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Pesticide overuse has caused a series of negative impacts on environment and human health. The purpose of this paper is to examine the farmers’ behavior of pesticide overuse and to identify the underlying determinants, based on the survey data from Shandong Province, China.

A two-stage semiparametric approach and the binary probit model were employed in this study to analyze the marginal pesticide productivity and investigate the determinants of the pesticide overuse.

Results suggest that the marginal pesticide productivity is negative, indicating a serious overuse of pesticides in the surveyed area. Both market factors and government regulation have impacts on farmers’ use of pesticides.

This study estimates marginal pesticide productivity with an innovative methodology, and explores the role of market factors and government regulation in regulating farmers’ behavior of pesticide use, especially in a typical vegetable growing area and targeting a specific type of vegetable.

Today’s society interest in mobile photography drives consumers’ and brands’ growing usage of Instagram. This paper aims to address the consequences of excessive use of Instagram on the negative feeling of losing information when not connected and the emotional fatigue resulting from an overcharge with new information. The mediating role of addiction between Instagram overuse and the two outcomes is also analyzed.

Data from 342 active Instagram users were used to test the proposed model, applying the partial least square equation modeling method (SmartPLS 3).

Addiction partially mediates the impact of overuse on emotional fatigue and instastress. Addiction to Instagram was mainly due to respondents’ lack of control over the time spent on it resulting in incapability to reduce its usage.

Social networking site managers, educators, families and public institutions should promote an adequate use of Instagram, making users (especially the young) aware of the potential threats of its excessive usage. The control on the amount of time devoted to Instagram is a key factor for detaining overuse and addiction, as well as avoiding the negative outcomes analyzed in this research.

The findings contribute to the extant knowledge on the negative side of the digitization of the individual, as little is known about it to the best of the authors’ knowledge.

La presente investigación aborda las consecuencias del uso excesivo de Instagram relacionadas con el sentimiento negativo de pérdida de información, cuando no se está conectado, y la fatiga emocional derivada de la sobrecarga de información. El estudio también analiza el papel mediador de la adicción entre el uso excesivo de Instagram y ambas consecuencias.

Para testar el modelo propuesto se utilizó información de 342 usuarios activos de Instagram, aplicándose el método de ecuaciones estructurales por mínimos cuadrados parciales (SmartPLS 3).

La adicción media parcialmente el impacto que el uso excesivo de Instagram tiene sobre (i) la fatiga emocional y (ii) el Instastress. La adicción a Instagram se deriva principalmente de la falta de control del tiempo invertido en su uso, lo que da como resultado su incapacidad para reducir dicho uso.

Los responsables de los medios sociales, los educadores, las familias y las instituciones públicas deberían promover un uso adecuado de Instagram, haciendo que los usuarios (especialmente los más jóvenes) sean conscientes de las amenazas potenciales de su uso excesivo. El control sobre la cantidad de tiempo dedicado a Instagram es un factor clave para detener el uso excesivo y la adicción, así como para evitar los resultados negativos analizados en esta investigación.

Los resultados contribuyen a ampliar el conocimiento sobre el lado negativo de la digitalización del individuo, dada la escasa literatura al respecto.

Adicción, Uso excesivo, Instastress, Fatiga emocional, Redes sociales, Instagram

Artículo de investigación

The purpose of this article is to provide a set of practical recommendations or strategies for reducing the potential apathy and/or perceived loss of meaning that may accompany the overuse of common or popular management terms.

The article summarizes possible unintended consequences (i.e. apathy and perceived loss of meaning) that could develop as a result of repetition or overuse that may be associated with the growing popularity of certain management terms as they emerge. Recommendations for minimizing these unintended consequences are provided.

Four recommendations for reducing/minimizing potential apathy or perceived loss of meaning that may be associated with overuse of popular management terms are outlined. Two contemporary management terms (innovation and quality) that have been characterized as overused are utilized for illustration purposes to highlight the application of select recommendations. These recommendations include: acknowledging the potential for apathy; providing a context for the overused term; the use of synonyms; and discussing personal perceptions associated with the term.

