The Economics of Livestock Disease: The Impact of a Regionalization Policy

• Other Authors: Hobbs, Jill E.
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: Foot and mouth disease; regionalization; international trade; partial equilibrium
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10388/ETD-2013-06-1083

An outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease in Canada would result in the closing of borders to trade in meat and livestock between Canada and the US. The loss of export market access would result in losses to Canadian producers and negatively affect Canada’s reputation as a trading partner. Under a Regionalization Policy, trade could be allowed from disease-free regions of Canada during an outbreak. This would allow a limited amount of trade to continue and mitigate the losses to producers in uninfected areas. This thesis examined scenarios that involve various degrees of regionalization to determine the effects on producers, consumers and taxpayers. A partial- equilibrium model is used to determine the impact on economic welfare under each scenario and comparisons are made to help evaluate the relative outcomes of policies towards regionalization.