Actuarial Fairness of Crop Insurance Rates with Constant Rate Relativities

Increased availability and demand for low-deductible crop insurance policies have increased focus on crop insurance rating methods. Actuarial fairness cannot be achieved if constant multiplicative factors are used to determine how premiums change as coverage levels increase. A comparison of premium rates generated by the factors used by the two most popular crop insurance products with those generated by a standard yield distribution shows that the popular insurance products overcharge for low-deductible policies in most counties. This overpricing may explain why large premium subsidies were required to induce farmers to move from low-deductible to high-deductible policies beginning in 2001.     

我国农业保险政策实施的现状及建议

中国是农业灾害发生最为严重的国家之一,而农业风险控制的重要方式是农业保险,政策的指导与引领农业保险良好发展的需要。经过不断的探索,从2004年到2013年,我国为支持农业保险的稳健发展出台了一系列相关政策,已取得了比较明显的成效。但是不可否认的是,当前农业保险政策执行中存在着许多问题。面对国内外农业保险发展的新形势,完善和发展农业保险政策十分重要。本文通过深入分析农业保险政策实施过程中出现的一系列问题及原因,提出我国农业保险政策长足发展的建议。     

Crop Insurance Valuation under Alternative Yield Distributions

Considerable disagreement exists about the most appropriate characterization of farm-level yield distributions. Yet, the economic importance of alternative yield distribution specifications on crop insurance valuation has not been well documented. The results of this study demonstrate that large differences in expected payouts from popular crop insurance products can arise solely from the parameterization chosen to represent yield distributions. The results suggest that the frequently unexamined yield distribution specification may lead to economically significant errors in crop insurance policy rating and assessment of expected payouts from policies.     

The status quo bias and reform of the Common Agricultural Policy: impact of voting rules, the European Commission and external changes

We develop a formal model of EU decision-making on the CommonAgricultural Policy (CAP). The model is used to evaluate underwhat conditions CAP reform occurs and what the influence ofthe European Commission (Commission) is on CAP reform. We findthat the voting and amendment rules in the Council of the EuropeanUnion, the number of policy instruments and external changeshave important impacts on the occurrence and extent of CAP reformand on the influence of the Commission. Stricter voting rulesincrease the status quo bias and reduce Commission influence,whereas stricter amendment rules increase both the status quobias and Commission influence. More significant external changeresults in more reform and more Commission influence.     

An Empirical Analysis of Acreage Effects of Participation in the Federal Crop Insurance Program

The extent to which crop insurance programs have resulted in additional land being brought into production has been a topic of considerable debate. We consider multiequation structural models of acreage response, insurance participation, CRP enrollment, and input usage. Our analysis focuses on corn and soybean production in the Corn Belt and wheat and barley production in the Upper Great Plains. Our results confirm that increased participation in insurance programs provokes statistically significant acreage responses in some cases, though the response is very modest in every case. In the most extreme cases, 30% decreases in premiums as a result of increased subsidies provoke acreage increases ranging from 0.2% to 1.1%. A number of policy simulations involving increases in premium subsidies are considered.     

Is There a Viable Market for Area-Based Crop Insurance?

The performance of area yield insurance and farm-level multiple peril crop insurance is analyzed for cotton and soybean production in Georgia and South Carolina. The analysis improves on many previous studies by utilizing actual farm-level yield data and by comparing the two types of insurance products not only for actuarially fair premium rates but also for actual unsubsidized and subsidized premium rates. Results suggest that, even in heterogeneous production regions, area yield insurance may be a viable alternative to farm-level insurance when premium rates for farm-level insurance contain large positive wedges.     

Aggregation in Area-Yield Crop Insurance: The Linear Additive Model

Previous analyses of area yield crop insurance have used a linear additive model (LAM) to express the relationship between individual and area yield. However, the theoretical foundations of the LAM are unknown. This shortcoming is addressed by establishing two conditions linking microvariables and LAM parameters. The conditions relate to the interaction of risks in individual technologies and the extent of aggregation. If systemic and individual risks are additive in individual yields, and if the law of large numbers hold, then the LAM obtains. This article also shows how departures from these conditions affect the results derived from a LAM analysis.     

Developing Experience-Based Premium Rate Discounts in Crop Insurance

This article addresses the feasibility of implementing an experience-based premium rate discount system in crop insurance. While adverse selection and moral hazard in crop insurance have been extensively studied in the past, discount systems or bonus–malus incentives have not, to our knowledge, been investigated. Our empirical analysis indicates that a crop insurance discount system could be implemented based on a measure of favorable past insurance experience. The estimated average discounts based on the rating methods developed in this study ranged from 5% to 9% (depending on the crop being considered).     

