IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jagris/v14y2024i11p2050-d1520784.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The More the Better? Reconsidering the Welfare Effect of Crop Insurance Premium Subsidy

Author

Listed:
  • Mingyu Hu

    (College of Economics and Management, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China)

  • Fujin Yi

    (College of Economics and Management, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China)

  • Hong Zhou

    (College of Economics and Management, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China)

  • Feier Yan

    (College of Economics and Management, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China)

Abstract

China has invested substantial financial subsidies to promote the development of crop insurance; however, the insurance demand among farmers remains notably low, resulting in significant welfare loss. Based on a field survey conducted in 2021 in seven major grain-producing counties in Jiangsu Province, this study analyses the relationship between premium subsidy rates and the welfare effects of subsidies through theoretical model derivation and explores the impact of farmer heterogeneity on the results. This study innovatively introduces a power law distribution model to elucidate the distributional characteristics of farmers’ crop insurance demand, demonstrates the significant limitations of the linear demand model in welfare research, and effectively analyzes the welfare effects of China’s current crop insurance premium subsidy policy. The results indicate that: (1) the actual crop insurance demand of farmers aligns more closely with a power law distribution, and its long-tailed characteristics refute the assumption of linear distribution; (2) there exists an inverted “U”-shaped relationship between the subsidy ratio and the welfare effect, and an excessively high subsidy ratio produces substantial unnecessary losses; (3) variations in welfare effects exist among farmers in different regions, risk attitudes, and cultivation scales, but the range of differences between groups is limited.