The article provides a relatively pragmatic perspective on the unintended consequences of apathy and perceived loss of meaning that may develop as management terms emerge, gain popularity, and potentially become overused. Practical recommendations/strategies for reducing/minimizing these unintended consequences are discussed.

Fertilizer overuse is regarded as one of the main contributors to agricultural pollution and environmental problems in China. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate technical efficiency (TE) and fertilizer overuse index (FOI) with respect to China’s arable agricultural production and examine regional variations in terms of fertilizer overuse.

The maximum likelihood random effects–time varying inefficiency effects model was applied to estimate TE, fertilizer use efficiency (FUE) and FOI.

Over the study period (2011–2015), TE steadily increased for each individual province. Overall, mean annual TE was 0.811, implying that, on average, Chinese provinces could increase output by 18.9 per cent given unchanged levels of inputs and technology. Mean annual FOI ranged from 0.008 to 3.139, with a mean of 0.685, suggesting that there is fertilizer overuse in almost all provinces, and that large regional variation exists. Coastal provinces were found to have the highest TE scores, while the central region showed the highest degree of fertilizer overuse.

The results indicate that fertilizer use has had a significant positive impact on production in the China’s arable agricultural sector. High TE was not necessarily associated with low FUE.

The negative externalities of pesticide overuse increasingly concern the public. However, little empirical evidence has been provided for pesticide overuse and the relationship between the governmental agricultural extension system reforms and pesticide use in grain production from a nationwide perspective. The purpose of this paper is to estimate the productive effect and overuse of pesticides, and it also investigates the effect of the governmental agricultural extension system reforms on pesticide expenditure in rice, maize and wheat production in China.

A two-equation system model consisting of an exponential-specific damage-control production function and a pesticide use function is applied to the provincial-level data during the period 1985–2016.

While pesticide expenditure significantly increases grain productivity, the actual pesticide expenditure exceeds the economically optimal level. The commercialization reform of the governmental agricultural extension system contributed to the increase in pesticide expenditure. Moreover, the de-commercialization reform of the governmental agricultural extension system plays a limited role in pesticide reduction. Price fluctuations for grain and pesticide also impose significant effects on pesticide expenditure.

This study has two important policy implications for pesticide reduction in China. It is urgent to specify the functions of the governmental agricultural extension system, and encourage the development of the socialized agricultural technology service. More efforts should also be made to remove the bureaucratic intervention on the pricing mechanism of grain product and pesticide.

The purpose of this paper is to present evidence about cultural differences between Mexico and China, and analyze their significance when implementing an innovative financial model. Specifically, the authors analyzed the case of the Yunus model (or Grameen model), originally developed in Bangladesh and further implemented in China and Mexico.

This paper uses a comparative quantity study to test the cultural difference which affects the innovative financial model implementation. A materialism and credit overuse value scale (Ponchio and Aranha, 2008; Richins, 2011; Roberts and Jones, 2001) is applied to analyze cultural differences with a sample of 250 people in each country.

The results show that the survey responses are statistically significantly different in these two countries. The Mexican sample shows a greater affinity with luxury and bragging. The Chinese sample shows more responsibility toward credit. Recommendations for the implementation of the innovative financial model considering cultural differences are suggested.

Based on the survey results, gender equality, greater caution with young borrowers, financial education programs, and strict liability agreements to ensure credit repayment, especially for Mexico, are suggested, with the aim of enabling microfinance institutions to increase the successful implementation of the Yunus model in China and Mexico.

There are few existing cultural comparisons between China and Mexico. Therefore, one of the relevant contributions of this work is to shed light on the cultural differences of these two important emerging economies for future research. Additionally, the authors applied a materialism and credit overuse value scale developed to assess consumer behavior as a proxy for culture. The results are relevant for further usage of this scale as a tool to help adapt innovative financial models for application in other cultures.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the factors believed to influence the behavior of 1,042 rice farmers in Malaysia regarding the overuse of pesticides. Frequent overuse of pesticide will have an impact on human health and the environment, which lead to greater expenditure on health care.

