IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ags/aaea25/360700.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Impact of Crop Insurance Participation on Landscape Complexity

Author

Listed:
  • Che, Yuyuan
  • Aglasan, Serkan
  • Burchfield, Emily K.
  • Rejesus, Roderick M.

Abstract

This study explores how increased participation in the Federal Crop Insurance Program likely influences county-level landscape complexity. We utilize 2008-2018 county-level panel data with information on landscape complexity, crop insurance participation, and a number of weather variables to achieve the study objective. We apply linear fixed effect models, fixed effect instrumental models, and a number of robustness checks in the empirical analysis (i.e., two “external-instrument-fre” estimation procedures and a variety of alternative empirical specifications). Our estimation methods take advantage of the panel nature of the data to address various specification and endogeneity issues. Our results suggest that counties with greater crop insurance participation, especially at the intensive margin, tend to have lower landscape complexity. The finding underscores the idea that governmental policies aimed at helping farmers manage risk may inadvertently influence rural landscape diversity and sustainable agricultural systems.

Suggested Citation

  • Che, Yuyuan & Aglasan, Serkan & Burchfield, Emily K. & Rejesus, Roderick M., 2025. "The Impact of Crop Insurance Participation on Landscape Complexity," 2025 AAEA & WAEA Joint Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2025, Denver, CO 360700, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:aaea25:360700
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.360700
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/360700/files/75173_94736_105300_Insurance_and_landscape_AAEA2025.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.22004/ag.econ.360700?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Arthur Lewbel, 2012. "Using Heteroscedasticity to Identify and Estimate Mismeasured and Endogenous Regressor Models," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(1), pages 67-80.
    2. Bigelow, Daniel & Borchers, Allison, "undated". "Major Uses of Land in the United States, 2012," Economic Information Bulletin 263079, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    3. 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.
    4. A. Colin Cameron & Jonah B. Gelbach & Douglas L. Miller, 2011. "Robust Inference With Multiway Clustering," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(2), pages 238-249, April.
    5. Walters, Cory G. & Shumway, C. Richard & Chouinard, Hayley H. & Wandschneider, Philip R., 2012. "Crop Insurance, Land Allocation, and the Environment," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 37(2), pages 1-20, August.
    6. Christopher F Baum & Arthur Lewbel, 2019. "Advice on using heteroskedasticity-based identification," Stata Journal, StataCorp LLC, vol. 19(4), pages 757-767, December.
    7. John K. Horowitz & Erik Lichtenberg, 1993. "Insurance, Moral Hazard, and Chemical Use in Agriculture," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 75(4), pages 926-935.
    8. Sebastian Kripfganz & Jan F. Kiviet, 2021. "kinkyreg: Instrument-free inference for linear regression models with endogenous regressors," Stata Journal, StataCorp LLC, vol. 21(3), pages 772-813, September.
    9. Kleibergen, Frank & Paap, Richard, 2006. "Generalized reduced rank tests using the singular value decomposition," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 133(1), pages 97-126, July.
    10. JunJie Wu, 1999. "Crop Insurance, Acreage Decisions, and Nonpoint-Source Pollution," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 81(2), pages 305-320.
    11. 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.
    12. Charlotte Fabri & Sam Vermeulen & Steven Van Passel & Sergei Schaub, 2024. "Crop diversification and the effect of weather shocks on Italian farmers' income and income risk," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 75(3), pages 955-980, September.
    13. DeLay, Nathan, 2019. "The Impact of Federal Crop Insurance on the Conservation Reserve Program," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 48(2), pages 297-327, August.
    14. Francis Annan & Wolfram Schlenker, 2015. "Federal Crop Insurance and the Disincentive to Adapt to Extreme Heat," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 105(5), pages 262-266, May.
    15. Salvatore Di Falco & Felice Adinolfi & Martina Bozzola & Fabian Capitanio, 2014. "Crop Insurance as a Strategy for Adapting to Climate Change," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 65(2), pages 485-504, June.
    16. Jeremy G. Weber & Nigel Key & Erik O’Donoghue, 2016. "Does Federal Crop Insurance Make Environmental Externalities from Agriculture Worse?," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 3(3), pages 707-742.
