Food waste has drawn increasing public attention, and the high levels of estimated waste are largely considered to be a failure of our current food system. Recently, economists have begun to weigh in, showing food waste can emerge as the result of a complex equilibrium affected by consumers’ preferences for convenience; expectations about future food prices and availability; food safety concerns; producers’ costs of holding inventory, transportation, and storage; government regulation; and technology. If food waste is a form of inefficiency, there are either strong economic motivations to reduce waste, or unmeasured costs or preferences affecting waste decisions. If consumers have behavioral biases, suffer from information asymmetries, or do not pay the full cost of their waste, there may be a role for government intervention to reduce waste, but most empirical models in the literature have not articulated or quantified the extent of the deadweight loss from the market failures in relation to food waste. In some cases, waste reduction efforts could harm producers if overall demand for food is reduced or harm consumers if overconsumption is encouraged, quality or safety degrades, or supply disruptions occur. Technological innovations, which lower the cost of storage or extend shelf life have the potential to improve both consumer and producer welfare.

中文翻译：

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家庭食物浪费经济学

食物浪费已引起越来越多的公众关注，高水平的估计浪费被认为是我们当前食物系统的失败。最近，经济学家开始考虑，表明食物浪费可能是受消费者偏好便利性影响的复杂均衡的结果。对未来粮食价格和供应的期望；食品安全问题；生产者持有库存，运输和储存的成本；政府监管；和技术。如果食物浪费是一种低效率的形式，那么要么有强烈的经济动机来减少浪费，要么有无法估量的成本或偏好会影响废物的决策。如果消费者在行为上存在偏见，遭受信息不对称的困扰或没有支付废物的全部费用，则政府可能会采取措施减少废物，但是文献中的大多数经验模型都没有阐明或量化与食品浪费有关的市场失灵导致的自重损失的程度。在某些情况下，如果减少对食品的总体需求，减少废物的努力可能会损害生产者，或者如果鼓励过度消费，质量或安全性下降或发生供应中断，则会损害消费者。降低存储成本或延长保质期的技术创新具有改善消费者和生产者福利的潜力。或发生供应中断。降低存储成本或延长保质期的技术创新具有改善消费者和生产者福利的潜力。或发生供应中断。降低存储成本或延长保质期的技术创新具有改善消费者和生产者福利的潜力。