Estimating consumers' Willingness to Pay for Antibiotic-free Chicken Meat in Shiraz

In this study, consumers’ willingness to pay for antibiotic-free chicken meat in Shiraz was estimated by utilizing contingent valuation method with open-ended questions. Data were collected by completing the questionnaire from 576 citizens in May 2018. Since the data on consumer willingness to pay extra amount for chicken antibiotic-free were negative, the Tobit model was initially estimated, but the basic hypotheses of this model including homoscedasticity and normality of the residual sentences were rejected. A two-step Heckman model was applied to identify the factors affecting the selection and estimation of the extra amount they would be willing to pay for antibiotic-free chicken compared to that for conventional one. Data analysis showed that about 90% of the people are willing to pay 19490 Rial/Kg on average as additional amount to buy antibiotic-free chicken. According to the results of this study, there is a potential market for antibiotic-free chicken meat in Shiraz, and producers can benefit from the supply of chicken meat antibiotic-free.