Market failures in supplying animal welfare: some conceptual thoughts for future research

Abstract

Providing adequate levels of farm animal welfare is a challenge in today’s societies. Economic research shows that neither market valuation for credence attributes in opaque markets, nor transparency improved market valuation with labelling schemes, nor non-market valuation in hypothetical markets to take account of non-use values, nor non-monetary valuation in an ethical context will suffice to provide adequate levels of farm animal welfare. Monetary and non-monetary valuation problems stem from the complex concept of farm animal welfare and ethical challenges in utilitarian and anthropocentric approaches. Animal centred valuation of farm animal welfare is suggested as one future venue of economic research requiring to leave behind speciesism.