mechanism of the direct and indirect effects of epidemics on agricultural production and projects the impact of COVID-19 on agricultural output in China.Design/methodology/approachThis article first adopts a dynamic panel model and spatial Durbin model to estimate the direct and indirect effects, followed by a growth accounting method to identify the channels by which epidemics affect agriculture; finally, it projects the overall impact of COVID-19 on agriculture.FindingsThe incidence rate of epidemics in a province has a negative impact on that province's own agricultural productivity, but the increase in the input factors (land, fertilizer and machinery) can make up for the loss and thus lead to insignificant direct effects. However, this “input-offset-productivity” mechanism fails to radiate to the surrounding provinces and therefore leads to significant indirect/spillover effects. It is projected that COVID-19 will lower China's agricultural growth rate by 0.4%–2.0% in 2020 under different scenarios.Research limitations/implicationsIt is crucial to establish a timely disclosure and sharing system of epidemic information across provinces, improve the support and resilience of agricultural production in the short run and accelerate the process of agricultural modernization in the long run.Originality/valueConsidering the infectivity of epidemics, this article evaluates the mechanism of the direct and indirect effects by introducing a spatial dynamic model into the growth accounting framework. Moreover, besides the impact on input portfolio and productivity, this article also investigates whether epidemics reshape agricultural production processes due to panic effects and control measures.

2007 ◽  
Vol 30 (12) ◽  
pp. 892-914 ◽  
Author(s):  
Glenn A. Metts

PurposeThe paper's purpose is to investigate the direct and indirect effects of industry competitive forces on strategy‐making and performance in small‐to‐medium‐sized manufacturing companies.Design/methodology/approachThe paper's approach is a survey design with structural equation modeling used for hypotheses testing.FindingsThe findings provide strong support for the mitigating role of managerial action through the strategy‐making process and indications that this is true regardless of small‐to‐medium‐sized enterprise (SME) size. Also, automotive‐manufacturing SMEs seem to exhibit higher levels of competitive factors compared with non‐automotive manufacturing SMEs.Research limitations/implicationsThe major limitation of this research is that the survey was taken in the Mid‐western USA and involved only SME manufacturing organizations. The research should be extended to other geographic regions, industry types, and larger organizations.Practical implicationsMany small company managers feel that they have little impact on industry‐wide macro‐economic and industry‐specific forces. This research indicates that managers in SMEs can mitigate some of the negative effects of industry competitive factors through strategy‐making activities.Originality/valueThis research is unique in several ways. It is the only research that has clearly identified and successfully measured the impact of managerial action in SMEs. It demonstrates that managerial action can be measured by comparing the direct and indirect effects of industry competitive forces on performance. It further identifies the need for a self‐assessment tool to measure the effectiveness of managerial action of top managers in SMEs.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mingze Wu ◽  
Yueji Zhu ◽  
Qi Yang

Purpose Farmers' adaptation strategies in agricultural production are required to minimise the negative impact of climate change on a nation's food production in developing countries. Based on the panel data of the provincial level in China from 2000 to 2017, this study aims to analyse the changing climate over recent years and farmers' adaptation strategy in terms of cropping in agricultural production. Design/methodology/approach This study uses Simpson's diversity index (SDI) to measure the degree of crop diversity planted by farmers and evaluate the influence of climate change on farmers' cropping strategy using the fixed-effect model. Further, the authors estimate the impact of farmers' cropping strategy on their economic performances in two aspects including yields and technical efficiency of crops. Findings The empirical results show that the overall climate appears a warming trend. Different from farmers in some other countries, Chinese farmers tend to adopt a more specialised cropping strategy which can significantly improve the technical efficiency and yields of crops in agriculture. In addition, as a moderating role, the specialised cropping can help farmers to alleviate the negative impact of climate change on technical efficiency of their crops. Originality/value First, previous studies showed that the changing climate influenced farmers' adaptation strategies, while most studies focussed on multiple adaptation strategies from the farm-level perspective rather than cropping strategy from the nation-level perspective. Second, the present study investigates how the cropping strategy affects the economic performance (in terms of the technical efficiency and crop yields) of agricultural production. Third, the stochastic frontier analysis method is used to estimate the technical efficiency. Fourth, this study explores the moderating effect between farmers' cropping strategy and technical efficiency by introducing an interaction item of SDI and accumulated temperature.


