The Actual and Potential Contribution of Economics to Animal Welfare Issues

Datos Bibliográficos

ID12418881
AutoresJoshua M Frank (autor de correspondencia), Joshua Frank
Año2002
Volumen10
Número4
Páginas421-428
Fecha de publicación2002-01-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaSociety and Animals (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1063-1119 • E-ISSN: 1568-5306
EditorialBrill (PUBLISHER • NL)
DOI10.1163/156853002320936908
OpenAlexW2081240108
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas3
Referencias citadas2

Economics has an important, but largely unrealized, contribution to make to animal welfare issues. This is not surprising, because prevailing economic theory has a history of avoiding dif cult issues that may ruin elegant, yet unrealistic, theories. One mantra often heard among economists is that interpersonal comparisons cannot be made. Persky (2001) discusses this issue. An extra dollar spent on food is bene cial to a starving person, and an extra dollar toward a 50-foot yacht is bene cial to a billionaire. Most economists, however, claim it is impossible reasonably to determine who bene ts more from that dollar. This perspective severely limits the applicability of economic theory to policy issues. It is hardly surprising that economists unwilling to make welfare comparisons between two people do not consider the welfare of animals. Viewed as property, animals receive no direct economic consideration

Economics · Liberian dollar · Mantra · Market economy · Neoclassical economics · Perspective (graphical · Positive economics · Public economics · Welfare · Agriculture Sustainability and Environmental Impact · Animal Behavior and Welfare Studies · Economic and Environmental Valuation