The participation of intermediaries in either public policy or private markets can be justified on the basis of efficiency gains. With respect to private insurance company involvement in the U.S. crop insurance program, efficiency gains may arise from either decreased transaction costs through...

Rising urban and environmental demand for water has created growing pressure to re-allocate water from traditional agricultural uses. The evolution of water markets has been more complicated than those for other resources. In this paper, we first explain these differences by examining water...

Rising urban and environmental demand for water has created growing pressure to re-allocate water from traditional agricultural uses. The evolution of water markets has been more complicated than those for other resources. In this paper, we first explain these differences by examining water...

Rising urban and environmental demand for water has created growing pressure to re-allocate water from traditional agricultural uses. But, for a variety of reasons, water markets are more complicated than are those for other resources. In this paper, we first explain these differences by...

Using 5 minute data, we examine market volatility in the Dow Jones Industrial Average in the presence of trading collars. We use a polynomial specification for capturing intraday seasonality. Results indicate that market volatility is 3.4 percent higher in declining markets when trading collars...

Studies on the importance of skewness for investors find a negative relation between the risk premium and skewness, implying preference for positive skewness. Hedge funds (or money managers in general), however, acting as agents, may have preference for negative skewness as it would mean...