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A Chat about Insurance: Experimental Results from Rural Bangladesh

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  • Daniel Clarke
  • Francesca de Nicola
  • Ruth Vargas Hill
  • Neha Kumar
  • Parendi Mehta

Abstract

Farmers throughout the developing world face multiple sources of uninsured risk to agricultural production and household assets. In this paper, we present results from an experimental demand-elicitation exercise in rural Bangladesh to shed light on smallholder farmers' interest in formal insurance products. We propose a suite of insurance and savings products, and we randomly vary the price of one insurance option (area-yield insurance) and the presence of one of the savings options (group savings). Consistent with economic theory, farmers buy more of the insurance products that cover the risks they primarily face. However, because farmers are subject to a variety of risks, they do not focus on only one type of insurance; instead, they evenly split their endowment between life and disability insurance and agricultural insurance. Demand for area-yield insurance falls with price; we also observe important cross-price elasticities with other insurance products. The presence of group savings does not alter demand for insurance, though group savings is found to be a particularly popular risk management tool, especially when decisions are made in groups.

Suggested Citation

  • Daniel Clarke & Francesca de Nicola & Ruth Vargas Hill & Neha Kumar & Parendi Mehta, 2015. "A Chat about Insurance: Experimental Results from Rural Bangladesh," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 37(3), pages 477-501.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:apecpp:v:37:y:2015:i:3:p:477-501.
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Ruth Vargas Hill & John Hoddinott & Neha Kumar, 2013. "Adoption of weather-index insurance: learning from willingness to pay among a panel of households in rural Ethiopia," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 44(4-5), pages 385-398, July.
    2. Peter Davis, 2007. "Discussions Among the Poor: Exploring Poverty Dynamics With Focus Groups in Bangladesh," Working Papers id:1106, eSocialSciences.
    3. del Ninno, Carlo & Dorosh, Paul A. & Smith, Lisa C. & Roy, Dilip K., 2001. "The 1998 floods in Bangladesh: disaster impacts, household coping strategies, and responses," Research reports 122, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    4. Santos, Indhira & Sharif, Iffath & Rahman, Hossain Zillur & Zaman, Hassan, 2011. "How do the poor cope with shocks in Bangladesh ? evidence from survey data," Policy Research Working Paper Series 5810, The World Bank.
    5. Mobarak, A. Mushfiq & Rosenzweig, Mark R., 2012. "Selling formal Insurance to the Informally Insured," Center Discussion Papers 121671, Yale University, Economic Growth Center.
    6. Francesca de Nicola, 2011. "The Impact of Weather Insurance on Consumption, Investment, and Welfare," 2011 Meeting Papers 548, Society for Economic Dynamics.
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    Cited by:

    1. Ward, Patrick S. & Kumar, Neha & De Nicola, Francesca & Hill, Ruth & Makhija, Simrin & Spielman, David J. & Magnan, Nicholas, 2017. "Insuring Against Drought: Evidence on Agricultural Intensification and Demand for Index Insurance from a Randomized Evaluation in Rural Bangladesh," 2017 Annual Meeting, July 30-August 1, Chicago, Illinois 258090, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    2. Md Monjurul Islam & Tofael Ahamed & Ryozo Noguchi, 2018. "Land Suitability and Insurance Premiums: A GIS-based Multicriteria Analysis Approach for Sustainable Rice Production," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-28, May.
    3. Patil, Vikram & Veettil, Prakashan Chellattan & Yashodha, Yashodha, 2021. "Understanding Farmers’ Low Uptake of Crop Insurance in India: A Discrete Choice Experiment Approach," 2021 Conference, August 17-31, 2021, Virtual 315232, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    4. Hill, Ruth Vargas & Kumar, Neha & Magnan, Nicholas & Makhija, Simrin & de Nicola, Francesca & Spielman, David J. & Ward, Patrick S., 2017. "Insuring against droughts: Evidence on agricultural intensification and index insurance demand from a randomized evaluation in rural Bangladesh," IFPRI discussion papers 1630, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    5. 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.
    6. Hill, Ruth Vargas & Kumar, Neha & Magnan, Nicholas & Makhija, Simrin & de Nicola, Francesca & Spielman, David J. & Ward, Patrick S., 2019. "Ex ante and ex post effects of hybrid index insurance in Bangladesh," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 1-17.

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