Animal welfare as a public good

Romain Espinosa and Nicolas Treich

Ecological Economics, 2024, vol. 216, issue C

Abstract: We study a simple model of consumption of animals in which consumers exhibit altruism towards animals. Consumers can choose both the quantity and the quality of animal lives. This model gives rise to a public good problem: at the market equilibrium, quality is too low, and quantity is too high when animal lives are not worth living. We discuss some implications of our results and the significance of our modeling choices for the future landscape of economic research on animal welfare.

Keywords: Animal welfare; Public good; Altruism; Meat; Life worth living (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H41 Q18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Working Paper: Animal welfare as a public good (2024)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:216:y:2024:i:c:s0921800923002884

DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.108025

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