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This paper aims to examine whether China's grain price support policy has distorted the grain market price.

The time-varying differences-in-differences (DID) model is used to study the impact of support policies on grain prices, and it is combined with the event study method to explore the dynamic effects of price support policy. Panel data model is used to study the effect of the price support policy on price formation for national grain market prices. In addition, we apply the smooth transformation (STR) model to verify whether there is a distortion in the transmission of grain prices among different markets in China and from the international market to China’s market.

China’s grain price support policy plays a significant role in rising grain market prices, weakens the decisive role of the market mechanism in the formation of grain prices, hinders the spatial transmission of market price signals and decreases the effect of price transmission from the world market to China’s market.

In order to ensure both the stability of grain production as well as the market stability, and also to ensure that intervention policies do not distort the food market, the minimum purchase price of grain and market regulation policies should be adjusted as follows: (1) price support policy should be shifted to an income support policy and (2) reasonably determine the scale of reserves and implement a grain minimum purchase price policy in limited areas.

Our findings are relevant for understanding the effect of China's grain price support policies on the implementation regions and the price transmission effect, which provide reference experience for developing countries to implement food price policies.

This study has assessed the thermal performance of locally fabricated bio-based building envelopes made of coconut and corn husk composite bricks to reduce building wall heat transmission load and energy consumption towards green building adaptation.

Samples of coconut fiber (coir) and corn husk fiber bricks were fabricated and tested for their thermophysical properties using the Transient Plane Source (TPS) 2500s instrument. A simulation was conducted using Dynamic Energy Response of Building - Lunds Tekniska Hogskola (DEROB-LTH) to determine indoor temperature variation over 24 h. The time lag and decrement factor, two important parameters in evaluating building envelopes, were also determined.

The time lag of the bio-based composite building envelope was found to be in the range of 4.2–4.6 h for 100 mm thickness block and 10.64–11.5 h for 200 mm thickness block. The decrement factor was also determined to be in the range of 0.87–0.88. The bio-based composite building envelopes were able to maintain the indoor temperature of the model from 25.4 to 27.4 °C, providing a closely stable indoor thermal comfort despite varying outdoor temperatures. The temperature variation in 24 h, was very stable for about 8 h before a degree increment, providing a comfortable indoor temperature for occupants and the need not to rely on air conditions and other mechanical forms of cooling. Potential energy savings also peaked at 529.14 kWh per year.

The findings of this study present opportunities to building developers and engineers in terms of selecting vernacular materials for building envelopes towards green building adaptation, energy savings, reduced construction costs and job creation.

This study presents for the first time, time lag and decrement factor for bio-based composite building envelopes for green building adaptation in hot climates, as found in Ghana.

This study investigates the impacts of the Russia–Ukraine conflict on the cross-correlation between agricultural commodity prices and crude oil prices.

The authors used MultiFractal Detrended Fluctuation Cross-Correlation Analysis (MF-X-DFA) to explore the correlation behavior before and during conflict. The authors analyzed the price connections between future prices for crude oil and agricultural commodities. Data consists of daily futures price returns for agricultural commodities (Corn, Soybean and Wheat) and Crude Oil (Brent) traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange from Aug 3, 2020, to July 29, 2022.

The results suggest that cross-correlation behavior changed after the conflict. The multifractal behavior was observed in the cross correlations. The Russia–Ukraine conflict caused an increase in the series' fractal strength. The study findings showed that the correlations involving the wheat market were higher and anti-persistent behavior was observed.

The study was limited by the number of observations after the Russia–Ukraine conflict.

This study contributes to the literature that investigates the impact of the Russia–Ukraine conflict on the financial market. As this is a recent event, as far as we know, we did not find another study that investigated cross-correlation in agricultural commodities using multifractal analysis.

This study investigate the return and volatility spillover among agricultural commodities and emerging stock markets during various crises, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian-Ukrainian war.

This return and volatility spillover is estimated using Diebold and Yilmaz (2012, 2014) approach.

The results reveal the weak connectedness between agricultural commodities and emerging stock markets. Corn and sugar are the highest and lowest transmitters, respectively, whereas soya bean and coffee are the largest and smallest recipients of spillover over time. Most equity indices are the net recipient except for India, China, Indonesia, Argentina and Mexico, during the entire sample period. Most commodities are net transmitters of volatility spillover except coffee and soya bean. At the same time, major equity indices are the net recipient of the volatility spillover except for India, Indonesia, China, Argentina, Malaysia and Korea. In addition, the return and volatility spillover increase during various crises like the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russian-Ukrainian war, but the major increase in spillovers occurs during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The empirical results show a weak relationship between agricultural commodities and emerging stock markets which is helpful for investors and portfolio managers in the construction and reallocation of their portfolios under different periods, most notably under COVID-19 and the Russian-Ukrainian war.

