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Business and financial risks of small farm households in China

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  • Calum G. Turvey
  • Rong Kong

Abstract

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships between business risks and credit choices of 400 farm households surveyed in Shaanxi province in October 2007 in the Yangling district. More specifically, this paper investigates whether or not rural farm households in China balance business risks from agricultural production with financial risk from the use of debt. Design/methodology/approach - The data were collected through a survey of 400 farm households in Shaanxi province conducted in October 2007. Four separate regressions are run using a credit measure as the dependent variable and measures of profitability, risk, risk aversion, and demography, and debt source (formal versus informal lending) as independent variables. Findings - The model shows evidence of risk balancing. That is, there is strong evidence that Chinese farmers reduce credit use and financial risk, as business risks increase. Practical implications - The results suggest that Chinese policy makers could encourage the use of finacial leverage and prudent debt use by offering risk reducing programs such as crop insurance, weather insurance, or price insurance. Originality/value - This paper uses a unique survey form to collect production risk data as well as gather information on credit use and sources. Data were collected so that risk measures could easily be computed using a triangular distribution. Furthermore, this is believed to be the first empirical validation of the risk balancing hypothesis.

Suggested Citation

  • Calum G. Turvey & Rong Kong, 2009. "Business and financial risks of small farm households in China," China Agricultural Economic Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 1(2), pages 155-172, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:eme:caerpp:v:1:y:2009:i:2:p:155-172
    DOI: 10.1108/17561370910927417
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    3. Ifft, Jennifer & Kuethe, Todd & Morehart, Mitch, 2015. "Does Federal Crop Insurance lead to higher farm debt use? Evidence from the Agricultural Resource Management Survey," Working Papers 250011, Cornell University, Department of Applied Economics and Management.
    4. Yu Xu & Liangjie Xin & Xiubin Li & Minghong Tan & Yahui Wang, 2019. "Exploring a Moderate Operation Scale in China’s Grain Production: A Perspective on the Costs of Machinery Services," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-17, April.
    5. Sarker, Rakhal, 2024. "Farm Policy Support Payments and Risk Balancing Phenomenon in Grain and Oilseed Sector in Ontario, Canada," IAAE 2024 Conference, August 2-7, 2024, New Delhi, India 344398, International Association of Agricultural Economists (IAAE).
    6. Aderajew, Tamirat S. & Du, Xiaoxue & Pennings, Joost M. E. & Trujillo-Barrera, Andres, 2020. "Farm-Level Risk-Balancing Behavior and the Role of Latent Heterogeneity," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 45(2), March.
    7. Jin‐Tao Zhan & Yan‐Rui Wu & Xiao‐Hui Zhang & Zhang‐Yue Zhou, 2012. "Why do farmers quit from grain production in China? Causes and implications," China Agricultural Economic Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 4(3), pages 342-362, August.
    8. Adhikari, Sudip & Khanal, Aditya R., 2020. "Does higher business risk influence financial risk and induce savings among small agricultural operations? Findings from Tennessee," 2020 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, Kansas City, Missouri 304509, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    9. Sarker, Rakhal, 2021. "Farm Safety Net Payments and Risk Balancing in Ontario Beef Sector," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315321, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    10. Hong Fu & Yuehua Zhang & Yinuo An & Li Zhou & Yanling Peng & Rong Kong & Calum G. Turvey, 2022. "Subjective and objective risk perceptions and the willingness to pay for agricultural insurance: evidence from an in-the-field choice experiment in rural China," The Geneva Risk and Insurance Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics (The Geneva Association), vol. 47(1), pages 98-121, March.

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