[go: up one dir, main page]
More Web Proxy on the site http://driver.im/
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/wbk/wbrwps/2812.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Can financial markets be tapped to help poor people cope with weather risks ?

Author

Listed:
  • Skees, Jerry
  • Varangis, Panos
  • Larson, Donald
  • Siegel, Paul
Abstract
Poor households in rural areas are particularly vulnerable to risks that reduce incomes and increase expenditures. Most past research has focused on risk-coping strategies for the rural poor, specially on micro-level and household actions. These are risks that can been shared within a community or extended family. These strategies are effective for independent risks, but ineffective for covariate or systemic risks. The authors focus on private and public mechanisms for managing covariate risk for natural disasters. When many households within the same community face risks that create losses for all, traditional coping mechanisms are likely to fail. Such covariate risks are not uncommon in many developing countries, especially where farming remains a major source of income. The authors focus on risks related to weather events (such as excess rain, droughts, freezes, and high winds) that have a severe impact on rural incomes. Weather insurance could cover the covariate risk for a community of poor households through formal and informal risk-sharing arrangements among households that are purchasing these weather contracts. Given recent Mexican innovations targeted at helping the poor cope with catastrophe weather events, the authors use Mexico as a case study. In Mexico, poor households are exposed to systemic risks, such as droughts and floods, that affect the economic livelihood of their region. Catastrophic insurance is useful for small farmers, although commercially oriented small farmers may wish to obtain coverage for less catastrophic events. Weather insurance could meet this need. It pays out according to the frequency and intensity of specific weather events. Because weather insurance depends on the occurrences and objective measure of intensity of a specific event, it does not require individual farm inspection that can be very costly for small farm. The authors argue that a key issue of delivering insurance to small farmers is the existence of producer organizations. In Mexico, the farmer mutual insurance funds provide a good example. These funds provide insurance to their members by pulling together resources to pay for future indemnities and reinsures itself from major systemic risks that could hurt simultaneously all their members.

