Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

Animal welfare is a key consideration in discussions about sustainable animal production systems. Ensuring sufficient economic resources in competitive animal production, means that maximizing animal welfare in intensive systems is unrealistic. This highlights the need for studies about the connection between economics and animal welfare. However, research exploring the economic impact of animal welfare improvements and how to measure animal welfare to monetary units is lacking. An optimal balance between animal welfare, production, and economic factors is essential.
This literature study investigates how to establish the optimal balance between animal welfare and profitability (1), methods to measure animal welfare in an index value (2), the ethical implications (3), and the drivers of producers’ incentives to improve welfare (4). Relevant articles (1) = 41, (2) = 69, (3) = 27 and (4) = 79 were found in the databases Web of Science, Scopus and Econlit, with 37 articles included in the results.
The results indicate that economics should consider both human and animal welfare from biocentric and utilitarian perspectives. Thus, integrating humans’ and animals’ utility and willingness to pay (WTP) for welfare improvements into economic analyses is necessary. Animal welfare improvements needs to be transformed and quantified in an index to estimate WTP and incorporate it into economic principles. By combining WTP from animals, consumers, and producers, and estimating non-monetary utilities, an optimal balance point could be identified. This point, where diminishing marginal returns begin, can shift positively with increased consumer utility and WTP for welfare improvements, thereby enhancing animal welfare. Producers’ willingness to invest (WTI) increases with consumer demand, although individual producer goals and preferences vary. One of the main conclusions is that WTI incentives of animal welfare improvements should be tailored to individual producers for personalized guidance.