Animal welfare – cheap talk or money on the counter?

Summary

Marginal willingness to pay for eggs carrying labels indicating different productions methods is estimated using Danish purchase data on individual level. Among other things the labels indicate environmental features and different levels of animal welfare for the hens that produce the eggs. Results show that consumers are generally willing to pay for labels indicating animal friendly production methods. It also appears that consumers living in urban areas are willing to pay more for animal welfare than people in rural areas and that people who perceive the level of animal welfare in organic eggs as higher are willing to pay more not only for organic eggs but also for other labels indicating increased animal welfare. The age of the main buyer has no significant effect, so in this study the value of animal welfare does not seem to differ between age groups.