Swedish farm animal welfare (AW) legislation has long been considered strict compared to other EU countries. It is often argued that the stricter Swedish AW rules reduces the competitiveness of the Swedish agricultural sector. However, there is no scientific evidence for this claim. Knowing the economic impact (in both positive and negative terms) of the Swedish AW legislation is vital for sound policy decision-making.
The overall aim of this project is to assess how AW legislation is related to the economic performance and international competitiveness of the agricultural sector in Sweden and other EU countries. The projects will study farm size and structure, productivity, import and export of animal-derived food products. Furthermore, associations between AW legislation and citizen and consumer perceptions of AW will be investigated in order to explain how demand may be affected by changes in AW legislation.
Project leader: Shon Ferguson
Project period: Jan 2020 - Dec 2022
Helena Hansson, Lisa Höglind, Anna Wallenbeck, Sigrid Agenäs
Project funder: Formas
Total funds: 6 million SEK
Shon Ferguson
Senior Lecturer and Associate Professor
Dept. of Economics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU),
Uppsala, Sweden
Affiliated researcher, Research Institute of Industrial Economics (IFN), Stockholm, Sweden