Julio Botero

Countries aim to reduce fossil fuel usage and related environmental issues through various demand- and supply-side policies. Numerous studies have assessed the policies’ overview. However, analysis of the impacts and effectiveness of these policies in addressing transport-related CO₂ emissions is limited globally and in countries like New Zealand, which have a lower CO₂ emissions energy intensity compared to Europe, Asia, and Oceania averages. Therefore, this study first analyses the trends in energy consumption and CO₂ emissions within the transport sector across the ten largest total CO₂-emitting countries, as well as the ten largest transport CO₂-emitting OECD countries. It then provides a systematic review of the relevant policies and, finally, estimates two econometric models to explore the effects of these policies on the energy market, aimed at reducing GHG emissions globally from the transport sector, with New Zealand as a case study. The study findings indicate that the transport sector remains a significant contributor to global fossil fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions, accounting for 40.4% and 23.3%, respectively, in 2024. The ten largest CO₂-emitting countries—China, the United States, India, Russia, Japan, Germany, South Korea, Iran, Canada, and Saudi Arabia—are responsible for 68% of global emissions. Additionally, the ten OECD countries, except the US, with the highest transport CO₂ emissions—Japan, Germany, South Korea, Canada, Mexico, the UK, Italy, France, Spain, and Australia—accounted for 15.7% of the world’s total transport CO₂ emissions. Although the share of renewable energy and electricity consumption in the transport sector has steadily risen to 3.54% and 1.4%, respectively, in 2022, further adoption of these sources can considerably lower greenhouse gas emissions in this sector. Results also indicate that both demand- and supply-side policies effectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions, with their impact amplified when implemented together. In New Zealand, demand-side policies have proven to be more effective in reducing emissions than supply-side strategies alone, though combining them is the most efficient approach. This study emphasizes the importance of strategic policy implementation to guide the world toward sustainable development.

Adhering to a gluten‐free diet (GFD) is essential for individuals with gluten‐related disorders such as coeliac disease, dermatitis herpetiformis, gluten ataxia, and wheat allergy. Approximately 1%‐2% of the population is affected by these conditions. Access to affordable, high‐quality gluten‐free products (GFPs) is crucial for maintaining dietary compliance and well‐being. This study explores the experiences of those on a GFD, focusing on the availability, quality, and cost of GFPs compared to non‐GFPs. The study was conducted in two stages: (1) An online survey was distributed to Australian Coeliac Association and Coeliac New Zealand members to gather data on shopping habits, preferred GFPs, and opinions on product availability, value, and quality. (2) Retail observations involved creating a ‘shopping basket/list’ based on survey results to compare the availability and price of GFPs versus non‐GFPs in major supermarkets across urban and rural areas. Results from 1501 Australian and 700 New Zealand respondents and retail observations revealed that GFPs are significantly more expensive and of lower quality than non‐GFPs. Commonly purchased items include bread, pasta, crackers, flour, and breakfast cereals. The study highlights the need for improved availability, affordability, and quality of GFPs, especially in bridging the cost disparity between urban and rural areas.

The trend toward sustainable and healthy food consumption has stimulated widespread debate. US consumers demand healthy and sustainable food options and are increasingly interested in alternative proteins such as macro-algae, also known as sea-vegetables. The present study is built on the responses of an online survey aiming to explore US consumers’ commitment towards varying sea-vegetable-based products. Affordability, sustainability, taste, environmental friendliness, and health benefits, as well as product novelty and versatility, were the factors under investigation. All factors were found to be equally strong predictors for sea-vegetable product commitment. Best-practice recommendations for US food marketers and agricultural producers are also provided.

