Shi-Ling Hsu (Florida State University – College of Law) & Jacob Byl (Western Kentucky University) have posted On Animal Status: The Value of a Statistical Life Versus the Value of a Statistical Animal Life (For a Pig) on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
In a variety of regulatory and policy contexts, cost-benefit analysis is used to evaluate the normative desirability of a regulation, program, or policy, and these analyses measure effects on humans. The welfare of animals is very rarely taken into account. Research has produced estimates of how much monetary value people place on the humane treatment of animals, mostly livestock, but a focus on the prevention of cruelty to animals is incomplete. This narrow focus ignores a variety of harms imposed on animals in a wide array of contexts, such as habitat loss, pollution, and climate change. We assert that this omission is inefficient and indefensible. As an initial step, we estimate the value of a statistical animal life of $63 to $81 for a domestic pig, alongside an estimate of the value of a statistical human life. While a developed literature exists for estimation of the latter, there has been no effort to estimate the former, and certainly no effort to compare the two. We make these estimates to: (i) provide a very early step in providing some empirical foundation for the ethical status of animals vis-à-vis human beings, and (ii) establish a numerical comparison for purposes of conducting cost-benefit analyses for actions affecting animals. A value of statistical animal life that takes approximately 1:500,000 of a value of statistical human life provides a meaningful scale when evaluating regulations and policies.