Every 5 years, the World Congress of the Econometric Society brings together scholars from around the world. Leading scholars present state-of-the-art overviews of their areas of research, offering newcomers access to key research in economics. Advances in Economics and Econometrics: Twelfth World Congress consists of papers and commentaries presented at the Twelfth World Congress of the Econometric Society. This two-volume set includes surveys and interpretations of key developments in economics and econometrics, and discussions of future directions for a variety of topics, covering both theory and application. The first volume addresses such topics as contract theory, industrial organization, health and human capital, as well as racial justice, while the second volume includes theoretical and applied papers on climate change, time-series econometrics, and causal inference. These papers are invaluable for experienced economists seeking to broaden their knowledge or young economists new to the field.

Every 5 years, the World Congress of the Econometric Society brings together scholars from around the world. Leading scholars present state-of-the-art overviews of their areas of research, offering newcomers access to key research in economics. Advances in Economics and Econometrics: Twelfth World Congress consists of papers and commentaries presented at the Twelfth World Congress of the Econometric Society. This two-volume set includes surveys and interpretations of key developments in economics and econometrics, and discussions of future directions for a variety of topics, covering both theory and application. The first volume addresses such topics as contract theory, industrial organization, health and human capital, as well as racial justice, while the second volume includes theoretical and applied papers on climate change, time-series econometrics, and causal inference. These papers are invaluable for experienced economists seeking to broaden their knowledge or young economists new to the field.

Every 5 years, the World Congress of the Econometric Society brings together scholars from around the world. Leading scholars present state-of-the-art overviews of their areas of research, offering newcomers access to key research in economics. Advances in Economics and Econometrics: Twelfth World Congress consists of papers and commentaries presented at the Twelfth World Congress of the Econometric Society. This two-volume set includes surveys and interpretations of key developments in economics and econometrics, and discussions of future directions for a variety of topics, covering both theory and application. The first volume addresses such topics as contract theory, industrial organization, health and human capital, as well as racial justice, while the second volume includes theoretical and applied papers on climate change, time-series econometrics, and causal inference. These papers are invaluable for experienced economists seeking to broaden their knowledge or young economists new to the field.

Every 5 years, the World Congress of the Econometric Society brings together scholars from around the world. Leading scholars present state-of-the-art overviews of their areas of research, offering newcomers access to key research in economics. Advances in Economics and Econometrics: Twelfth World Congress consists of papers and commentaries presented at the Twelfth World Congress of the Econometric Society. This two-volume set includes surveys and interpretations of key developments in economics and econometrics, and discussions of future directions for a variety of topics, covering both theory and application. The first volume addresses such topics as contract theory, industrial organization, health and human capital, as well as racial justice, while the second volume includes theoretical and applied papers on climate change, time-series econometrics, and causal inference. These papers are invaluable for experienced economists seeking to broaden their knowledge or young economists new to the field.

This chapter introduces the canonical model that will serve as a foundation throughout the book. The model features a representative human consumer who consumes animal products, while animals themselves hold moral value. As a result, human consumption imposes a negative externality on animals. The concept of life worth living emerges as a central concept. The chapter explores ways to address this market failure, particularly through Pigouvian taxation, referred to as the animal welfare levy.

This concluding chapter highlights several important yet underexplored topics that merit further attention. These include attitudes toward animals in developing countries, the heterogeneity of individual preferences, the role of salience, charitable donations, and deontological perspectives.

This chapter introduces a method for empirically valuing animal welfare. The method involves calibrating key parameters discussed earlier, namely, the animal welfare score, utility potentials, and a monetization parameter. Three applications are presented: one examining the animal welfare levy applied to meat prices in France, another analyzing the global trend in animal welfare, and a third focused on a biodiversity management project.

This introductory chapter outlines the motivation behind the book, critically discusses anthropocentrism in economics, and introduces the distinction between the direct and indirect approaches. It also puts the book into perspective, highlighting its overall contribution.

This chapter explores research on proanimal concerns, including survey studies and WTP studies. It examines the vote-buy gap (i.e., the discrepancy between citizens’ attitudes when voting versus when shopping) and explores the origins of proanimal concerns.

Many decisions involving animals, such as meat consumption or biodiversity protection, influence the size of animal populations. This chapter explores key concepts in population ethics as they relate to animals, including the repugnant conclusion, the replaceability argument, and the procreation asymmetry principle.

This chapter adapts the canonical model introduced earlier to examine a case where animal welfare is a public good. It also explores a variant in which animal welfare is treated as a merit good. The chapter provides a theoretical discussion on different forms of altruism, the vote-buy gap, and the role of taxation in restoring market efficiency.

This chapter provides an overview of the status of animals in the world. It begins by estimating the number of animals, then examines their importance for the economy. It also explores the state of animal welfare and offers a brief overview of the philosophical and legal perspectives on the subject.

This chapter examines the challenge of interspecies welfare comparisons and introduces a key concept: utility potentials. This concept seeks to quantify species’ capacity to experience welfare and can be estimated using survey studies, neuron counts, or the welfare range approach.