The Animal-Welfare Levy

Romain Espinosa and Nicolas Treich
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Romain Espinosa: CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique
Nicolas Treich: TSE-R - Toulouse School of Economics - UT Capitole - Université Toulouse Capitole - Comue de Toulouse - Communauté d'universités et établissements de Toulouse - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement

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Abstract: We provide a non-anthropocentric rationale for implementing a levy on meat consumption due to animal-welfare considerations. It operates as a Pigouvian tax and addresses externalities on farmed animals. Under total utilitarianism, the levy is a subsidy when an animal's life is worth living, and a tax when it is not. Under average utilitarianism, it is always a tax when human welfare exceeds animal welfare. Even under conservative assumptions, calibrated tax levels are substantial and would make most-intensive animal farms unprofitable. Taxes are significantly higher for chickens and pigs than for cows, in contrast to the taxation of other meat externalities.

Keywords: Pigouvian taxation; Utilitarianism; Life worth; Living; Quality-adjusted life years; Population ethics; Meat; Animal welfare (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025-12-05
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-05400906v1
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