俄罗斯森林保险发展政策分析与借鉴

俄罗斯森林保险历经酝酿准备、试点实施、短暂停滞、重启探索四个阶段,其发展总体趋势是将建立起来森林保险法律体系和政府主导的、强制的、注重生态效益的运行机制,形成完备的森林保险制度及详细的实施方案,森林保险的参保率将有大幅提高。通过分析,认为政策导向决定森林保险的发展方向,完全靠市场经济并不能解决森林保险问题,资金是森林保险的良性发展机制的核心,政府的责任和义务应该侧重于公益,中央集权体制下更容易推行森林保险。建议我国在发展森林保险工作中,第一,坚持政策性森林保险发展方向;第二,完善森林保险的法律框架;第三,大力推进森林保险;第四,规范保险金的使用;第五,对待森林的保费补贴要有不同的标准;第六,多方筹措国家保险补贴资金。     

Share Tenancy, Ownership Structure, and Prevented Planting Claims in Crop Insurance

A conceptual model based on opportunity cost and expected utility principles establishes linkages between the likelihood of prevented planting claims in crop insurance and existing share leasing arrangements/internal farm business structures. Results of heteroskedastic probit estimation procedures indicate that simpler internal business structures and more dominant farmer–tenant leasing position can increase the probability of submitting a prevented planting claim.     

Estimating the Prevalence and Cost of Yield-Switching Fraud in the Federal Crop Insurance Program

Producers who manipulate and switch their reported crop-yields between separately insured units can increase their insurance indemnities substantially. A statistical model that identifies potential yield switching is developed. The unrestricted statistical model is singular and is identified by imposing a mixture of system-estimable and system-nonestimable restrictions. Lower bound estimates of yield-switching fraud incidence and costs are obtained by applying the model to 207,067 multiple unit producers who purchased crop insurance in 1998.     

Welfare Impacts of Alternative Public Policies for Agricultural Pollution Control in an Open Economy: A General Equilibrium Framework

A general equilibrium approach is used to evaluate the welfare impacts of alternative policies for reducing agricultural pollution in an open economy with preexisting distortions caused by income taxes and agricultural subsidies. The policies examined here include the removal of distortionary agricultural subsidies. We find that even though these distortions are small compared to others in the economy, removing them and imposing nitrogen reduction subsidies and/or output taxes can enhance welfare and reduce nitrogen pollution; thereby leading to a substantial double dividend. The relative efficiency of the alternative policies examined here depends on the level of the nitrogen reduction target.     

试论我国土地政策参与低碳经济构建

研究目的：为土地政策尤其是土地供应政策参与我国低碳经济构建提供理论依据和政策支持。研究方法：综合分析法、逻辑分析法。研究结果：土地政策参与低碳经济构建以低碳经济项目的土地供应为主,而土地供应参与主要包括土地的供应量、供应价格、供应方式和供应结构等方面,完善低碳的土地法律法规对构建低碳经济也很重要。研究结论：土地政策作为宏观调控工具参与我国低碳经济的构建完全可行。     

Trade and the Political Economy of Food Standards

This article presents a political economy model of public standards in an open economy. We use the model to derive the political optimum and to analyse different factors that have an influence on this political equilibrium. We analyse the relationship between trade and the political equilibria and compare the political outcome with the social optimum to identify under which cases political considerations lead to standards being set ‘too low’ or ‘too high’, and which standards could be labelled as protectionist measures.     

日本农水产业协同组合存款金保险制度分析

本文从日本农水产业协同组合存款金保险机构的组织结构、运营委员会的管理模式、存款金保险机构的业务内容及范围,分析了日本农水产业协同组合存款金保险制度.在日本农水产业协同组合存款金保险制度框架下,信用关系得到了保障,使农业/渔业同其它产业形成一个稳定的产业链,极大地促进了农业/渔业生产力的提高和农民/渔民生活水平的改善,推动农业/渔业经济融入到国民经济的整体中,随国民经济同步发展.     

森林保险保费补贴政策林业产出激励效应评估

基于开展森林保险保费补贴政策的23个省(市、自治区)2014—2018年面板数据,在分析正向激励效应与负向抑制效应下的森林保险保费补贴政策产出效应传导机制的基础上,运用柯布-道格拉斯生产函数与面板数据模型从林业产出视角分别对全国层面、东部地区和中西部地区的森林保险保费补贴政策实施效果进行评估。结果表明:森林保险保费补贴政策存在产出激励效应,且存在1期滞后;同时,森林保险保费补贴对林业产出的促进效果受影响于林业风险,风险水平的上升会抑制保费补贴政策对林业产出的促进作用;森林保险保费补贴政策产出激励效应及林业风险对补贴政策产出激励效应的影响均存在区域差异性。最后,提出实施保费补贴差异化、逐步提升保障水平等建议。     

Regional Growth and Policies in the European Union: Does the Common Agricultural Policy Have a Counter-Treatment Effect?

This article investigates the impact of both the Common Agricultural Policy and structural policies on European regions by estimating a conditional growth convergence model. The Common Agricultural Policy influences the convergence process by affecting regional aggregate productivity, eventually conflicting with the structural policies designed to promote growth in lagging regions. The conditional convergence model is specified in a dynamic panel data form and applied to 206 regions observed from 1989 to 2000. A GMM estimation is applied in order to obtain consistent estimates of both the convergence parameter β and the impact of the conditioning variables, policy measures in particular.