Livestock Husbandry between Ethics and Economics: Finding a Feasible Way Out by Target Costing?

Ludwig Theuvsen, Sandra Essmann and Henning Brand-Sassen

No 24598, 2005 International Congress, August 23-27, 2005, Copenhagen, Denmark from European Association of Agricultural Economists

Abstract: Livestock husbandry is a major line of conflict in many industrialized countries. Farmers are caught in a dilemma between ethical considerations imposed by, for instance, nongovernmental organizations and the wider public on the one hand and competitive and economic pressures on the other. In this paper we use a target-costing approach to determine whether it is possible to implement more animal-friendly husbandry conditions for turkey fattening in Germany without sacrificing competitiveness. Empirical results show that, at first glance, the willingness on the part of consumers to pay for more animal welfare exceeds the costs to farmers of more animal-friendly husbandry systems. A critical discussion reveals that this result may be flawed by methodological problems for which no solutions have yet been found.

Keywords: Livestock; Production/Industries (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 15
Date: 2005
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:eaae05:24598

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.24598

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