Public preference for sustainable land use policies – Empirical results from multinomial logit model analysis

Public preferences for sustainable land use policy instruments and the motivations behind such preferences are important to make appropriate policies. Based on survey data (n = 309) from northeastern Somalia, we examined preferences for a set of land use policy instruments relative to no policy (i.e. the current status quo) and how cultural worldviews predict such preferences. We used a multinomial logit model to analyze the comparative evaluation of choices due to its interpretability and robustness to violations of normality. Overall, the results show that the respondents are likely to consent to all types of land use policy instruments relative to no policy and are more inclined to market-based and informational policy instruments. Specifically, preferences for regulatory policy instruments are positively associated with hierarchy and egalitarian worldviews and are negatively associated with fatalism and individualistic worldviews with only hierarchy and fatalism are significant. The market-based policy instrument is desirable to all cultural worldviews except fatalism, but only egalitarian and individual worldviews are significant. Preferences for informational policy instruments are positively associated with all cultural worldviews but only egalitarian worldviews showed a significant effect. Although there are some contradictions, these results are broadly consistent with the proposition of the cultural theory of risk. This study highlights that preferences for land use policies are heterogeneous with cultural worldviews mainly explaining the sources of this heterogeneity. It is evident that the respondents were willing to consent to land use policies relative to the status quo of no policy and indicates the need for concerted effort to reduce land degradation and deforestation in the country. We, therefore, recommend that policymakers incorporate the different ways that humans perceive and interpret social-environmental relations into policy decisions to achieve sustainable policy outcomes.

Determinants of Rural Households’ Poultry Chicken Breeds Choice in Wolaita, Ethiopia

To achieve increased productivity in poultry chicken, households’ choice of poultry chicken breeds should be maintained according to their desirability. This study aimed at identifying determinants of rural households’ choice of poultry chicken breeds keeping in Wolaita, Ethiopia. Multistage sampling techniques were used. First, Damot Pulasa district was selected purposively because of high poultry production potential, and then simple random sampling technique was used to select five kebeles and at third stage systematic random sampling was used to select 160 rural households. Data were collected through interview schedule and analyzed using descriptive statistics and econometric regression. Result showed that 54.37% of households owned indigenous poultry chicken breed, 38% owned exotic poultry chicken breeds and 7.63% owned both indigenous and exotic poultry chicken breeds. Households attached socioeconomic, demographic and institutional factors and breed related traits to their poultry chicken breed choices. Indigenous chicken breeds were preferred in mothering ability, disease resistance, scavenging ability; taste of meat and egg traits whereas exotic poultry chicken breeds were preferred for growth rate, productivity and total eggs laid per chicken per year. In addition, Multinomial Logit model result indicated that age and education level of household head determined poultry chicken breed choice. To be effective and efficient any poultry chicken breed promotion effort in the future should consider these particular preferences of households.

Analysis of Factors Influencing Credit Access of Vietnamese Informal Labors in the Time of COVID-19 Pandemic

Credit is considered as an essential tool to make informal labor’s income better. In order to improve quality of their life, the state should have some supports them in credit access. This study analyzes factors causing credit access of informal labors to be changed in the time of COVID-19 pandemic. Using survey data collected from 2020 VHSSL (2019–2020), this approach has two models including a binary logit model and a multinomial logit model (MLM). The results revealed that the positive factors including education, material, collateral, credit size, credit source, credit debt which are likely to affect to credit access, however age, family size, ethnicity, interest, paid money are negative. Besides, it also concludes that quality of life of informal labor is considerably influenced by credit access, collateral, credit source, credit debt from the observed samples. Additionally, this paper recommends some policies to enhance informal labor’s access to credit and their quality of life.

