How Does Risk Management Influence Production Decisions? [electronic resource] : Evidence from a Field Experiment / Shawn Cole

By: Cole, ShawnContributor(s): Cole, Shawn | Gine, Xavier | Vickery, JamesMaterial type: TextTextPublication details: Washington, D.C., The World Bank, 2013Description: 1 online resource (55 p.)Subject(s): Climate Change Economics | Debt Markets | Finance and Financial Sector Development | Household finance | Insurance | Insurance Law | Labor Policies | Non Bank Financial Institutions | Private Sector Development | Risk | UnderinvestmentAdditional physical formats: Cole, Shawn: How Does Risk Management Influence Production Decisions?Online resources: Click here to access online Abstract: Weather is a key source of income risk for many firms and households, particularly in emerging market economies. This paper uses a randomized controlled trial approach to study how an innovative risk management instrument for hedging rainfall risk affects production decisions among a sample of Indian agricultural firms. The analysis finds that the provision of insurance induces farmers to shift production toward higher-return but higher-risk cash crops, particularly among more-educated farmers. The results support the view that financial innovation may help mitigate the real effects of uninsured production risk. In a second experiment, the study elicits willingness to pay for insurance policies that differ in their contract terms, using the Becker-DeGroot-Marshak mechanism. Willingness-to-pay is increasing in the actuarial value of the insurance, but substantially less than one-for-one, suggesting that farmers' valuations are inconsistent with a fully rational benchmark.
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Weather is a key source of income risk for many firms and households, particularly in emerging market economies. This paper uses a randomized controlled trial approach to study how an innovative risk management instrument for hedging rainfall risk affects production decisions among a sample of Indian agricultural firms. The analysis finds that the provision of insurance induces farmers to shift production toward higher-return but higher-risk cash crops, particularly among more-educated farmers. The results support the view that financial innovation may help mitigate the real effects of uninsured production risk. In a second experiment, the study elicits willingness to pay for insurance policies that differ in their contract terms, using the Becker-DeGroot-Marshak mechanism. Willingness-to-pay is increasing in the actuarial value of the insurance, but substantially less than one-for-one, suggesting that farmers' valuations are inconsistent with a fully rational benchmark.

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