The theoretical models of compliance behavior tested include the basic deterrence model, which focuses on the enforcement of regulation as a key determinant of compliance. The models integrate economic theory with theories of social behavior to account for motivations expected, influencing individuals’ decisions on whether to follow the regulation on using pesticides.

Significance tests reported that the information regarding the danger of using pesticides, the perception toward the impact on the environment and the expected impact on health influences the compliance behavior of using pesticides.

These findings highlight the necessity for the policy makers to design an effective program which gives more information and provide training related to the risk and the safe handling of pesticides.

The farmers who receive information and training related to handling of pesticides become more cautious in the use of pesticides. Countries involved in agriculture and the use of pesticides widely by their farmers need to emphasize continuous training and periodic information dissemination.

The implication drawn is rice farmers should be encouraged to practice new methods in rice planting, especially in the integrated pest management method.

These research findings suggest that the overuse of pesticides in the rice farming continues to be an important problem.

In healthcare, overuse and underuse of medical treatments represent equally dangerous deviations from an optimal use equilibrium and arouse concerns about possible implications for patients’ health, and for the healthcare system in terms of both costs and access to medical care. Medical liability plays a dominant role among the elements that can affect these deviations. Therefore, a remarkable economic literature studies how medical decisions are influenced by different levels of liability. In particular, identifying the relation between liability and treatments selection, as well as disentangling the effect of liability from other incentives that might be in place, is a task for sound empirical research. Several studies have already tried to tackle this issue, but much more needs to be done. In this chapter, we offer an overview of the state of the art in the study of the relation between liability and treatments selection. First, we reason on the theoretical mechanisms underpinning the relationship under investigation by presenting the main empirical predictions of the related literature. Second, we provide a comprehensive summary of the existing empirical evidence and its main weaknesses. Finally, we conclude by offering guidelines for further research.

The purpose of this chapter is to examine geographic variations in utilization and need for mental health services. Data for this study were obtained from the 2002 National Survey of American Families. The total sample size was 23,327 adults of aged 18 years and older. Both logistic and linear regression were used to test the possibility of geographical variations. Disparities were found among the 13 U.S. states examined in this study. Results also showed that the percentage of African Americans, state mental health budgets, and mean length of stay in psychiatric hospitals in the state are important predictors of variations in mental health utilization and need variables. These findings suggest that although individual sociodemographic characteristics are important in examining mental health utilization, state characteristics (especially percentage of African Americans, state mental health laws, and mean length of stay in psychiatric hospitals) are also important predictors of variation in utilization of mental health services.

Previous studies indicate adherence to pre-operative antibiotic prophylaxis guidelines has been inadequate. The purpose of this paper is to determine adherence rates to current perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis guidelines in gynecologic surgery at a tertiary care, academic institution. As a secondary outcome, improving guidelines after physician re-education were analyzed.

A retrospective chart review (2,463 patients) was completed. The authors determined if patients received perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis in accordance with current guidelines from the America College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Data were obtained before and after physician tutorials. Quality control was implemented by making guideline failures transparent. Statistical analysis used Fisher’s exact and agreement tests.

In total, 23 percent of patients received antibiotics not indicated across all procedures. This decreased to 9 percent after physician re-education and outcome transparency (p<0.0001). Laparoscopy was the procedure with the lowest guideline compliance prior to education. The compliance improved from 52 to 92 percent (p<0.0001) after re-education.

Gynecologic surgeons overuse antibiotics for surgical prophylaxis. Physician re-education and transparency were shown to enhance compliance.

Educational tutorials are an effective strategy for encouraging physicians to improve outcomes, which, in turn, allows the healthcare system a non-punitive way to monitor quality and mitigate cost.