Suggested Citation

  • Mingyu Hu & Fujin Yi & Hong Zhou & Feier Yan, 2024. "The More the Better? Reconsidering the Welfare Effect of Crop Insurance Premium Subsidy," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-19, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jagris:v:14:y:2024:i:11:p:2050-:d:1520784
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/14/11/2050/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/14/11/2050/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Zhong, Ling & Nie, Jiajia & Yue, Xiaohang & Jin, Minyue, 2023. "Optimal design of agricultural insurance subsidies under the risk of extreme weather," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 263(C).
    2. Goolsbee Austan, 2006. "The Value of Broadband and the Deadweight Loss of Taxing New Technology," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 5(1), pages 1-31, April.
    3. Youngjune Kim & Jisang Yu & Dustin L Pendell, 2020. "Effects of crop insurance on farm disinvestment and exit decisions [Effects of differing farm policies on farm structure and dynamics]," European Review of Agricultural Economics, Oxford University Press and the European Agricultural and Applied Economics Publications Foundation, vol. 47(1), pages 324-347.
    4. Cole, Shawn & Fernando, A. Nilesh & Stein, Daniel & Tobacman, Jeremy, 2020. "Field comparisons of incentive-compatible preference elicitation techniques," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 172(C), pages 33-56.
    5. Anderson, Simon P. & Renault, Regis, 2003. "Efficiency and surplus bounds in Cournot competition," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 113(2), pages 253-264, December.
    6. Barry K. Goodwin, 1993. "An Empirical Analysis of the Demand for Multiple Peril Crop Insurance," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 75(2), pages 425-434.
    7. Schaffitzel, Filip & Jakob, Michael & Soria, Rafael & Vogt-Schilb, Adrien & Ward, Hauke, 2020. "Can government transfers make energy subsidy reform socially acceptable? A case study on Ecuador," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    8. Jisang Yu & Daniel A. Sumner, 2018. "Effects of subsidized crop insurance on crop choices," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 49(4), pages 533-545, July.
    9. Lynch, Muireann Á. & Nolan, Sheila & Devine, Mel T. & O’Malley, Mark, 2019. "The impacts of demand response participation in capacity markets," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 250(C), pages 444-451.
    10. Khalid, Syed Adnan & Salman, Verda, 2020. "“Welfare impact of electricity subsidy reforms in Pakistan: A micro model study”," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    11. Patrick S. Ward & David L. Ortega & David J. Spielman & Neha Kumar & Sumedha Minocha, 2020. "Demand for Complementary Financial and Technological Tools for Managing Drought Risk," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 68(2), pages 607-653.
    12. Zaura Fadhliani & Jeff Luckstead & Eric J. Wailes, 2019. "The impacts of multiperil crop insurance on Indonesian rice farmers and production," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 50(1), pages 15-26, January.
    13. Sankalp Sharma & Cory G. Walters, 2020. "Influence of farm size and insured type on crop insurance returns," Agribusiness, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 36(3), pages 440-452, June.
    14. Ju-Chin Huang & Min Qiang Zhao, 2015. "Model selection and misspecification in discrete choice welfare analysis," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(39), pages 4153-4167, August.
    15. Joseph W. Glauber, 2004. "Crop Insurance Reconsidered," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 86(5), pages 1179-1195.
    16. Bulut, Harun, 2017. "Managing Catastrophic Risk in Agriculture through Ex Ante Subsidized Insurance or Ex Post Disaster Aid," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 42(3), September.
    17. Shukri Ahmed & Craig McIntosh & Alexandros Sarris, 2020. "The Impact of Commercial Rainfall Index Insurance: Experimental Evidence from Ethiopia," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 102(4), pages 1154-1176, August.
    18. Elizabeth R. Bageant & Christopher B. Barrett, 2017. "Are There Gender Differences in Demand for Index-Based Livestock Insurance?," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(6), pages 932-952, June.
    19. James Vercammen & David J. Pannell, 2000. "The Economics of Crop Hail Insurance," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 48(1), pages 87-98, March.
    20. Ryoji Ohdoi & Koichi Futagami, 2021. "Welfare implications of non-unitary time discounting," Theory and Decision, Springer, vol. 90(1), pages 85-115, February.
    21. Wang, Yao & Lin, Boqiang, 2021. "Performance of alternative electricity prices on residential welfare in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 153(C).
    22. Jisang Yu & Aaron Smith & Daniel A Sumner, 2018. "Effects of Crop Insurance Premium Subsidies on Crop Acreage," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 100(1), pages 91-114.
    23. Amoah, Anthony & Ferrini, Silvia & Schaafsma, Marije, 2019. "Electricity outages in Ghana: Are contingent valuation estimates valid?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 135(C).
    24. Connor, Lawson & Katchova, Ani L., 2020. "Crop Insurance Participation Rates and Asymmetric Effects on U.S. Corn and Soybean Yield Risk," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 45(01), January.
    25. Yuqiang Gao & Yongkang Shu & Hongjie Cao & Shuting Zhou & Shaobin Shi, 2021. "Fiscal Policy Dilemma in Resolving Agricultural Risks: Evidence from China’s Agricultural Insurance Subsidy Pilot," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(14), pages 1-11, July.