It is an original paper.

This research aims to elucidate why consumers decide to eat meals that seem to be higher in calories and salt, despite their goal being to consume fewer calories and sodium. Korean participants are to be used for this study. The present research further investigated the impacts of categorization and averaging bias in relation to the health halo phenomenon, specifically focusing on traditional food and textured vegetable protein (soy meat) burgers. Thus, the present research investigated how consumers' intentions contrasted with their consumption goals in food choice circumstances.

We partitioned the survey due to the COVID-19 epidemic. A single, well trained surveyor first surveyed customers at cafés in Seoul and six other Korean cities. We received 102 in-person survey replies. A total of 254 advanced degree or undergraduate students from two universities completed an online questionnaire. There are 356 responses. Two studies were conducted where participants were instructed to evaluate the perceived healthiness, calorie content, and sodium level of different food items. The specifics of each study are elucidated in the main body of the paper.

This study shows that Koreans categorize meals as virtue or vice depending on their perceived healthiness, validating the categorization effect. Furthermore, this research demonstrated that consumers' perceptions of the health benefits of traditional meals and soy meat burgers impact their categorization. Koreans also assessed the average of the vice and virtue and found vice-virtue combination meals healthier than the vice alone. This affects how calories and sodium are perceived. This study also shown that high virtue affects averaging bias more than weak virtue in meals with vice and virtue combo.

This study extended food categorization and averaging bias to non-US consumers and confirmed this contradictory meal choice is universal. Health halo also affects food health perception. The results of this study revealed that Koreans consider traditional food healthier than western junk food. Korean customers incorrectly assume soy meat burgers have fewer calories and sodium than regular burgers. Thus, this study explains Korean consumers' food health misconceptions related to paradoxical consumption.

To maintain the bottom line of food import risk in China, this paper proposes a novel risk state evaluation model based on bottom-line thinking after analyzing the decision-making ideas embedded in the bottom-line thinking method.

First, the order relation analysis method (G1 method) and Laplacian score (LS) are applied to calculate the constant weights of indexes. Then, the worst-case scenario of food import risk can be estimated to strive for the best result, so the penalty state variable weight function is introduced to obtain variable weights of indexes. Finally, the study measures the risk state of China's food import from the overall situation using the set pair analysis (SPA) method and identifies the key factors affecting food import risk.

The risk states of food supply in eight countries are in the state of average potential and partial back potential as a whole. The results indicate that China's food import risks are at medium and upper-medium risk levels in most years, fluctuating slightly from 2010 to 2020. In addition, some factors are diagnosed as the primary control objects for holding the bottom line of food import risk in China, including food output level, food export capacity, bilateral relationship and political risk.

This paper proposes a novel risk state evaluation model following bottom-line thinking for food import risk in China. Besides, SPA is first applied to the risk evaluation of food import, expanding the application field of the SPA method.

Numerical literature shows that agricultural insurance can affect pesticide investments, but few of them are devoted to explain how agricultural insurance affects farmers’ selection on green or traditional pesticides. This paper aims to develop a theoretical model about how agricultural insurance influences on green pesticides selections and tests our conclusions by using the data from China land economic survey (CLES) from 2020 to 2021.

We employ probit model to capture the effects of agricultural insurance on green pesticides adoption.

We indicate that green pesticides have a stronger effect on stabilizing yield and increasing income than traditional pesticides, but there are still risks disturbing farmers’ decisions on green pesticides usage. By providing premium subsidies after the farmers are affected by natural risk, agricultural insurance improves the farmers’ expected income and encourages farmers to use green pesticides. Further, we further confirm these conclusions by considering different scenarios such as climate risks, farmers’ entrepreneurship and credit constraints. We find that the effects are more salient if croplands are under higher natural risks and, farmers are equipped with entrepreneurship and formal credit. This paper implies that the agricultural insurance decoupled with green technologies also have salient positive effects on agricultural pollution control.

The potential contributions of this paper can be outlined in three aspects in detail. Firstly, this paper aims to revel the effects of agricultural insurance on pesticide selection by structuring a general theoretical model. By using the CLES data from 2020 to 2021, we confirm that agricultural insurance increases the probability for adopting green pesticides. Secondly, this paper discusses the effects of farmers’ characteristics on the results and finds that if farmers have entrepreneurship, the effects of agricultural insurance on green pesticide usage will be more salient. Thirdly, it uncovers some practices in China, which will supply experiences for other developing countries. For example, this paper further demonstrates that “insurance + credit” plan the present Chinese government carried out will be an important measure for strengthening effects of agricultural insurance on green pesticides usage. Moreover, it shows that decouple agricultural policies will also guide farmers to use green technologies eventually if the technologies are reliable and farmers can afford.

