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Subsidy Policies and Insurance Demand

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  • Cai, Jing
  • de Janvry, Alain
  • Sadoulet, Elisabeth

Abstract

Using data from a two-year pricing experiment, we study the impact of subsidy policies on weather insurance take-up. Results show that subsidies increase future insurance take-up through their influence on payout experiences. Exploring mechanisms of the payout effect, we find that for households that randomly benefited from financial education, receiving a payout provides a one-time learning experience that improves take-up permanently. In contrast, households with poor insurance knowledge continuously update take-up decisions based on recent experiences with disasters and payouts. Combining subsidy policies with financial education can thus be effective in promoting long-run insurance adoption.

Suggested Citation

  • Cai, Jing & de Janvry, Alain & Sadoulet, Elisabeth, 2020. "Subsidy Policies and Insurance Demand," Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley, Working Paper Series qt5cc1b1fk, Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley.
    • Handle: RePEc:cdl:agrebk:qt5cc1b1fk
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    Cited by:

    1. Chen, I-Chun & Du, Xiaodong & Mitchell, Paul D., 2018. "Policy Implications of Joint versus Separate Estimation of Crop Insurance Demand," 2018 Annual Meeting, August 5-7, Washington, D.C. 273878, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    2. Shukkri AHMED & Craig MCINTOSH & Alexandros SARRIS, 2017. "The Impact of Commercial Rainfall Index Insurance: Experimental Evidence from Ethiopia," Working Papers 4288, FERDI.
    3. De Janvry,Alain F., 2015. "Quantifying through ex post assessments the micro-level impacts of sovereign disaster risk financing and insurance programs," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7356, The World Bank.
    4. Dougherty, John & Flatnes, Jon Einar & Gallenstein, Richard & Miranda, Mario J. & Sam, Abdoul G., 2017. "Investigating the Impact of Climate Change on the Demand for Index Insurance," 2017 Annual Meeting, July 30-August 1, Chicago, Illinois 258524, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    5. Stoeffler, Quentin & Opuz, Gülce, 2022. "Price, information and product quality: Explaining index insurance demand in Burkina Faso," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    6. Laura Moritz & Lena Kuhn & Ihtiyor Bobojonov, 2023. "The role of peer imitation in agricultural index insurance adoption: Findings from lab‐in‐the‐field experiments in Kyrgyzstan," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(3), pages 1649-1672, August.
    7. repec:ags:aaea22:335917 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Anita Mukherjee & Shawn Cole & Jeremy Tobacman, 2021. "Targeting weather insurance markets," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 88(3), pages 757-784, September.
    9. Che, Yuyuan & Feng, Hongli & Hennessy, David, 2021. "Assessing Peer Effects and Subsidy Impacts in Technology Adoption: Application to Grazing Management Choices with Farm Survey Data," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315123, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    10. Matthew Stuart & Cindy Yu & David A. Hennessy, 2023. "The Impact of Stocks on Correlations between Crop Yields and Prices and on Revenue Insurance Premiums using Semiparametric Quantile Regression," Papers 2308.11805, arXiv.org, revised Jun 2024.
    11. de Janvry, Alain & Sadoulet, Elisabeth, 2020. "Using agriculture for development: Supply- and demand-side approaches," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    12. Mogge, Lukas, 2023. "A District-Level Analysis of the Effect of Risk Exposure on the Demand for Index Insurance in Mongolia," Ruhr Economic Papers 1018, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.
    13. Luigi Biagini & Simone Severini, 2022. "Can Machine Learning discover the determining factors in participation in insurance schemes? A comparative analysis," Papers 2212.03092, arXiv.org, revised Dec 2022.
    14. Dougherty, John P. & Flatnes, Jon Einar & Gallenstein, Richard A. & Miranda, Mario J. & Sam, Abdoul G., 2020. "Climate change and index insurance demand: Evidence from a framed field experiment in Tanzania," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 175(C), pages 155-184.
    15. Che, Yuyuan & Feng, Hongli & Hennessy, David A., 2017. "The Geography and Psychology of Participation in U.S. Federal Crop Insurance Programs," 2017 Annual Meeting, July 30-August 1, Chicago, Illinois 259190, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    16. Fluhrer, Svenja, 2023. "Crowding-in or crowding-out: The effect of humanitarian aid on households’ investments in climate adaptation," MPRA Paper 117975, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Shukkri AHMED & Craig MCINTOSH & Alexandros SARRIS, 2017. "The Impact of Commercial Rainfall Index Insurance: Experimental Evidence from Ethiopia," Working Papers 4289, FERDI.
    18. 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.
    19. Yuyuan Che & Hongli Feng & David A. Hennessy, 2020. "Recency effects and participation at the extensive and intensive margins in the U.S. Federal Crop Insurance Program," The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice, Palgrave Macmillan;The Geneva Association, vol. 45(1), pages 52-85, January.
    20. Alain de Janvry & Élisabeth Sadoulet, 2023. "Seven propositions to support and finance the agricultural sector in sub-Saharan Africa in the context of climate change WP324," Working Papers hal-04123941, HAL.
    21. Lichtenberg, Erik & Iglesias, Eva, 2022. "Index insurance and basis risk: A reconsideration," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    22. Ella Kirchner & Oliver Musshoff, 2024. "Digital opportunities for the distribution of index‐based microinsurance: Evidence from a discrete choice experiment in Mali," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 75(2), pages 794-815, June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Basic Behavioral and Social Science; Behavioral and Social Science; Quality Education; Economics; Commerce; Management; Tourism and Services;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G22 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Insurance; Insurance Companies; Actuarial Studies
    • G52 - Financial Economics - - Household Finance - - - Insurance
    • G53 - Financial Economics - - Household Finance - - - Financial Literacy
    • Q54 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Climate; Natural Disasters and their Management; Global Warming

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