| Responsible Department | Institute of Food and Resource Economics | ||||||||||||||
| Earliest Possible Year | MSc. 1 year | ||||||||||||||
| Duration | One block | ||||||||||||||
| Credits | 7.5 (ECTS) | ||||||||||||||
| Level of Course | MSc | ||||||||||||||
| Examination | Final Examination oral examination All aids allowed Description of Examination: Oral examination in curriculum based on the project report Weight: Oral examination 100 % 7-point scale, internal examiner | ||||||||||||||
| Requirement for Attending Exam | Approval of project report. | ||||||||||||||
| Organisation of Teaching | Lectures, theoretical and practical exercises, project work in groups based on cases. | ||||||||||||||
| Block Placement | Block 2 Week Structure: B | ||||||||||||||
| Language of Instruction | English | ||||||||||||||
| Restrictions | none | ||||||||||||||
| Course Content | |||||||||||||||
| This course focuses on the role of animals in society. Today's society has a complex relation to animals - animals are not 'just out there in Nature'. Animals are used in production to the benefit of man to produce food, serve as research animals in the medical sector, etc. Moreover, animals are used in nature preservation, as companion animals and in competitive sports, but they also serve as prey for anglers and hunters. For these relations between humans/society and animals, economic and legal aspects are often important - just as uses may cause conflicts over how or indeed if we should use animals and thus highlight how different stakeholders represent different interests. It is within this field, the course will explore three aspects of the human and societal relation to animals: Animals and society. This element concerns the non-economic aspects of the use of animals. Departing in salient issues where conflicts over the use of animals can be observed, this element discusses how different societal stakeholders (including e.g. farmers, consumers, citizens, vegans, vivisectionists, etc) view and legitimize the use of animals for different purposes - and the values these different perspectives represent. Thus this element provides a conceptual tool to be used in studies of disagreements over animal uses, and provides insight in the importance of different cultural, religious, historical background. Economic role of animals for society. This element introduces economic aspects of animal welfare. The point of departure is a discussion of how the keeping of animals - and the level of welfare these animals experience - can be analysed in a utility maximizing and/or profit maximizing framework. The costs and benefits of animal welfare are discussed taking the position of different stakeholders. Economic efficiency and necessary trade offs in relation to animal welfare are discussed. This leads to a presentation of the economic arguments for regulating animal welfare using the concept of market failure. In particular, the differences between cost benefit analyses and cost efficiency analyses are highlighted. Regulation of animal use. This element focus on the regulatory aspects of keeping and use of animals focusing on different regulatory levels (international, EU and national) and different regulatory instruments. A range of instruments (law, economic incentives, moral incentives, information) are introduced, and pros and cons of each type of regulatory instruments are discussed. Further, the element focus on how regulation can account for different interests and reflect a weighing of positive and negative aspects of uses of animals - including aspects such as animal welfare, economy, environmental issues and broader ethical questions. | |||||||||||||||
| Teaching and learning Methods | |||||||||||||||
| Teaching is organized as lectures and exercises introducing and training the various core elements of the course. Alongside the lectures, students will carry out a project, combining sociological, economic and/or legal aspects of a specific case of animal use. | |||||||||||||||
| Learning Outcome | |||||||||||||||
| The overall objective of the course is to introduce the students to societal aspects of the keeping and use of animals. This includes in particular economic and sociological aspects. After completion of the course it is expected that the student has achieved the following qualifications: Knowledge: - Can demonstrate a basic understanding of the different roles of animals in society and societal controversies over different uses of animals - Can characterize different stakeholders' perceptions of animals and animal uses - can demonstrate a basic understanding of economic concepts of importance for analyzing and describing economic aspects of animals for society. - Can characterize the economic importance of different uses of animals - Have a basic understanding of legal principles used in regulation of different uses of animals. Skills: - Will be able to carry out an analysis of economic and societal aspects of different uses of animals on a societal level. - Can analyze and discuss the trade-off between economic and non-economic aspects of uses of animals - Will be able to analyze different stakeholders perceptions of the use of animals Competencies: - Can reflect over societal and economic issues related to concrete cases where animals are used and discuss these from the point of view of different stakeholders. - Can use the acquired knowledge and skills as a basis for discussion of conflicts over the use of animals and suggest possible societal robust solutions. | |||||||||||||||
| Course Literature | |||||||||||||||
| McInerney, J. (2004). Animal Welfare, Economics and Policy. Report on a study undertaken for the Farm & Animal Health Economics Division of Defra. Defra, London. https://statistics.defra.gov.uk/esg/reports/animalwelfare.pdf Arnold Arluke and Clinton R. Sanders (1996): Regarding Animals. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press. | |||||||||||||||
| Course Coordinator | |||||||||||||||
| Tove Christensen, tove@foi.dk, Institute of Food and Resource Economics/Consumption, Health and Ethics Unit, Phone: 862-50260 Jesper Lassen, jlas@foi.dk, Institute of Food and Resource Economics/Consumption, Health and Ethics Unit, Phone: 353-33010 | |||||||||||||||
| Study Board | |||||||||||||||
| Study Committee V | |||||||||||||||
| Work Load | |||||||||||||||
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