Lifestyle changes towards sustainable and healthy diets have given rise to superfoods. Sea vegetables, which are otherwise known as edible seaweeds fall in the category of superfoods and are perceived as sustainable and ethical food options. The present study is dedicated to US consumers’ willingness to buy and their willingness to pay a price premium for sea vegetables, providing insights and best-practice recommendations for marketing managers in the US food retail and gastronomy. An online consumer survey was distributed to explore predictors explaining willingness to buy and pay a price premium. Food engagement, food attributes, consumer knowledge, and health importance were the investigated predictors covered in the survey. Descriptive statistics and partial least square structural equation modelling were used to analyze the data. Food engagement and sea vegetable intrinsic and extrinsic attributes were identified as the strongest predictors for both willingness to buy and to pay a price premium. In contrast, health importance only influenced willingness to buy, and consumer knowledge only influenced willingness to pay a price premium. By focusing on the forms of consumer behavior with high commitment and exploring and validating the factors driving these consumers’ behaviors, the study fills an important research gap.

Alternative forms of food procurement have increased in consumer popularity since the occurrence of food price inflation and the ongoing recession in the U.S. The present study explores predictors such as food engagement, food-related COVID-19 concerns, and the importance of sustainable foraging practices as determinants for U.S. consumers’ preferences for food foraging. Two scenarios are investigated, the preference for food foraging over growing food and food foraging over regular food buying. The study is based on an online consumer survey (n = 401) and used partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) for the data analysis. Results indicate that food engagement is the strongest predictor for both foraging over buying and foraging over growing scenarios. However, food-related COVID-19 concern appears to only be relevant for the foraging over buying scenario and the importance of sustainable growing practices is only relevant for the foraging over growing scenario. These findings are important because they indicate the attitudinal triggers of food foraging and are therefore of relevance to foraging communities and managers in municipalities, food retail, and horticultural businesses who are associated with traditional and alternative forms of food procurement.

This study investigates how and to what extent mechanization in land preparation (MLP) can help improve irrigation water productivity (IWP) (measured as rice yield per unit volume of irrigation water). We employed an endogenous treatment regression model to estimate the 2021 China Land Economic Survey (CLES) data collected from Jiangsu province, China. The results reveal that MLP adoption increases IWP significantly; a higher IWP is determined by whether or not farmers adopt MLP rather than through which channel they access their farm machines; the effects of MLP adoption on IWP are monotonically increasing across the selected quantiles.

While positive emotions like happiness and life satisfaction have received great attention, how to eliminate negative affect is largely neglected. This study contributes to the literature by examining the relationship between Internet use and people’s negative affect. Unlike previous studies that consider only one indicator, we capture negative affect from different dimensions by considering loneliness, sadness, and life hardship. We employ an endogenous ordered probit model to address the selection bias of Internet use and analyze the 20,107 individual-level samples sourced from the 2020 China Family Panel Studies survey. The results show that Internet use significantly reduces people’s loneliness, sadness, and life hardship. We also find that studying online and watching short videos would increase people’s loneliness feeling and shopping online deepens people’s life hardship. In contrast, using WeChat significantly reduces sadness and life hardship. Our findings confirm that guiding people to use the Internet appropriately is necessary to reduce negative affect and improve the quality of their life.

The Internet is integral to modern living. While the Internet is ubiquitous in China's urban areas, its uptake is still lagging in the country's rural regions—the development potential of the Internet remains untapped, and despite China's steep economic growth during the 21st century, the living standards in its rural regions remain low. The Internet can accelerate rural development in China. This study is focused on analyzing whether and to what extent Internet use affects consumption diversity, an indicator of the quality of life, in rural China. To this end, we employ the instrumental‐variable‐based two‐stage endogenous treatment regression model to analyze the 2018 China Family Panel Studies survey data. The modeling approach allows us to account for the endogeneity of Internet use. The results show that consumption diversity is positively associated with Internet use. Furthermore, it rises with household income, household size, and wealth. Whether the Internet is accessed via smartphones or computers has no bearing on household consumption diversity. We also find that education, household income, and wealth increase one's predicted probability of using the Internet. The results also point to regional differences in consumption diversity and the likelihood of using the Internet.