Assessing the role of internet in reducing overuse of livestock antibiotics by utilizing combination of novel damage control and 2-SLS approaches: Risk, responsibility, and action

Abstract

Reducing farmers' overuse of livestock antibiotics is very essential to ensure food, environment, and public health safety. Currently, the "internet + " has emerged as a new initiative to stimulate the development of rural industries by alleviating farmers' information constraints, lack of skills, and knowledge deficiencies. However, very few studies have focused on this issue, and studies specifically focused on the role of the Internet in reducing the overuse of livestock antibiotics are still very limited. To fill this existing research gap, this study aims to investigate the role of the Internet in reducing the overuse of livestock antibiotics using data of 426 farmers based in three provinces, including the Hebei, Henan, and Hubei provinces of China. To analyze the collected data, we first employ a damage control model to estimate the marginal productivity of farmer use of livestock antibiotics and then use a two-stage least squares (2SLS) approach to assess the role of the Internet in reducing antibiotic overuse. The findings of our study show that the marginal productivity of farmers' use of livestock antibiotics by farmers is 0.0079 (approaching 0), indicating that the overuse of antibiotics has become the realistic response of farmers. Our results further reveal that the Internet has a significant inhibitory effect on the overuse of livestock antibiotics by farmers. The Internet can reduce the use of antibiotics by 1.3147 yuan/head by improving your knowledge and skills about antibiotics. The further findings of our study reveal that the educational level and organizational participation of farmers are also important driving factors to reduce the overuse of livestock antibiotics. Furthermore, the findings of this study validate the role of gender, age, and educational level in the non-linear effect of the Internet on farmers' overuse of antibiotics. In conclusion, the findings of this study provide insight for policy makers in motivating farmers to reduce antibiotic overuse by strengthening rural internet infrastructure, implementing skill training, improving supervision, and establishing an incentive mechanism for the standard use of antibiotics.

Keywords: 2-SLS model; Chinese farmers; Damage control model; Internet; Livestock antibiotics.