Exposition at Ceres

Transcript

1. Animals and Social Welfare COURSE "PENSER LA TRANSITION" - LOUIS BODOT & GAIA CARENINI
2. Introduction & Motivation Theoretical Framework Application Limitations of the Work Conclusion Overview 1 Introduction & Motivation 2 Theoretical Framework 3 Application 4 Limitations of the Work 5 Conclusion Louis Bodot & Gaia Carenini Animals and Social Welfare 21st January 2023 2/17
3. Introduction & Motivation Theoretical Framework Application Limitations of the Work Conclusion A Few Words on Social Welfare "Informal" Definition of Utility In utilitarianism, utility can be defined as a numerical score representing the satisfaction, benefit, or welfare that a citizen gets from a given situation. "Informal" Definition of Social welfare Social welfare "combines" the utility of all the individuals, and its variation to policy changes are studied to determine their relevance. Louis Bodot & Gaia Carenini Animals and Social Welfare 21st January 2023 3/17
4. Introduction & Motivation Theoretical Framework Application Limitations of the Work Conclusion Objective of the Paper Provide policymakers a useful tool to economically value animal welfare in cost-benefit analysis, i.e. an easily-implementable and flexible social welfare framework accounting for: human preferences regarding animal welfare animal well-being Louis Bodot & Gaia Carenini Animals and Social Welfare 21st January 2023 4/17
5. Introduction & Motivation Theoretical Framework Application Limitations of the Work Conclusion Motivation Growing concern about animal welfare in Western societies: 86% of EU citizens care about farmed animals well-being 40% of UK adults equivalue animal and human lives Figure: Image retrieved from National Chicken Council Louis Bodot & Gaia Carenini Animals and Social Welfare 21st January 2023 5/17
6. Introduction & Motivation Theoretical Framework Application Limitations of the Work Conclusion Measuring Policy Effects on Social Welfare Without accounting for animal welfare, variations in social welfare induced by a given policy can be described as: ∆SW variation in social welfare = variation in comulative human utility i ∆U i − monetary cost of the policy K N number of humans in the society where all the quantities involved are expressed in euros. Louis Bodot & Gaia Carenini Animals and Social Welfare 21st January 2023 6/17
7. Introduction & Motivation Theoretical Framework Application Limitations of the Work Conclusion Model Proposed Accounting for animal welfare proportionally to a fixed degree of anti-speciesism α, variations in social welfare induced by a given policy can be described as: ∆SW(α) = variation in cumulative human utility i ∆U i − monetary cost of the policy K +α · cumulative animal utility ∆V N number of individuals where all the quantities involved are expressed in euros. Louis Bodot & Gaia Carenini Animals and Social Welfare 21st January 2023 7/17
8. Introduction & Motivation Theoretical Framework Application Limitations of the Work Conclusion Decomposition of Cumulative Human Utility Variation It is possible to decompose cumulative human utility variations in 3 classes, obtaining: i ∆U i = j∈N+ ∆U j Pro-animal preferences + j∈N− ∆U j Anti-animal preferences + j∈N0 ∆U j Indifference where the last term of the sum is negligible (∆U i = 0 if i is a human with an indifferent attitude towards the policy). Louis Bodot & Gaia Carenini Animals and Social Welfare 21st January 2023 8/17
9. Introduction & Motivation Theoretical Framework Application Limitations of the Work Conclusion Derivation of Social Welfare Budget Constraint In public economy, it is useful to determine the maximum cost k∗ a policy can entail but still remaining welfare-improving (∆SW(α)). k∗ α (λ) = µ 1 − λ N− N+ + α ∆V N where: λ = − i∈N− ∆U i N− i∈N+ ∆U i N+ ratio between avg loss and avg gain in U µ = i∈N+ ∆U i N avg gain when loss are ignored N.B. This is simply a way to rewrite the equation we saw about variations in social welfare! Louis Bodot & Gaia Carenini Animals and Social Welfare 21st January 2023 9/17
10. Introduction & Motivation Theoretical Framework Application Limitations of the Work Conclusion Estimation for the Parameters Variable Determination µ Estimated through Willingness To Pay survey N−/N+ Estimated through Willingness To Pay survey λ Fixed by normative choice or estimated through Willingness To Pay survey α Fixed by normative choice ∆V Computed indirectly from values from scientific literature and economic theory Louis Bodot & Gaia Carenini Animals and Social Welfare 21st January 2023 10/17
11. Introduction & Motivation Theoretical Framework Application Limitations of the Work Conclusion An Example of Willingness To Pay Survey 1 Prohibiting slaughter without stunning 2 Banning force-feeding For 1 and 2, participants are asked the maximum amount of money they are disposed to pay each year to implement the policy. Policy WTP [euro/year] N− [%] N+ [%] Policy 1 39.3 3.9 87.8 Policy 2 15.96 21.2 67.3 Louis Bodot & Gaia Carenini Animals and Social Welfare 21st January 2023 11/17
12. Introduction & Motivation Theoretical Framework Application Limitations of the Work Conclusion Estimation of ∆V - Part 1 Five freedoms [World Organization for animal health]: Freedom from hunger, malnutrition and thirst Freedom from fear and distress Freedom from heat stress or physical discomfort Freedom from pain, injury or disease Freedom to express normal pattern of behaviours Louis Bodot & Gaia Carenini Animals and Social Welfare 21st January 2023 12/17
13. Introduction & Motivation Theoretical Framework Application Limitations of the Work Conclusion Estimation of ∆V - Part 2 Five levels of violations: 0, i.e. no violation; 1, i.e. mild violation; 2, i.e. moderate violation; 3, i.e. severe violation; 4, i.e. very severe violation. From the previous levels of violation, it is computed the so called FFI scores that satisfies the following properties: 5FFI∈ [−1/3,1] 5FFI=0 is equivalent to death Louis Bodot & Gaia Carenini Animals and Social Welfare 21st January 2023 13/17
14. Introduction & Motivation Theoretical Framework Application Limitations of the Work Conclusion Estimation of ∆V The variation in animal welfare is modelled as folllows: ∆V = s φ s utility potential factor i∈s ∆ζ i Gain in the 5FFI score q value of a unit of QALY where φ s is a quantity taking in account for the cognitive abilities of the animals through the numbers of cortical/pallium neurons. Louis Bodot & Gaia Carenini Animals and Social Welfare 21st January 2023 14/17
15. Introduction & Motivation Theoretical Framework Application Limitations of the Work Conclusion Results of the survey Figure: Surveyed willingness to pay Figure: Estimated animal welfare gain Louis Bodot & Gaia Carenini Animals and Social Welfare 21st January 2023 15/17
16. Introduction & Motivation Theoretical Framework Application Limitations of the Work Conclusion Limitations of the Work Limitations due to the model and its assumptions: Inclusion of antispecism in the cost-benefit analysis Exclusion of antianimalism in the cost-benefit analysis Limitations due to the methods: WTP indicator for evaluating human utility Narrow range for WTP expression Neuron-based criteria for establishing animal welfare Louis Bodot & Gaia Carenini Animals and Social Welfare 21st January 2023 16/17
17. Introduction & Motivation Theoretical Framework Application Limitations of the Work Conclusion Conclusion Summary: The paper addresses the challenge of including animal welfare in policy-evaluation This paper achieves weak quantitative prediction The assumptions on the correspondence between WTP and utility function trend are not completely justified Further work: Investigating further the ratio among animal QALY and human QALY values Decoupling the variation in human utility according to direct consequences on human lifestyle due to the policy and altruistic rewards towards animals Louis Bodot & Gaia Carenini Animals and Social Welfare 21st January 2023 17/17