Direct disaster payments have been criticized as inefficient and inequitable. In this article, the impact of weather and climate, as well as economic and political variables, on crop disaster payments is analyzed using county level data from four states in the southeastern United States. The...

This paper is prepared for SAEA 2013 conference

Using data between 1995 and 2010, we find that agricultural banks are benefiting from the derivatives activities by reducing total risk without hurting their profit. In nonagricultural banks, both profitability and total risk are adversely affected, possibly due to speculative derivatives positions.

We use survey data to study the level of financing constrains faced by new farmers in Alabama post 2008, and identify who got loans. We find that new farmers are financially constrained but not impacted by the crisis. Lending was collateral driven, although lenders also considered profitability...

This paper analyzed the impact of farm and farmer characteristics on the acceptability to dairy farmers in the Netherlands of an all-risk insurance package and underlying specific categories of insurance coverage. The major farm characteristics considered were structural, operational and...

Recent and presumable future developments tend to increase the risks associated with farming activities. These include climate risks which have always played an important role in farming. Weather based instruments can be valuable tools to reduce the risk associate with unfavourable climatic...

This paper considers the potential for securitizing index-based insurance products that transfer weather and natural disaster risks from lower income countries. The paper begins with a brief overview of why markets for natural disaster risks are important in lower income countries and a review...

Replaced with revised version of paper 11/18/08.

Basis risk has been cited as a primary concern for implementing weather hedges. This study investigates several dimensions of weather basis risk for the U.S. corn market at various levels of aggregation. The results suggest that while the degree of geographic basis risk may be significant in...

Replaced with revised version of paper 11/18/08