An objective drought index that measures the dry and hot conditions adversely affecting crop yields is used in a regression analysis to test whether corn and soybeans have become more drought tolerant. Results indicate that corn yield losses from a drought of a given severity, whether measured in quantity terms or as a percentage of mean yield, have decreased over time. The null hypothesis that...

When the indemnity schedule is contingent on the farmer’s price and individual yield, an optimal crop revenue insurance contract depends only on the farmer’s gross revenue. However, this design is not efficient if, as is the case with available contracts, the coverage function is based on imperfect estimators of individual yield and/or price. The producer’s degree of prudence and the extent of ...

Accurate and timely information on rice crop growth and yield helps governments and other stakeholders adapting their economic policies, enables relief organizations to better anticipate and coordinate relief efforts in the wake of a natural catastrophe, and provides technical backbone of an insurance solution where risks of yield losses from the rice smallholders are transferred to the insuran...

We investigate biases in farm-level yield risk analysis caused by data aggregation from the farm-level to regional and national levels using the example of Swiss wheat and barley yields. The estimated yield variability decreases significantly with increasing level of aggregation, with crop yield variability at the farm-level being up to 2.38 times higher than indicated from national data. Our r...

This thesis examines various aspects of environmental economics. The first chapter estimates how individuals' beliefs about climate change are affected by local weather fluctuations. Climate change is a one-time uncertain event with no opportunities for learning; the belief updating process may not be fully Bayesian. Using unique survey data on beliefs about the occurrence of the effects of glo...

A Bayesian Updating Approach to Crop Insurance Ratemaking by Stephen Milton Stohs Doctor of Philosophy in Agricultural and Resource Economics University of California, Berkeley Professor Peter Berck, Chair The U.S. government operates the multiple peril crop insurance (MPCI) program to provide farmers with comprehensive protection against yield risk due to weather-related causes of loss and cer...

Risk theory tells us if an insurer can effectively pool a large number of individuals to reduce the total risk, he then can provide the insurance by charging a premium close to the actuarially fair rate. There is, however, a common belief that the risk can be effectively pooled only when the random loss is independent, so that crop insurance markets cannot survive without government subsidy bec...

The study has assessed the performance of crop insurance scheme on beneficiary and non-beneficiary farms in Salumber tehsil of Udaipur district during 2008-09. The study has revealed that farm income per family is higher on beneficiary farms as compared to non-beneficiary farms. The progress of crop insurance scheme in Rajasthan has been found positive, as is evidenced through compound and line...