Hedge Effectiveness for Western Australia Crops

This paper reports a series of pre-trade investigations into the hedge effectiveness of futures contracts of wheat, barley, and canola for Western Australia hedgers. Hedge ratios were estimated through the ordinary least square model, the vector autoregressive model, and the vector error-correction model. Hedging effectiveness was measured using risk reduction method and utility maximization method. Results indicate that, despite being thinly traded contracts, futures on Australia Securities Exchange are more effective in wheat, barley, and canola in terms of price risks minimization and utility maximization, comparing with futures contracts on Chicago Board of Trade and Intercontinental Exchange. Results suggest that using the local exchange is more efficient in risk management.