Purpose – The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of agricultural policy reform – specifically the change from market to direct payment support – on income variability of Swiss farming households. In addition, the observed heterogeneity in income risks across farms and time is...

Purpose – Since the 1990s, there has been a discussion about the use of weather index-based insurance, also called weather derivatives, as a new instrument to hedge against volumetric risks in agriculture. It particularly differs from other insurance schemes by pay-offs being related to...

We analyze determinants of hail insurance use of Swiss farmers, covering the period 1990-2009 using FADN panel data. Mixed effect logistic regression models are estimated to identify the most important farm and farmer characteristics that determine insurance use. In addition, information on...

We analyse the development of income inequality in Swiss agriculture for the period 1990-2009. To this end, Gini coefficients are estimated using FADN data. Furthermore, we estimate concentration ratios and Gini elasticities for market income, direct payments and off-farm income. Our analysis is...

Production and price risks affect optimal nitrogen use as well as the effects of nitrogen taxation if farmers’ risk aversion is taken into account. Our empirical analysis for Swiss maize production shows that risk-aversion leads to lower levels of nitrogen application, and nitrogen taxes lead...

Using a Monte Carlo experiment, the performance of the ordinary least squares (OLS) and the MM-estimator, a robust regression technique, is compared in an application of crop yield detrending. Assuming symmetric as well as skewed crop yield distributions, we show that the MM-estimator performs...

Using FADN data, we analyse farmers’ adoption decisions with respect to extensive wheat production, which is supported in Switzerland since 1992 with an ecological direct payment scheme. It shows that first year adoption was mainly characterized by free-riding effects. In particular small...

In order to analyze impacts of climate change on managed grassland systems and to project potential changes in farmers' management practices in response to altered climatic conditions, we develop a modeling approach that integrates a process-based grassland model into an economic model. This...