A Two-Tiered Demographic System: "Insiders" and "Outsiders" in Three Swabian Communities, 1558-1914

Timothy Guinnane and Sheilagh Ogilvie

Working Papers from Yale University, Department of Economics

Abstract: The investment decisions of small-scale farmers in developing countries are conditioned by their financial environment. Binding credit market constraints and incomplete insurance can reduce investment in activities with high expected profits. We conducted several experiments in northern Ghana in which farmers were randomly assigned to receive cash grants, grants of or opportunities to purchase rainfall index insurance, or a combination of the two. Demand for index insurance is strong, and insurance leads to significantly larger agricultural investment and riskier production choices in agriculture. The salient constraint to farmer investment is uninsured risk: when provided with insurance against the primary catastrophic risk they face, farmers are able to find resources to increase expenditure on their farms. Demand for insurance in subsequent years is strongly increasing in a farmer's own receipt of insurance payouts, and with the receipt of payouts by others in the farmer's social network. Both investment patterns and the demand for index insurance are consistent with the presence of important basis risk associated with the index insurance, and with imperfect trust that promised payouts will be delivered.

JEL-codes: J12 J13 K00 N33 O17 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-agr and nep-mfd
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Related works:
Working Paper: A Two-Tiered Demographic System: "Insiders" and "outsiders" in Three Swabian Communities, 1558-1914 (2013)
Working Paper: A Two-Tiered Demographic System: "Insiders" and "Outsiders" in Three Swabian Communities, 1558-1914 (2013)
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