Spatiotemporal evolution of online attention to vaccines since 2011: An empirical study in China.

Since the outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), the Chinese government has taken a number of measures to effectively control the pandemic. By the end of 2021, China achieved a full vaccination rate higher than 85%. The Chinese Plan provides an important model for the global fight against COVID-19. Internet search reflects the public's attention toward and potential demand for a particular thing. Research on the spatiotemporal characteristics of online attention to vaccines can determine the spatiotemporal distribution of vaccine demand in China and provides a basis for global public health policy making. This study analyzes the spatiotemporal characteristics of online attention to vaccines and their influencing factors in 31 provinces/municipalities in mainland China with Baidu Index as the data source by using geographic concentration index, coefficient of variation, GeoDetector, and other methods. The following findings are presented. First, online attention to vaccines showed an overall upward trend in China since 2011, especially after 2016. Significant seasonal differences and an unbalanced monthly distribution were observed. Second, there was an obvious geographical imbalance in online attention to vaccines among the provinces/municipalities, generally exhibiting a spatial pattern of "high in the east and low in the west." Low aggregation and obvious spatial dispersion among the provinces/municipalities were also observed. The geographic distribution of hot and cold spots of online attention to vaccines has clear boundaries. The hot spots are mainly distributed in the central-eastern provinces and the cold spots are in the western provinces. Third, the spatiotemporal differences in online attention to vaccines are the combined result of socioeconomic level, socio-demographic characteristics, and disease control level.

Digital Technology, Knowledge Level, and Food Safety Governance: Implications for National Healthcare System.

Exploring the intrinsic relationship between digital technology and the efficiency of food safety supervision contributes to a better understanding of the role of digital technology in food safety supervision and how to maximize its influence. This study employed sample data from 31 regions in China between 2015 and 2017 for an empirical analysis of the correlation between the two and to examine the moderating effects of the knowledge levels of food producers and consumers. The results show that the development of digital technology contributes to enhancing the efficiency of food safety supervision. In this process, the higher the knowledge level of consumers, the greater the positive promotional effect of digital technology. On the contrary, when the knowledge level of producers is higher, it is not conducive to enhancing the effect of digital technology on the efficiency of food safety supervision. The author holds the view that this is related to the fact that employees in the food production and manufacturing industry have insufficient moral and legal knowledge. This not only limits the effect of digital technology on enhancing the efficiency of food safety supervision, but also opens the door to illegal production for some unprincipled producers. The policy implications are that digital technology should be used to improve food safety supervision, the moral and legal knowledge of food producers should be improved, and consumers should be encouraged to use digital technology more in the pursuit of food safety. Implications for national healthcare system would be also discussed in our paper.

Has COVID-19 Changed China's Digital Trade?-Implications for Health Economics.

Digital technologies have played a significant role in the defense against the COVID-19 pandemic. This development raises the question of whether digital technologies have helped Chinese exports recover quickly and even grow. To answer this question, we study monthly data on Chinese exports to 40 countries/regions from January 2019 to June 2020 and covering 97 product categories. The study takes the COVID-19 outbreak as a natural experiment and treats digital trade products as the treatment group. Using a generalized difference-in-differences (DID) approach, we empirically investigate how this major global public health crisis and digital trade have influenced Chinese exports. Our empirical analysis reveals that the COVID-19 pandemic has inhibited China's export trade overall, digital trade has significantly promoted trade, and the supply mechanism has played a significant role in promoting the recovery of exports. Heterogeneity tests on destination countries/regions reveal that digital trade has significantly promoted exports to countries/regions with different income levels, with a more significant effect on low-risk destinations than on high-risk destinations. The sector heterogeneity test demonstrates that digital trade has enhanced the export recovery of sectors dealing in necessities for pandemic prevention. Other robustness tests, including parallel trend and placebo tests, support the above conclusions. Finally, we extend the research conclusions and discuss their implication for health economics and the practice of fighting COVID-19.

Has COVID-19 Changed China's Digital Trade?—Implications for Health Economics

Digital technologies have played a significant role in the defense against the COVID-19 pandemic. This development raises the question of whether digital technologies have helped Chinese exports recover quickly and even grow. To answer this question, we study monthly data on Chinese exports to 40 countries/regions from January 2019 to June 2020 and covering 97 product categories. The study takes the COVID-19 outbreak as a natural experiment and treats digital trade products as the treatment group. Using a generalized difference-in-differences (DID) approach, we empirically investigate how this major global public health crisis and digital trade have influenced Chinese exports. Our empirical analysis reveals that the COVID-19 pandemic has inhibited China's export trade overall, digital trade has significantly promoted trade, and the supply mechanism has played a significant role in promoting the recovery of exports. Heterogeneity tests on destination countries/regions reveal that digital trade has significantly promoted exports to countries/regions with different income levels, with a more significant effect on low-risk destinations than on high-risk destinations. The sector heterogeneity test demonstrates that digital trade has enhanced the export recovery of sectors dealing in necessities for pandemic prevention. Other robustness tests, including parallel trend and placebo tests, support the above conclusions. Finally, we extend the research conclusions and discuss their implication for health economics and the practice of fighting COVID-19.