    17. Barry K. Goodwin & Monte L. Vandeveer & John L. Deal, 2004. "An Empirical Analysis of Acreage Effects of Participation in the Federal Crop Insurance Program," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 86(4), pages 1058-1077.
    18. Vincent H. Smith & Barry K. Goodwin, 1996. "Crop Insurance, Moral Hazard, and Agricultural Chemical Use," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 78(2), pages 428-438.
    19. 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.
    20. repec:plo:pone00:0136580 is not listed on IDEAS
    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. Lu, Xun & Che, Yuyuan & Rejesus, Roderick M. & Goodwin, Barry K. & Ghosh, Sujit K. & Paudel, Jayash, 2023. "Unintended environmental benefits of crop insurance: Nitrogen and phosphorus in water bodies," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 204(PA).
    2. Aaron De Laporte & Daniel Schuurman & Tristan Skolrud & Peter Slade & Alfons Weersink, 2024. "Business risk management programs and the adoption of beneficial management practices in Canadian crop agriculture," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 72(3), pages 309-324, September.
    3. Möhring, Niklas & Dalhaus, Tobias & Enjolras, Geoffroy & Finger, Robert, 2020. "Crop insurance and pesticide use in European agriculture," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    4. Biram, Hunter D. & Tack, Jesse & Nehring, Richard F., 2022. "Does Crop Insurance Participation Impact Quality-Adjusted Pesticide Usage?," 2022 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Anaheim, California 322136, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    5. 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.
    6. Feng, Shuaizhang & Han, Yujie & Qiu, Huanguang, 2021. "Does crop insurance reduce pesticide usage? Evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    7. 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).
    8. Jennifer Ifft & Margaret Jodlowski, 2024. "Farm heterogeneity and leveraging federal crop insurance for conservation practice adoption," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 46(2), pages 572-594, June.
    9. Li, Fangfang & He, Dongwei & Liu, Jianghui & Hong, Na, 2025. "Does crop insurance increase farmers’ income? Evidence from the pilot program of agricultural catastrophe insurance in China," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 1002-1019.
    10. 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.
    11. Alcantara, Reymark T. & Che, Yuyuan, 2025. "The Impact of Crop Insurance Participation on Water Use Under Extreme Heat: Evidence from U.S. Agriculture," 2025 AAEA & WAEA Joint Annual Meeting, July 27-29, 2025, Denver, CO 361073, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    12. Prasenjit N. Ghosh & Ruiqing Miao & Emir Malikov, 2023. "Crop insurance premium subsidy and irrigation water withdrawals in the western United States," The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice, Palgrave Macmillan;The Geneva Association, vol. 48(4), pages 968-992, October.
    13. 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).
    14. Ifft, Jennifer & Jodlowski, Margaret, "undated". "Federal crop insurance participation and adoption of sustainable production practices by US corn farms," 166th Seminar, August 30-31, 2018, Galway, West of Ireland 276196, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    15. Liu, Ziheng & Lu, Qinan, 2023. "Ozone stress and crop harvesting failure: Evidence from US food production," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    16. Glauber, Joseph W., 2017. "Agricultural insurance and the WTO:," IFPRI book chapters, in: Bouët, Antoine; Laborde Debucquet, David (ed.), Agriculture, development, and the global trading system: 2000– 2015, chapter 10, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    17. Lawson Connor & Roderick M. Rejesus & Mahmut Yasar, 2022. "Crop insurance participation and cover crop use: Evidence from Indiana county‐level data," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 44(4), pages 2181-2208, December.
    18. Céline Grislain-Letrémy & Bertrand Villeneuve & Marc Yeterian, 2024. "Don't bet the Farm on Crop Insurance Subsidies: A Marginal Treatment Effect Analysis of French Farms," Working papers 956, Banque de France.
    19. Jeremy G. Weber & Nigel Key & Erik O’Donoghue, 2016. "Does Federal Crop Insurance Make Environmental Externalities from Agriculture Worse?," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 3(3), pages 707-742.
    20. Ifft, Jennifer & Jodlowski, Margaret, "undated". "Federal crop insurance participation and adoption of sustainable production practices by U.S. farms," SCC-76 Meeting, 2018, April 5-7, Kansas City, Missouri 276148, SCC-76: Economics and Management of Risk in Agriculture and Natural Resources.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:ags:aaea25:360700. 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: AgEcon Search (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aaeaaea.html .

    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.