The global wildlife trade dates to antiquity. Recently, its harms to endangered species, animal welfare, and public health have become critical to address. The complexities of the wildlife trade are numerous, including the fact that much of the economic activity is illegal and unobserved. We find that wildlife products are used for sustenance, signaling status, medicine, and entertainment. There is vast heterogeneity in products and species traded. Supply chains extend from biodiverse, low-income regions to richer countries or urban centers. Empirically, we use data findings from the literature to rank countries in terms of intensity of the wildlife trade and identify factors that contribute to wildlife trade. We also identify supply-side and demand-side interventions that can control abuse in wildlife trade. Innovative techniques for observation, econometric analysis, and enforcement are sorely needed to support effective policies to preserve the world's wildlife.

中文翻译：

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野生动物贸易和消费的经济学


全球野生动物贸易可以追溯到古代。最近，它对濒危物种、动物福利和公共卫生的危害变得至关重要。野生动物贸易的复杂性很多，包括许多经济活动都是非法且不受观察的事实。我们发现野生动物产品用于维持生计、传递状态信号、药物和娱乐。交易的产品和物种存在巨大的异质性。供应链从生物多样性的低收入地区延伸到较富裕的国家或城市中心。从实证上讲，我们使用文献中的数据发现来根据野生动物贸易的强度对各国进行排名，并确定导致野生动物贸易的因素。我们还确定了可以控制野生动植物贸易中滥用行为的供给侧和需求侧干预措施。迫切需要创新的观测、计量经济学分析和执法技术来支持保护世界野生动物的有效政策。