Suggested Citation

  • Skees, Jerry & Varangis, Panos & Larson, Donald & Siegel, Paul, 2002. "Can financial markets be tapped to help poor people cope with weather risks ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2812, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:2812
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2002/04/19/000094946_02041004144325/Rendered/PDF/multi0page.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Siegel, Paul B. & Alwang, Jeffrey, 1999. "An asset-based approach to social risk management : a conceptual framework," Social Protection Discussion Papers and Notes 21324, The World Bank.
    2. Epstein, Richard A, 1996. "Catastrophic Responses to Catastrophic Risks," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 12(2-3), pages 287-308, May.
    3. Kunreuther, Howard & Slovic, Paul, 1978. "Economics, Psychology, and Protective Behavior," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 68(2), pages 64-69, May.
    4. Paul K. Freeman, 1997. "Managing Environmental Risk Through Insurance," Books, American Enterprise Institute, number 918175, September.
    5. Kunreuther, Howard, 1996. "Mitigating Disaster Losses through Insurance," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 12(2-3), pages 171-187, May.
    6. Takeshi Sakurai & Thomas Reardon, 1997. "Potential Demand for Drought Insurance in Burkina Faso and Its Determinants," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 79(4), pages 1193-1207.
    7. Jonathan Morduch, 1999. "The Microfinance Promise," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 37(4), pages 1569-1614, December.
    8. Kunreuther, Howard & Meszaros, Jacqueline & Hogarth, Robin M. & Spranca, Mark, 1995. "Ambiguity and underwriter decision processes," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 26(3), pages 337-352, May.
    9. Skees, Jerry & Hazell, P. B. R. & Miranda, Mario, 1999. "New approaches to crop yield insurance in developing countries:," EPTD discussion papers 55, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    10. Skees, Jerry R., 2000. "A role for capital markets in natural disasters: a piece of the food security puzzle," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 365-378, June.
    11. J. Roy Black & Barry J. Barnett & Yingyao Hu, 1999. "Cooperatives and Capital Markets: The Case of Minnesota-Dakota Sugar Cooperatives," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 81(5), pages 1240-1246.
    12. Michael J. Rettger & Richard N. Boisvert, 1979. "Flood Insurance or Disaster Loans: An Economic Evaluation," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 61(3), pages 496-505.
    13. Jerry R. Skees & Barry J. Barnett, 1999. "Conceptual and Practical Considerations for Sharing Catastrophic/Systemic Risks," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 21(2), pages 424-441.
    14. Dawson, P. J., 1988. "Labour on the family farm: A theory under uncertainty," Agricultural Economics, Blackwell, vol. 1(4), pages 365-380, January.
    15. Dwight M. Jaffee & Thomas Russell, 1996. "Catastrophe Insurance, Capital Markets and Uninsurable Risks," Center for Financial Institutions Working Papers 96-12, Wharton School Center for Financial Institutions, University of Pennsylvania.
    16. Frank Ellis, 1998. "Household strategies and rural livelihood diversification," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(1), pages 1-38.
    17. Gautam, Madhur & Hazell, Peter & Alderman, Harold, 1994. "Rural demand for drought insurance," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1383, The World Bank.
    18. Noll, Roger G, 1996. "The Complex Politics of Catastrophe Economics," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 12(2-3), pages 141-146, May.
    19. Jerry R. Skees, 1999. "Opportunities for Improved Efficiency in Risk Sharing Using Capital Markets," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 81(5), pages 1228-1233.
    20. Kaplow, Louis, 1991. "Incentives and Government Relief for Risk," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 4(2), pages 167-175, April.
    21. Kimberly A. Zeuli, 1999. "New Risk-Management Strategies for Agricultural Cooperatives," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 81(5), pages 1234-1239.
    22. Peter B. R. Hazell, 1992. "The appropriate role of agricultural insurance in developing countries," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 4(6), pages 567-581, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Barnett, Barry J. & Barrett, Christopher B. & Skees, Jerry R., 2008. "Poverty Traps and Index-Based Risk Transfer Products," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(10), pages 1766-1785, October.
    2. Anderson, Jock R., 2003. "Risk in rural development: challenges for managers and policy makers," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 75(2-3), pages 161-197.
    3. Unknown, 1999. "Policy Reform, Market Stability, And Food Security; Proceedings Of A Conference Of The International Agricultural Trade Research Consortium," 1998: Policy Reform, Market Stability, and Food Security Conference, June 1998, Alexandria VA 14538, International Agricultural Trade Research Consortium.
    4. Skees, Jerry & Hazell, P. B. R. & Miranda, Mario, 1999. "New approaches to crop yield insurance in developing countries:," EPTD discussion papers 55, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    5. Paulson, Nicholas D. & Hart, Chad E., 2006. "A Spatial Approach to Addressing Weather Derivative Basis Risk: A Drought Insurance Example," 2006 Annual meeting, July 23-26, Long Beach, CA 21249, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    6. Geyser, J.M., 2004. "Weather derivatives: Concept and application for their use in South Africa," Agrekon, Agricultural Economics Association of South Africa (AEASA), vol. 43(4), pages 1-21, December.
    7. Merrifield, John, 2002. "A general equilibrium analysis of the insurance bonding approach to pollution threats," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(1), pages 103-115, January.
    8. Skees, Jerry R., 2000. "A role for capital markets in natural disasters: a piece of the food security puzzle," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 365-378, June.
    9. Nicholas D. Paulson & Chad E. Hart & Dermot J. Hayes, 2010. "A spatial Bayesian approach to weather derivatives," Agricultural Finance Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 70(1), pages 79-96, May.
    10. W. J. W. Botzen & J. C. J. M. Van Den Bergh, 2008. "Insurance Against Climate Change and Flooding in the Netherlands: Present, Future, and Comparison with Other Countries," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(2), pages 413-426, April.
    11. Qihao He & Michael Faure, 2024. "Strengthening Resilience and Sustainability for Post-Disaster Recovery: A Comparative Law and Economics Analysis on Smart Mixes Between Mechanisms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(21), pages 1-27, November.
    12. Paulson, Nicholas David, 2007. "Three essays on risk and uncertainty in agriculture," ISU General Staff Papers 2007010108000016979, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    13. Ahmed Tauqeer Zahid & Farooq AhmadKhan, 2017. "Cost Mitigation of Natural Disasters through Insurance," Indian Journal of Commerce and Management Studies, Educational Research Multimedia & Publications,India, vol. 8(3), pages 16-25, September.
    14. Alan Fuchs & Hendrik Wolff, 2011. "Concept and Unintended Consequences of Weather Index Insurance: The Case of Mexico," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 93(2), pages 505-511.
    15. Million Tadesse & Bekele Shiferaw & Olaf Erenstein, 2015. "Weather index insurance for managing drought risk in smallholder agriculture: lessons and policy implications for sub-Saharan Africa," Agricultural and Food Economics, Springer;Italian Society of Agricultural Economics (SIDEA), vol. 3(1), pages 1-21, December.
    16. Sarris, Alexander, 2002. "The demand for commodity insurance by developing country agricultural producers - theory and an application to cocoa in Ghana," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2887, The World Bank.
    17. Jason Scott Johnston, 2012. "Disasters and Decentralisation," The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice, Palgrave Macmillan;The Geneva Association, vol. 37(2), pages 228-256, April.
    18. James M. Carson & Kathleen A. McCullough & David M. Pooser, 2013. "Deciding Whether to Invest in Mitigation Measures: Evidence From Florida," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 80(2), pages 309-327, June.
    19. Jef Mot & Michael Faure, 2019. "Public authority liability and the cost of disasters," The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice, Palgrave Macmillan;The Geneva Association, vol. 44(4), pages 760-783, October.
    20. Alexis Berg & Philippe Quirion & Benjamin Sultan, 2009. "Weather-index drought insurance in Burkina-Faso: assessment of its potential interest to farmers," Post-Print hal-00520893, HAL.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:2812. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Roula I. Yazigi (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/dvewbus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.