2014 ◽  
Vol 116 (6) ◽  
pp. 931-951 ◽  
Author(s):  
Domenico Dentoni ◽  
Glynn T. Tonsor ◽  
Roger Calantone ◽  
H. Christopher Peterson

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to disentangle the direct and indirect effects of three credence labels (Australian, animal welfare and grass-fed) on US consumer attitudes toward buying beef steaks. Furthermore, it explores the impact of consumer attribute knowledge, usage frequency, education and opinion strength on the magnitude of direct and indirect effects. Design/methodology/approach – Data are collected through an online experiment with 460 US consumers and analyzed with path modeling. Findings – The Australian label generates a 86 percent negative direct effect vs a 14 percent negative indirect effect on consumer attitudes, which means that US consumers do not make strong inferences to form their attitudes toward buying Australian beef. The animal welfare label generates 50 percent direct and 50 percent indirect effects. The grass-fed label generates only indirect effects (100 percent). The higher consumer education, attribute knowledge, usage frequency, education and opinion strength, the weaker are the indirect effects of credence labels. Research limitations/implications – The study focusses on consumers in one country (USA), one product (beef steak) and one label across three attributes, therefore generalization of results is limited. Practical implications – The study offers a tool to agribusiness managers as well as to policy makers, NGOs and consumer groups to design and assess the effectiveness of communication campaigns attempting to strengthen (or weaken) consumer inferences and attitudes relative to credence labels. Originality/value – Despite the wide literature on consumer inferences based on credence labels, this is the first study that quantitatively disentangles the complex set of inferential effects generated by credence labels and explores common relationships across multiple credence attributes.


Author(s):  
Rhys Jenkins

The chapter considers three key aspects of China’s economic impact on Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). First, the direct and indirect effects of increased Chinese demand for commodities, which benefitted a number of SSA economies in the short and medium term, are looked at. China’s major contribution to development in the region has been through financing and building infrastructure. Finally, the impact on SSA manufacturing is analyzed. Despite concerns about the negative impact on domestic industry, it only appears to be a major problem in South Africa. However, optimistic views of the potential for Chinese firms to contribute to industrialization in the region appear over-optimistic. The chapter also includes case studies of the impact of China’s economic involvement in Angola, Ethiopia, and South Africa, which represent three different types of Sino-African relations.


2014 ◽  
Vol 32 (7) ◽  
pp. 754-768 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trang T.M. Nguyen ◽  
Tho Dinh Nguyen

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the mediating roles of cultural sensitivity and information exchange in the impact of market orientation on relationship quality. Design/methodology/approach – Using a survey data set collected from a systematic sample of 297 Vietnamese exporters, the authors tested a model that depicts the direct and indirect effects of market orientation on relationship quality. Findings – The authors found that market orientation has both direct and indirect effects, mediated by cultural sensitivity and information exchange, on relationship quality. Research limitations/implications – A major limitation of this study is the investigation only one side of the dyad, the exporter. Future research should use data collected from two sides of the dyad, the exporter and the importer. Practical implications – The results of this study suggest that, exporters, who want to maintain high quality relationships with importers, should adopt a market-oriented strategy to enhance the degree of cultural sensitization to as well as the level of exchange of information with their importers. Originality/value – This study enhances the understanding of predictors of relationship quality in export markets by confirming the mediating role of cultural sensitivity and information exchange in the impact of market orientation on relationship quality.


Author(s):  
Mireia Las Heras ◽  
Spela Trefalt ◽  
Pablo Ignacio Escribano

Purpose – The purpose of this study was to examine how national context moderates the impact of family supportive supervisory behavior (FSSB) on employee’s job performance and turnover intentions. The authors consider direct and indirect (through work–family positive spillover) effects of FSSB. Our model is based on conservation of resources (COR) theory and boundary theory. The authors conceptualize national context as contributing resources to or threatening with loss of resources for individuals. To test the model, the authors use data from three Latin American countries – Brazil, Chile and Ecuador. Design/methodology/approach – This is a cross-sectional study based on a survey of almost 988 individuals. The authors first test the direct and indirect effects (via bi-directional positive spillover) of FSBB on performance and turnover intentions without considering the moderating effects of national context (mediation analysis). Then, the authors test the effect of national context in our baseline model by conducting a moderation analysis of direct and indirect effects. The authors use seemingly unrelated regressions and account for control variables and country-level effects. Findings – The results confirm that national context affects the relationships between FSSB and outcomes. As unemployment rises, the effect of FSSB on turnover intentions is stronger and the effect of FSSB on performance, via bi-directional work–family positive spillover, is stronger. When social expenditures increase, the relationship between FSSB and performance via work–family positive spillover becomes weaker. In addition, the authors find some unexpected results. Originality/value – The authors advance the understanding of how national context affects the impact of FSSB on outcomes, specifically in Latin America. The authors conceptualize national context as providing or threatening individuals’ resources, using publicly available data on unemployment and social expenditures.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Zahin Ansari ◽  
Syed Hameedur Rahman Zaini ◽  
Monizah Parwez ◽  
Asif Akhtar

