IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/enreec/v48y2011i4p679-694.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Livestock as Insurance and Social Status: Evidence from Reindeer Herding in Norway

Author

Listed:
  • Anne Johannesen
  • Anders Skonhoft

Abstract

The theory of livestock as a buffer stock predicts that agropastoralists facing substantial risks typically will use liquid assets, such as livestock, for self-insurance to smooth consumption. This paper examines this hypothesis for reindeer herders in Norway where the herders, in contrast to pastoralists in, say, Sub-Saharan Africa, face well functioning credit markets. Using survey data including slaughtering responses to a hypothetical meat price increase, we test whether keeping reindeer as insurance against risks affects the slaughter response. Furthermore, we study whether status motives for keeping large herds affect the harvest response to a changing slaughter price. As a background for the empirical analysis, a stochastic bioeconomic model describing Saami reindeer herding is formulated
(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

Suggested Citation

  • Anne Johannesen & Anders Skonhoft, 2011. "Livestock as Insurance and Social Status: Evidence from Reindeer Herding in Norway," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 48(4), pages 679-694, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:enreec:v:48:y:2011:i:4:p:679-694
    DOI: 10.1007/s10640-010-9421-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s10640-010-9421-2
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10640-010-9421-2?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fafchamps, Marcel & Udry, Christopher & Czukas, Katherine, 1998. "Drought and saving in West Africa: are livestock a buffer stock?," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(2), pages 273-305, April.
    2. Dasgupta, Partha & Maler, Karl-Goran, 1995. "Poverty, institutions, and the environmental resource-base," Handbook of Development Economics, in: Hollis Chenery & T.N. Srinivasan (ed.), Handbook of Development Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 39, pages 2371-2463, Elsevier.
    3. Fraser, Iain & Chisholm, Tony, 2000. "Conservation or cultural heritage? Cattle grazing in the Victoria Alpine National Park," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 63-75, April.
    4. Anne Borge Johannesen & Anders Skonhoft, 2009. "Local Common Property Exploitation with Rewards," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 85(4), pages 637-654.
    5. Kjell Arne Brekke & Richard B. Howarth, 2002. "Status, Growth and the Environment," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 2160.
    6. Fafchamps, Marcel, 1998. "The Tragedy of the Commons, Livestock Cycles and Sustainability," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 7(3), pages 384-423, October.
    7. Sherwin Rosen, 1987. "Dynamic Animal Economics," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 69(3), pages 547-557.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Cattle as self-insurance in modern economies
      by Economic Logician in Economic Logic on 2009-09-11 19:56:00

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Irmelin Slettemoen Helgesen & Anne Borge Johannesen, 2023. "Climate change and reindeer herding – a bioeconomic model on the economic implications for Saami reindeer herders in Sweden and Norway," Working Paper Series 19723, Department of Economics, Norwegian University of Science and Technology.
    2. Anne Borge Johannesen & Jon Olaf Olaussen & Anders Skonhoft, 2019. "Livestock and Carnivores: Economic and Ecological Interactions," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 74(1), pages 295-317, September.

    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. Baldwin, Katherine L. & DeVeau, Vanessa & Foster, Kenneth A. & Marshall, Maria I., 2008. "Traits Affecting Household Marketing Decisions in Rural Kenya," 2008 Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2008, Orlando, Florida 6445, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    2. Verpoorten, Marijke, 2009. "Household coping in war- and peacetime: Cattle sales in Rwanda, 1991-2001," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(1), pages 67-86, January.
    3. Kabubo-Mariara, Jane, 2009. "Global warming and livestock husbandry in Kenya: Impacts and adaptations," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(7), pages 1915-1924, May.
    4. Travis J. Lybbert & Christopher B. Barrett & Solomon Desta & D. Layne Coppock, 2004. "Stochastic wealth dynamics and risk management among a poor population," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 114(498), pages 750-777, October.
    5. Mahmud, Mahreen & Riley, Emma, 2021. "Household response to an extreme shock: Evidence on the immediate impact of the Covid-19 lockdown on economic outcomes and well-being in rural Uganda," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    6. Chao, Hui-Ping, 1998. "Regime Switching In Us Livestock Cycles," 1998 Annual meeting, August 2-5, Salt Lake City, UT 20824, American Agricultural Economics Association (New Name 2008: Agricultural and Applied Economics Association).
    7. Carol Newman & Finn Tarp, 2018. "Risk and investment: Evidence from rural Vietnam," WIDER Working Paper Series 122, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    8. Renata Baborska & Emilio Hernandez & Emiliano Magrini & Cristian Morales-Opazo, 2020. "The impact of financial inclusion on rural food security experience: A perspective from low-and middle-income countries," Review of Development Finance Journal, Chartered Institute of Development Finance, vol. 10(2), pages 1-18.
    9. Jin, Ling & Chen, Kevin Z. & Yu, Bingxin & Filipski, Mateusz, 2015. "Farmers' Coping Strategies against an Aggregate Shock: Evidence from the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake," 2015 Conference, August 9-14, 2015, Milan, Italy 211814, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    10. Aadland, David, 2004. "Cattle cycles, heterogeneous expectations and the age distribution of capital," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 28(10), pages 1977-2002, September.
    11. Molina Millán, Teresa, 2015. "Regional Migration, Insurance and Economic Shocks: Evidence from Nicaragua," IZA Discussion Papers 9494, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    12. Quentin Stoeffler & Michael Carter & Catherine Guirkinger & Wouter Gelade, 2022. "The Spillover Impact of Index Insurance on Agricultural Investment by Cotton Farmers in Burkina Faso," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 36(1), pages 114-140.
    13. Stefan Dercon & Pramila Krishnan, 2000. "In Sickness and in Health: Risk Sharing within Households in Rural Ethiopia," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 108(4), pages 688-727, August.
    14. Arun, Thankom Gopinath & Bendig, Mirko, 2010. "Risk Management among the Poor: The Case of Microfinancial Services," IZA Discussion Papers 5174, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    15. Lorenzo Casaburi & Jack Willis, 2018. "Time versus State in Insurance: Experimental Evidence from Contract Farming in Kenya," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 108(12), pages 3778-3813, December.
    16. Marcel Fafchamps & Forhad Shilpi, 2009. "Isolation and Subjective Welfare: Evidence from South Asia," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 57(4), pages 641-683, July.
    17. Coxhead, Ian A., 1997. "Induced innovation and land degradation in developing country agriculture," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 41(3), pages 1-28.
    18. David Aadland & DeeVon Bailey & S. Feng, "undated". "A theoretical and empirical investigation of the supply response in the U.S. beef-cattle industry," Working Papers 2000-12, Utah State University, Department of Economics.
    19. Ignaciuk, Ada & Malevolti, Giulia & Scognamillo, Antonio & Sitko, Nicholas J., 2022. "Can food aid relax farmers’ constraints to adopting climate-adaptive agricultural practices? Evidence from Ethiopia, Malawi and the United Republic of Tanzania," ESA Working Papers 324073, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Agricultural Development Economics Division (ESA).
    20. repec:nam:befdwp:5 is not listed on IDEAS
    21. Manoj K. Pandey, 2013. "Elderly's Health Shocks and Household's Ex-ante Poverty in India," ASARC Working Papers 2013-01, The Australian National University, Australia South Asia Research Centre.

    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:kap:enreec:v:48:y:2011:i:4:p:679-694. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.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.