Recently, a research paper entitled “Using cognition and risk to explain the intention-behavior gap on bioenergy production: Based on machine learning logistic regression method” was published in Energy Economics. The author of this paper is associate professor He Ke from HZAU Agricultural Resources and Environmental Economics research team.
Taking biogas produced by swine manure as an example, this paper explores the role of cognition and risk in bridging the intention-behavior gap in bioenergy production. Unlike previous studies, the paper finds that as for bioenergy production, a pro-environmental behavior with positive externalities, an individual’s perception of environmental policy plays a greater role in driving the intention-to-behavior transition than the individual’s perception of bioenergy production. From the risk perspective, their results also suggest that the key factor hindering an intention to change behavior is the individual’s risk preferences rather than the degree of risk associated with bioenergy production.
In addition, in the face of the hit of the Covid-19 pandemic on the economy and society, the Agricultural Resources and Environmental Economics research team has been actively committed to conducting research to help fight against the pandemic. And another paper written by associate professor He Ke was published online in China Economic Review entitled “Out of the shadows: Impact of SARS experience on Chinese netizens’ willingness to donate for COVID-19 pandemic prevention and control”.
This paper suggests that people’s early-life experiences with public health emergencies exert an impact on individuals’ willingness to donate for the COVID-19 pandemic prevention and control, which is a new research perspective for public behaviors. The SARS epidemic emerged as a major public health emergency threatening public order in China and the world in late 2002 and provided an opportunity to test that hypothesis in a quasi-natural experiment. The results found that individuals’ SARS epidemic experiences in their early lives, especially during the “childhood-adolescence” period, had a lasting and far-reaching impact on their willingness to donate during the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, the impacts were likely heterogeneous by such sociodemographic factors as educational background, health status and income level. The paper highlighted the importance of applying stigma theory to the pandemic prevention and control for the socio-economic recovery caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and better response to possible public health events in the future.
It is worth mentioning that Agricultural Resources and Environmental Economics research team has leveraged its professional strengths and made great progress in researching the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspective of environmental economics. A third paper by He Ke entitled “Protect Wildlife, Protect us: A Study on the Non-Market Value of Wildlife in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic” is accepted for publication by China Economic Quarterly.
Although the infection source, transmission route and pathogenesis of the virus have not been clearly defined, there is growing evidence that wildlife plays a role in accelerating the spread of virus. From the perspective of environmental economics, this paper shows that the COVID-19 pandemic is proving a protracted one. The value of wildlife is severely underestimated, which in turn sends distorted price signals to the market thus creating an increasing demand for hunting and eating wild animals. Finally, it’s like opening Pandora’s box.
Source: http://news.hzau.edu.cn/2022/0410/62924.shtml
Translated by：Fan Rusi
Supervised by: Pan Buhan
