Animal welfare and eggs: cheap talk or money on the counter?

Research output: Working paperResearch

This paper identifies revealed willingness to pay for animal welfare using a panel mixed logit model allowing for correlation between willingness to pay for different types of production. We utilize a unique household level panel, combining real purchases with survey data on perceived public and private good attributes of different types of eggs. We find that the estimated correlations are consistent with the levels of animal welfare, and that consumers perceiving a stronger connection between animal welfare and the organic label have higher willingness to pay for organic eggs, even when we control for private good attributes such as food safety also connected to the label. Our results suggest that altruistic motives may play an important role in the demand for agricultural products.
Original languageEnglish
PublisherInstitute of Food and Resource Economics, University of Copenhagen
Number of pages28
Publication statusPublished - 2010
SeriesFOI Working Paper
Number2010/6

ID: 33022004