Authors
Ruth Vargas Hill, Miguel Robles, Francisco Ceballos
Publication date
2016/6/9
Journal
American Journal of Agricultural Economics
Volume
98
Issue
4
Pages
1250-1270
Publisher
Oxford University Press
Description
This article analyzes the demand for a simple rainfall‐based weather insurance product among farmers in rural India. We explore the predictions of a standard expected utility theory framework on the nature of demand in terms of price, the basis of the hedge, and risk aversion using data from a randomized control trial. We find that demand behaves as predicted: it falls with price and basis risk and is hump‐shaped in risk aversion, with price sensitivity decreasing at higher levels of basis risk. We estimate a negative price elasticity of 0.58 and find that doubling the distance to a reference weather station decreases demand by 18%. These results indicate that improving pricing and quality of insurance products can directly increase demand. In addition, we examine the impact of insurance training relative to other mechanisms designed to increase understanding. The evidence suggests that increased incentives to …
Total citations
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Scholar articles
RV Hill, M Robles, F Ceballos - American Journal of Agricultural Economics, 2016