Replaced with revised version of paper 5/26/11.

Investment decisions are not only characterised by irreversibility and uncertainty but also by flexibility with regard to the timing of the investment. This paper describes how stochastic simulation can be successfully integrated into a backward recursive programming approach in the context of...

Agrarian structures are often characterized by some kind of economic inertia. It is particularly puzzling why unprofitable farms persist over time instead of being sold. In this paper we analyze the exit decision of farmers using the real options approach. The validity of the real options theory...

In diesem Beitrag wird der Frage nachgegangen, inwieweit Optimierungsansätze wie lineare Programmierungsmodelle geeignet sind, bessere Entscheidungen als reale Entscheider zu treffen. Auch beleuchtet werden Unterschiede im Entscheidungsverhalten und in den Produktionsstrategien. Dazu lassen wir...

Purpose – Using a unique dataset of a commercial microfinance institution (MFI) in Madagascar, the purpose of this paper is to investigate how credit access probabilities and loan volume rationing magnitudes for farmers change if the MFI switches to offer flexible microfinance loans, which can...

Farmers do not often change from their house bank to another bank, even if the competing banks offer better conditions. This “reluctance to switch” can be explained, on the one hand, by the transaction costs resulting from such a change of business relation. On the other hand, it may be the...

Der Agrarstrukturwandel ist mit Anpassungsprozessen verbunden, die oftmals mit größten-teils fremdfinanzierten Investitionen einhergehen. Eine Folge davon sind sinkende Eigenkapi-talquoten in landwirtschaftlichen Betrieben. Somit ist zu erwarten, dass die Bedeutung der finanziellen...

Purpose – Using a unique dataset of a commercial microfinance institution (MFI) in Tanzania, the purpose of this paper is to investigate first whether agricultural firms have a different probability to get a loan and whether their loans are differently volume rationed than loans to...

On the example of a commercial microfinance institution (MFI) in Tanzania this paper investigates first whether agricultural firms have a different probability to get a loan and whether their loans are differently volume rationed than loans to non-agricultural firms. Second, we analyze whether...