Is animal welfare better on small farms? Evidence from veterinary inspections on Swedish farms

Sebastian Hess, Laura A. Bolos, Ruben Hoffmann and Yves Surry

No 182781, 2014 International Congress, August 26-29, 2014, Ljubljana, Slovenia from European Association of Agricultural Economists

Abstract: Structural change towards more ‘industrialised’ pig farming is widely criticised for having adverse effects on farm animal welfare (FAW). This criticism implies that larger farms might be less concerned with animal welfare than smaller, more diversified farms, e.g. since small farmers would value FAW more. Based on data from veterinary pig farm inspections, various aspects of this standard criticism were empirically tested. The results showed that FAW violations were less frequent on larger farms and more frequent on pig farms with dairy cows. Violations were no less frequent in areas with more organic production, but on average less severe.

Keywords: Health; Economics; and; Policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 13
Date: 2014-08
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:eaae14:182781

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.182781

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