This paper estimates an individual-level demand model for eggs differentiated by animal welfare. Typically, after minimum quality standards for eggs are raised, the price of higher-quality eggs falls. As a result, consumer welfare is redistributed from households that do not value animal welfare to households that are willing to pay a premium for animal welfare. In our analysis of German household data, we find that, on average, households with higher income are willing to pay more for eggs that provide higher animal welfare. This provides evidence that higher minimum quality standards have a regressive impact. In counterfactual scenarios, we estimate the cost reduction that would be needed to offset the regressive effect and find that as retailers’ pricing power increases, the cost reduction must be higher. Finally, we consider hypothetical future scenarios that continue to increase the minimum quality standard until only the highest-quality eggs remain on the market.

中文翻译：

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更高的最低质量标准和对消费者福利的再分配效应

本文估计了动物福利区分的个体鸡蛋需求模型。通常，在提高鸡蛋的最低质量标准后，更高质量的鸡蛋的价格就会下降。结果，消费者福利从不重视动物福利的家庭重新分配给愿意为动物福利支付溢价的家庭。在我们对德国家庭数据的分析中，我们发现，平均而言，收入较高的家庭愿意为提供更高动物福利的鸡蛋支付更高的费用。这提供了更高的最低质量标准具有回归影响的证据。在反事实情况下，我们估算了抵消回归影响所需的成本降低，并发现随着零售商定价能力的提高，成本降低必须更高。最后，