Public preferences for quota buybacks in the context of Canadian supply management deregulation

Abstract

This project examines supply management deregulation from a public preference perspective. It utilizes data collected in a nationally representative survey of Canadian adults conducted between December 2018 and January 2019. From the survey it was observed that 20 percent of respondents opposed paying producers compensation for the lost value of quota if supply management were to be removed, however the remaining 80 percent selected either partial compensation (57 percent) or full market value compensation (23 percent). To better understand the determinants of support, a random utility model was estimated using ordinal logistic regression, with the level of compensation as a function of personal and household characteristics, food purchasing habits, and a range of policy preferences. The survey also contained an experiment examining the effects of additional information about consumer costs and distributional implications of supply management on preferences for quota value compensation. The probability of selecting higher levels of compensation were found to increase when cost information was provided, but the level of preferred compensation was inelastic to the size of estimated cost savings.