Both prices and the volatility of storable agricultural commodity futures contracts have been rising since 2005 and particularly since 2007. This paper aims to answer two principal questions: (i) How has the behavior of these futures prices over time and across maturities changed with the rise...

The purpose of this paper is to provide a specific test of Boucher, Carter et al.(2008) framework on risk rationing. The data were collected through a survey of 730farm households in Shaanxi province conducted in November 2010. We comparefactor associated with risk rationed, quantity rationed...

This paper presents preliminary results on the possible demand for weather insurance in China. Results from 1,564 farm households from Western and Central China between October 2007 and October 2008 suggest that the greater risk for farmers is drought followed by excessive rain. Heat is less...

This paper examines the relationship between uncertainty and investment decisions by food andnon-food firms. Using hysteresis and the real options paradigm, we review why uncertaintymight cause firms to delay investment. In particular, our model looks for a negative relationshipbetween capital...