"Goodwin and Mahul identify the key issues and concerns that arise in the design and rating of crop yield insurance plans, with a particular emphasis on production risk modeling. The authors show how the availability of data shapes the insurance scheme and the ratemaking procedures. Relying on...

All societies depend on biodiversity and biological resources, and policy makers are increasingly aware that development pressures are today generating unprecedented rates of biodiversity loss. The fact that biodiversity issues often receive low priority in policy decisions is at least in part...

"Under price ceilings and quality floors for agricultural inputs in cash crop sectors in developing countries where credit markets are weak, imperfect information on the ability of farmers to pay for their inputs at the end of the cropping season may lead the decentralized production of those...

Provides an in-depth empirical analysis of an industrial survey undertaken in seven OECD countries (Japan, France, Germany, Hungary, Norway, Canada and the United States), spanning 4000 facilities in all manufacturing sectors, including small and medium-sized enterprises. The authors use their...

To address many of the environmental challenges that face us today, including climate change, countries are striving to deploy efficient and effective tools for environmental management at the national level. Tradable/transferable permits are one such tool. What are the key design parameters for...

Economic valuation is widely used in OECD countries as a way of assessing the (usually monetary) value of goods that have no markets. In the rural context, valuation methods are used to argue for or against projects and policy choices in areas as diverse as agricultural support policies, local...