Modeling crop yield distributions has been an important topic in agricultural production and risk analysis, and nonparametric methods have gained attention for their flexibility in describing the shapes of yield density functions. In this article, we apply a nonparametric method to model joint...

Modeling crop yield distributions has been an important topic in agricultural production and risk analysis, and nonparametric methods have gained attention for their flexibility in describing the shapes of yield density functions. In this article, we apply a nonparametric method to model joint...

Biofuels, as alternative transportation fuels, are now being used globally. Taking advantage of in-state feedstock supply is an efficient way to stimulate in-state biofuel industries and the local economy. This paper uses the mean-variance model of utility maximization to estimate supply...

Weather constitutes the major source for production risk in agriculture. Weather index can be used construct crop insurance that demand less information and can avoid moral hazard and adverse selection problems. Based on mean-variance model, theoretical results on the optimal insurance coverage...

Risk theory tells us if an insurer can effectively pool a large number of individuals to reduce the total risk, he then can provide the insurance by charging a premium close to the actuarially fair rate. There is, however, a common belief that the risk can be effectively pooled only when the...

This paper adapts a generalized expected utility (GEU) maximization model (Epstein and Zin, 1989 and 1991) to examine the intertemporal risk management of wheat producers in the Pacific Northwest. Optimization results based on simulated data indicate the feasibility of the GEU optimization as a...

Rankings of different risk management portfolios including Average Crop Revenue Election (ACRE), traditional government payment programs, crop insurance and hedging in futures; and optimal choices of insurance coverage levels and hedge ratios are evaluated for a representative central Indiana...

This is a revised copy of Staff Paper 2000-48.

Participation in federal crop insurance programs has been encouraged through premium subsidies. The current subsidy depends on contract features as well as coverage levels. This type of subsidy rule causes farmers to choose contract designs and coverages that are not efficient for managing risk,...

Current country-based group crop insurance, i.e., Group Risk Plan (GRP), is not an effective risk-reducing tool in counties where natural conditions are different across the area. Using only the historical yield information, a statistical approach is developed to group farmers by their yield...