This study aims to assess dietary choices of pregnant women and its relationship with their anaemia status.

A mixed-method study comprising a survey and three focus group discussions (FGDs). The survey included 380 adult pregnant women with data collected on food choices, preferences and haemoglobin (Hb) status.

More than 50% of women in the study had Hb concentration < 11.0 g/dl; mean Hb was 10.24 g/dl (SD = 1.59). Univariate analysis was used to generate descriptive tabulations for socio-demographic characteristics of respondents, dietary choices for women and anaemia status. T-test and bivariate analysis between dietary diversity score of the women among the food groups consumed as well as their anaemia (Hb) status. This showed that women with high dietary diversity score had improved Hb status (P = 0.003), and those who consumed meat and fish as well as dark leafy vegetables had significantly high diversity scores (P = 0.031 and P = 0.049). Thematic analysis was used for analysing qualitative data.

The sample used in the study is unlikely to be fully representative of pregnant women in the Accra Metropolis. In addition, this study used a cross-sectional study design, making it difficult to establish causal associations between nutritional status and food choice of pregnant women. It does not also show variation in dietary practices by seasons of the year. The scope of the study did not allow for a detailed analysis, and this should be considered in future studies. Also, the study did not explore an obstetric factor like past bleeding history as well as the menstrual cycle of these pregnant women, as these factors are likely to interfere with the anaemia status of the pregnant women.

This paper contributes significant value by specifically focusing on and clarifying the complex relationship between dietary choices and aneamia among pregnant women. It also provides insights into the distinct dietary patterns and preferences of pregnant women, which may be contributing to the high prevalence of aneamia. The results of the study can inform the development of localized, evidence-based interventions to address this critical public health concern, ultimately leading to improved maternal and foetal health outcomes.

Effective agricultural product price regulation policies depend on market integration and the degree of symmetry in the transmission of agricultural product price signals. This study analyzes the transmission and asymmetry of the price series between the Ouagadougou consumer market and assembly markets considering three primary cereal products in Burkina Faso.

This study applies the nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) econometric model, which is an asymmetric extension of the ARDL cointegration model. The price series examined covers the period extending from January 2005 to December 2020.

Our analysis provides novel insights regarding short- and long-term asymmetric effects in the transmission of price signals between assembly markets and the consumer market. We also determine that the effects of negative shocks are more persistent than those of positive shocks in several markets.

For markets that exhibit symmetrical responses of assembly market prices to consumer market prices, the results could reflect the continuous efforts of market players, particularly the government, to eliminate market failures and ensure the long-term efficiency of cereal markets. To this end, an agricultural market information system can have a crucial role in easing information access for all market players.

This study provides new evidence regarding the nature of the transmission and asymmetry of price information on primary cereal products in the largest markets in Burkina Faso. Applying the NARDL model makes it possible to simultaneously estimate short- and long-term asymmetry.

This study aims to use a theoretical-based case study of two distinct ownership groups of the Jack Daniel’s brand to explore how rhetorical history (i.e. malleability of the past for strategic goals) may evoke and capitalize on different forms of nostalgia. Within, the authors configure four forms of nostalgia (i.e. personal, historical, collective and cultural) from the individual or collective interaction and level of direct experience one has with the past as lived or happened.

This study uses an historical research approach which involved the identification of primary and secondary sources, facility tour, source criticism and triangulation to create themes of rhetorical history infused with nostalgic narratives using compelling evidence through rich description of this fusion.

The findings reveal how nostalgia-driven narratives reflecting different collective longing for the re-creation of an American Paradise Lost used by Jack Daniel (i.e. the man) and later but differently by Brown-Forman. This study uncovers how the company’s inherited past was used rhetorically throughout its history, beginning with the nostalgic story of Jack Daniel and the distillery’s nostalgically choreographed location in Lynchburg, Tennessee. This study delves into this setting to highlight the importance of symbols, details, emotional appeals and communications for collective memory and identity development and to showcase the ways in which they are influenced by different types and forms of nostalgia.

This study adds to a limited number of studies focused on understanding the impact of founders on an organization’s brand and how that is malleable. This study responds to scholarly calls to study the influence of sequenced historical rhetoric on an organization and highlight the relevance of social emotions such as nostalgia for rhetorical history. Finally, the theoretical contribution involves the advancing and construction of a theory typology of nostalgia previously proposed by Havlena and Holak in 1996.