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Efficiency Costs of Subsidy Rules for Crop Insurance

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Publication date
11/06/2003
Number of Pages
22
Language:
English
Type of Publication:
Articles & Journals
Focus Region:
Global
Focus Topic:
Institutions / Organizations
Market / Trade
Type of Risk:
Policy & institutional
Type of Risk Managment Option:
Risk transfer
Commodity:
Crops
Author
H. Holly Wang, Steven D. Hanson, J. Roy Black
Organization
Western Agricultural Economic Association

 

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, in order to capture subsidy. Farmers are found to be as well off with a flat subsidy that is up to 25% less than the value of the current regressive proportional subsidy.