Choice Experiment Performed on the Fresh Black Slavonian Pig’s Meat: A Preliminary Study

Until now, no research has been carried out in Croatia into consumer preferences for a particular agricultural and food product by a choice experiment. Therefore, little data are available about Croatian consumers' preferences for social concerns (sustainability, biodiversity, rural development and animal welfare) with regard to the consumer choice and behavior favoring local pig breeds, in this case the Black Slavonian Pig breed. A survey was the method used to collect the data, and a survey questionnaire was used as an instrument. The survey was performed on a sample of n = 100 Croatian consumers surveyed online using a hypothetical choice experiment. The data were analyzed using the three logit models: a multinomial logit model (MNL), random parameter logit (RPL), and an error component random parameter logit model (RPL-EC) in order to examine the consumers’ heterogeneous preferences for fresh ham meat of the Black Slavonian Pig. The results suggest that the Croatian consumers appreciated a darker red fresh pork meat than the one obtained from the Black Slavonian Pig reared outdoors and semi-outdoor. They also prefer a fresh meat bearing a geographical information label, such as the continental Croatia and continental Croatia + PDO, to a fresh meat without a label.

The Different Classification of Hospitals Impact on the Equity of Medical Outcomes of Patients in China

Background: In the context of Healthy China Strategy, the traditional idea that large hospitals provide better medical care is still deeply rooted in people's minds. The characteristics of the medical inverted pyramid structure—higher-level medical institutions are overwhelmed, while lower-level medical institutions are deserted—have existed for a long time. Because of the unreasonable allocation of resources, it is difficult to meet the healthcare needs of citizens and to establish a tiered delivery system. The objective of this paper is to study the effect of different classification of hospitals (COH) on the equity of Medical Outcomes of patients.Methods: The data used was from Urban Employee Basic Medical Insurance (UEBMI) enrolment records of Chengdu. We conducted a retrospective study and used Nested Multinomial Logit Model (NMNL) to estimate the effect of COH on the equity of Medical Outcomes.Results: COH had a significant effect on the equity of Medical Outcomes, but the effectiveness and direction of the hospital level on different outcomes were not consistent. The reimbursement rate, medical expenditures, gender, age, disease type and others factors were associated with the effect(p<0.01); length of stay has a limited effect on health outcomes. It was not the case that the longer the hospital stay was, the higher the quality of care would be. When COH was distinguished, there were significant differences in the effect of different levels of hospitals on the equity of Medical Outcomes. Horizontally speaking, hospitals of the same level had different effects on different the equity of Medical Outcomes(p<0.01). From a longitudinal perspective, different levels of hospitals had different effects on the equity of Medical Outcomes(p<0.01). It was not the case that the higher the level of hospital, the better the medical outcome. When hospital levels and disease types were distinguished, the effect of hospitals of different levels on the medical outcome of different disease types was significantly different.Conclusions: COH made a difference in the equity of Medical Outcomes. Hospitals of different levels should be reasonably selected according to disease types to achieve the optimal medical outcome. Therefore, China should promote the construction of a tiered delivery system.

A Multi-Country Comparison of Consumers’ Preferences for Imported Fruits and Vegetables

Within Asia, imported fruits and vegetables are often considered as a delicacy and of high value, and are increasingly demanded compared to local products. There are numerous significant factors involved with consumers’ characteristics and their corresponding values towards these products. This study investigates potential consumers and their preferences towards imported fruits and vegetables in three Asian countries: Taiwan, Japan, and Indonesia. A total of 1350 survey responses collected from Taiwan, Japan, and Indonesia are examined by a best–worst scaling method with a latent class multinomial logit model. Results show that consumers tend to choose imported fruits that are not commonly provided by domestic producers. While a food safety certified label and freshness are consistently identified as the most and second most important food values for Taiwanese, Japanese, and Indonesian consumers, price is still an important factor for certain consumer groups. The majority of Taiwanese and Japanese consumers (i.e., female, higher education, and from an urban area) prefer imported fruits and vegetables, while the majority of Indonesian consumers do not pay much attention to imported fruits and vegetables. While Taiwan, Japan, and Indonesia are island countries, the novelty of this study shows that consumer preferences do not behave the same. The implications of this study should be of interest to producers and exporters who wish to positively impact the design of their international marketing strategies.

