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Weather Index Insurance and Common Property Resources

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 September 2016

Haimanti Bhattacharya  and
Daniel E. Osgood
Haimanti Bhattacharya*
Affiliation:
Department of Economics at University of Utah
Daniel E. Osgood
Affiliation:
International Research Institute for Climate and Society at Columbia University
*
Correspondence: Haimanti Bhattacharya ▪ Department of Economics ▪ University of Utah ▪ 260 South Central Campus Drive, OSH 343 ▪ Salt Lake City, UT 84112 ▪ Phone 801.587.8350 ▪ Emailhaimanti.bhattacharya@economics.utah.edu.
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Abstract

With weather index insurance expanding and common property resources diminishing in low-income agricultural areas, it is essential to understand the potential effects of such insurance on resources that serve as vital input bases for low-income households. Using simple analytical constructs, we illustrate how index insurance may increase or decrease use of common property resources depending on common implementation characteristics such as binding constraints and multiple sources of income in a multi-temporal decision context. This analysis of how index insurance might assist low-income families without degrading the commons can be informative for insurance administrators and policymakers.

Keywords

agriculturecommon property resourceweather index insurance
Type
Research Article
Information
Agricultural and Resource Economics Review , Volume 43 , Issue 3 , December 2014 , pp. 438 - 450
Copyright
Copyright © 2014 Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association 

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