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Innovations in Risk Management: Index-Based Insurance

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Online Location
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/agricultural-and-resource-economics-review/article/innovations-in-index-insurance-for-the-poor-in-lower-income-countries/5797EEDD33C48B19B031DA21E273E22A
Publication date
15/09/2015
Number of Pages
43
Language:
English
Type of Publication:
Articles & Journals
Focus Region:
Global
Focus Topic:
Climate / Weather / Environment
Type of Risk:
Weather & Climate related
Type of Risk Managment Option:
Risk transfer
Commodity:
Crops
Author
Jerry Skees

This article focuses on innovation in weather insurance designed to fit the special circumstances of the poor in lower income countries where rural and agricultural financial markets are largely underdeveloped. Index insurance is an innovation that circumvents many of the fundamental problems that hamper the development of insurance for weather risks in lower income countries. With index insurance, payments are made based upon an objective and independent index that serves as a proxy for significant losses to crops, livestock, or other property. For example, the index can be based upon extreme rainfall measures that create either drought or flooding. Weather stations or even satellite imagery coupled with computer models can be used to create reliable “indexes” as the basis of payments. This article reviews this innovation by providing the background for its development and the motivation for using the innovation for the poor.