    26. Fujin Yi & Mengfei Zhou & Yu Yvette Zhang, 2020. "Value of Incorporating ENSO Forecast in Crop Insurance Programs," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 102(2), pages 439-457, March.
    27. Dai, Jiansheng & Meng, Weidong, 2015. "A risk-averse newsvendor model under marketing-dependency and price-dependency," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 160(C), pages 220-229.
    28. Jayson L. Lusk, 2017. "Distributional Effects of Crop Insurance Subsidies," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 39(1), pages 1-15.
    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. Jianru Fu & Ruiyuan Shen & Chao Huang, 2023. "How does price insurance alleviate the fluctuation of agricultural product market? A dynamic analysis based on cobweb model," Agricultural Economics, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 69(5), pages 202-211.
    2. Yuqiang Gao & Yongkang Shu & Hongjie Cao & Shuting Zhou & Shaobin Shi, 2021. "Fiscal Policy Dilemma in Resolving Agricultural Risks: Evidence from China’s Agricultural Insurance Subsidy Pilot," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(14), pages 1-11, July.
    3. Vigani, Mauro & Khafagy, Amr & Berry, Robert, 2024. "Public spending for agricultural risk management: Land use, regional welfare and intra-subsidy substitution," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    4. Rocha, Jr., Adauto B. & Fulginiti, Lilyan E. & Perrin, Richard K. & Walters, Cory G., 2022. "What is the value of crop insurance for Nebraskan farmers?," 2022 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Anaheim, California 322529, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    5. Alexandre Gohin, 2019. "General Equilibrium Modelling of the Insurance Industry: U.S. Crop Insurance," Journal of Global Economic Analysis, Center for Global Trade Analysis, Department of Agricultural Economics, Purdue University, vol. 4(2), pages 108-145, December.
    6. Erich Seamon & Paul E. Gessler & John T. Abatzoglou & Philip W. Mote & Stephen S. Lee, 2023. "Climatic Damage Cause Variations of Agricultural Insurance Loss for the Pacific Northwest Region of the United States," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-13, November.
    7. Tim Philippi & Jörg Schiller, 2024. "Abandoning disaster relief and stimulating insurance demand through premium subsidies," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 91(2), pages 339-382, June.
    8. Tsiboe, Francis & Turner, Dylan, 2023. "The crop insurance demand response to premium subsidies: Evidence from U.S. Agriculture," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 119(C).
    9. Mauro Vigani & Jonas Kathage, 2019. "To Risk or Not to Risk? Risk Management and Farm Productivity," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 101(5), pages 1432-1454, October.
    10. Juan He & Xiaoyong Zheng & Roderick Rejesus & Jose Yorobe, 2020. "Input use under cost‐of‐production crop insurance: Theory and evidence," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 51(3), pages 343-357, May.
    11. Chemeris, Anna & Liu, Yong & Ker, Alan P., 2022. "Insurance subsidies, climate change, and innovation: Implications for crop yield resiliency," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    12. Gong Yufei & Muhammad Umer Arshad & Guo Xinya & Zhang Xuguang & Zhao Yuanfeng, 2024. "A Research Paradigm of Weather Index Insurance for Grassland Animal Husbandry: A Pathway to Increased Income for Herders in China’s Inner Mongolia," SAGE Open, , vol. 14(2), pages 21582440241, May.
    13. Paloch Suchato & Taro Mieno & Karina Schoengold & Timothy Foster, 2022. "The potential for moral hazard behavior in irrigation decisions under crop insurance," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 53(2), pages 257-273, March.
    14. Tao Li & Lihong Chen & Xiaoxu Li & Sha Li & Haibing Chen & Hao Ji, 2021. "The Impact of Cost-of-Production Insurance on Input Expense of Fruit Growing in Ecologically Vulnerable Areas: Evidence from Shaanxi Province of China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-14, November.
    15. Ranjan Kumar Ghosh & Shweta Gupta & Vartika Singh & Patrick S. Ward, 2021. "Demand for Crop Insurance in Developing Countries: New Evidence from India," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 72(1), pages 293-320, February.
    16. Fabio G., Santeramo & Ilaria, Russo & Emilia, Lamonaca, 2022. "Italian subsidised crop insurance: what the role of policy changes," MPRA Paper 115299, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Belasco, Eric J., 2020. "WAEA Presidential Address: Moving Agricultural Policy Forward: Or, There and Back Again," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 45(3), September.
    18. Shenan Wu & Barry K. Goodwin & Keith Coble, 2020. "Moral hazard and subsidized crop insurance," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 51(1), pages 131-142, January.
    19. Yi, Jing & Richardson, James & Bryant, Henry, 2016. "How Do Premium Subsidies Affect Crop Insurance Demand at Different Coverage Levels: the Case of Corn," 2016 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Boston, Massachusetts 236249, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    20. Fracarolli Nunes, Mauro & Lee Park, Camila & Shin, Hyunju, 2021. "Corporate social and environmental irresponsibilities in supply chains, contamination, and damage of intangible resources: A behavioural approach," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 241(C).

    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:gam:jagris:v:14:y:2024:i:11:p:2050-:d:1520784. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.