Risk, fear, bird flu and terrorists: A study of risk perceptions and economics

Calum Turvey, Benjamin Onyango, Cara Cuite and William K. Hallman

Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), 2010, vol. 39, issue 1, 1-10

Abstract: This paper examines the relationship between risk perceptions, affect and the economic consequences of a bio-security threat against the U.S. food system. The main argument is that there exists a link between risk perceptions and economic behavior. The paper raises conjectures through a utility-theoretic economic model and examines these through two separate surveys, the first being a hypothetical agroterrorist attack and the second a hypothetical discovery of 'bird flu' in the United States. The results provide strong evidence that risk perception and fear can interact with consumption in an economically significant way.

Keywords: Agroterrorism; Avian; influenza; Bird; flu; Agricultural; terrorism; Consumer; hysteresis; Food; safety; Risk; perceptions; Economics; and; fear (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:soceco:v:39:y:2010:i:1:p:1-10

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