Demand curves and welfare

Dawkins (1990, Behav. Brain Sci, 13, 1-61) argued that ideas from economics can be used to assess animal suffering. In particular, she argued that the slope or elasticity of a demand curve generated by making an animal work for a commodity or the chance to perform an activity are suitable measures. Here a simple model is presented which suggests that neither the slope nor the elasticity is likely to be a generally valid measure. Welfare economists do not use the slope or the elasticity of demand curves as a measure of changes in welfare; they use the area under a demand curve. It is argued that this measure is also the appropriate one to use in the context of animal suffering. (C) 1997 The Association for thr Study of Animal Behaviour.