The Influence of Political Capital on Peasants’ Migration Behavior and Its Implications

This study examined the influence of political capital on the migration behavior of peasant households in China’s equitable urbanization. While existing research has proven that political capital can increase the wages of migrant workers, leading to a higher possibility of their rural-to-urban migration, the direct impact of political capital on migration behavior has not received sufficient attention. As China is one of the largest emerging economies, the impact of political capital on the economy and political transformation is typical. This paper reports a survey of 1120 farmer households from Xinxiang, a traditional agricultural area in central China. Using a binary logit model to test whether peasant households will migrate and a multinomial logit model to test where they will migrate to, this study examined whether political capital had a significant influence on the migration behavior of peasant households. The results suggest that the peasant households with political capital have a higher possibility of moving to urban areas, even though there is a better habitational option, namely, a new village in the local rural area. This suggests that reducing the difference in the political capital of migrants through policy propaganda and other methods is an efficient and effective way to achieve and improve equitable access to urbanization.

Omnichannel Assortment Optimization Under the Multinomial Logit Model with a Features Tree

Problem definition: We consider the assortment optimization problem of a retailer that operates a physical store and an online store. The products that can be offered are described by their features. Customers purchase among the products that are offered in their preferred store. However, customers who purchase from the online store can first test out products offered in the physical store. These customers revise their preferences for online products based on the features that are shared with the in-store products. The full assortment is offered online, and the goal is to select an assortment for the physical store to maximize the retailer’s total expected revenue. Academic/practical relevance: The physical store’s assortment affects preferences for online products. Unlike traditional assortment optimization, the physical store’s assortment influences revenue from both stores. Methodology: We introduce a features tree to organize products by features. The nonleaf vertices on the tree correspond to features, and the leaf vertices correspond to products. The ancestors of a leaf correspond to features of the product. Customers choose among the products within their store’s assortment according to the multinomial logit model. We consider two settings; either all customers purchase online after viewing products in the physical store, or we have a mix of customers purchasing from each store. Results: When all customers purchase online, we give an efficient algorithm to find the optimal assortment to display in the physical store. With a mix of customers, the problem becomes NP-hard, and we give a fully polynomial-time approximation scheme. We numerically demonstrate that we can closely approximate the case where products have arbitrary combinations of features without a tree structure and that our fully polynomial-time approximation scheme performs remarkably well. Managerial implications: We characterize conditions under which it is optimal to display expensive products with underrated features and expose inexpensive products with overrated features.

Predictors of patients’ choice of hospitals under universal health coverage: a case study of the Nicaraguan capital

Background This study looks at the factors that can shape patients’ choice of healthcare providers. Understanding this process can help with making high quality healthcare more accessible for all. We focus on distance, patient’s health status, (perceived) quality of healthcare facility, and referrals to investigate how these factors compete in shaping patients’ choice of hospitals. Methods This study was carried out in Managua, the capital of Nicaragua. Utilizing an exit-survey, patients were interviewed across five public hospitals in 2017 and then six in 2019 when a new highly-equipped hospital was added to the system. We used a multinomial logit model to investigate patients’ preference of a specific hospital over the rest within each wave. Results Our results show that being referred to a hospital is the strongest predictor and in some cases, it can increase the relative risk ratio of choosing a facility by a factor of 49 (p < 0.01; 95% CI: 27.39–87.17). For the remaining factors, the hierarchy of importance was less clear-cut yet all these factors remained significantly important at various levels. Conclusions Overall, our results highlight the importance of referral systems in making quality healthcare more equitable. Moreover, with distance also being a key predictor and in the absence of an organized referral system, those with low-income would either be further deprived by having to settle with locally available healthcare (regardless of its quality) or face high amounts of out-of-pocket expenditure when seeking help from the private sector.