The Welfare Effects of Pfiesteria-Related Fish Kills: A Contingent Behavior Analysis of Seafood Consumers

George R. Parsons, Ash Morgan, John C. Whitehead () and Tim Haab ()
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George R. Parsons: University of Delaware
Ash Morgan: University of West Florida

Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, 2006, vol. 35, issue 2, pages 348-356

Abstract: We use contingent behavior analysis to study the effects of pfiesteria-related fish kills on the demand for seafood in the Mid-Atlantic region. We estimate a set of demand difference mod-els based on individual responses to questions about seafood consumption in the presence of fish kills and with different amounts of information provided about health risks. We use a ran-dom-effects Tobit model to control for correlation across each observation and to account for censoring. We find that (i) pfiesteria-related fish kills have a significant negative effect on the demand for seafood even though the fish kills pose no known threat to consumers through sea-food consumption, (ii) seafood consumers are not responsive to expert risk information de-signed to reassure them that seafood is safe in the presence of a fish kill, and (iii) a mandatory seafood inspection program largely eliminates the welfare loss incurred due to misinformation.

Keywords: pfiesteria; seafood demand; non-market valuation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
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