Purpose The outbreak of the new coronavirus has caused tremendous concerns to public health, which are impacting human lives both physically and psychologically. The rise in coronavirus cases has led to the propagation of control measures for its prevention. This study aims to investigate the factors enhancing the coronavirus preventive behavior among the respondents. Design/methodology/approach To understand the coronavirus preventive behavior, the study is based on the value–belief–norm (VBN) theory. Data for the study has been collected through a survey of 319 respondents in New Delhi, India. The study uses structural equation modeling (SEM) to understand the factors impacting preventive behavior. For analysis, the study uses SEM to examine direct and indirect relationships and Hayes’ PROCESS macro SPSS module for moderating effects. Findings The results show that egoistic values have a negative impact on belief while altruistic values have a positive impact on the belief about the coronavirus outbreak. Belief is recorded to have a positive and significant impact on preventive behavior. Also, personal norms positively mediate the relationship between belief and preventive behavior. Additionally, the impact of awareness of preventive behavior is positively moderated by the symptomatic profile. Furthermore, the interaction effect is found to be conditioned positively with age and level of education. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no other work in the existing literature was found to apply the VBN theory to determine coronavirus preventive behavior. Further, the extensive moderation analysis done in this study is expected to be a significant contribution to the literature.


Author(s):  
Marina Yiasemidou

AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic and infection control measures had an unavoidable impact on surgical services. During the first wave of the pandemic, elective surgery, endoscopy, and ‘face-to-face’ clinics were discontinued after recommendations from professional bodies. In addition, training courses, examinations, conferences, and training rotations were postponed or cancelled. Inadvertently, infection control and prevention measures, both within and outside hospitals, have caused a significant negative impact on training. At the same time, they have given space to new technologies, like telemedicine and platforms for webinars, to blossom. While the recovery phase is well underway in some parts of the world, most surgical services are not operating at full capacity. Unfortunately, some countries are still battling a second or third wave of the pandemic with severely negative consequences on surgical services. Several studies have looked into the impact of COVID-19 on surgical training. Here, an objective overview of studies from different parts of the world is presented. Also, evidence-based solutions are suggested for future surgical training interventions.


2019 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 910-920 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sani Abubakar Saddiq ◽  
Abu Sufian Abu Bakar

Purpose The purpose of the study is to investigate the impact of economic and financial crimes on the economies of emerging and developing countries. Design/methodology/approach Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic review and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines and meta-analysis of economics research reporting guidelines were used to conduct a quantitative synthesis of empirical evidence on the impact of economic and financial crimes in developing and emerging countries. Findings A total of 103 studies were searched, out of which 6 met the selection/eligibility criteria of this systematic review. The six selected studies indicated that economic and financial crimes have a negative impact in emerging and developing countries. Originality/value To the best knowledge of the authors, no published systematic review of the impact of economic and financial crimes in developing countries has been conducted to date.


2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 417-429 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Carriger

Purpose Much has been written in both the management and finance literatures about the impact of downsizing on the financial health and market valuation of companies. However, surprisingly little attention has been paid to the frequency of downsizing and the impact of frequent downsizings. The purpose of this paper is to look at trends in downsizing, asking the question are companies that downsize once more likely to downsize again. The paper also looks at the impact of frequent downsizing, asking the question are frequent downsizers differentially impacted compared to less frequent downsizers. Design/methodology/approach Companies that appeared on the Fortune 500 in 2014 and were also on the list in 2008 were assessed for the impact of repeat downsizings on financial measures (profitability, efficiency, debt, and revenue) and market valuation. A trend analysis was conducted to assess the trend in downsizing and repeated downsizing from 2008 through 2014. A series of univariate analysis of variances were conducted to assess the impact of repeated downsizings on the financial and market valuation indicators. Findings Findings indicate that companies that downsize between 2008 and 2009 were more likely to downsize again in future years. And this repeat downsizing happened at a higher rate than would be expected by the percentage of companies that initially downsized. Findings also indicate that multiple downsizings had a significantly negative impact on the company’s financial performance as measured by two profitability ratios (return on assets and return on investment) and a borderline significant negative impact on the company’s market valuation as measured by stock equity, regardless of industry or initial financial health of the company. Originality/value Two competing theories were considered and the evidence found here support both. However, the “band-aid solution” theory, that downsizing may function as a band-aid addressing the symptoms that lead to the downsizing but not the underlying disorder or cause may be a more parsimonious explanation for the results here. It is hoped that these findings will inform both scholars and practitioners, giving both a clearer picture of the impact of multiple downsizings on corporate performance.


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