Insurance Against Covariate Shocks

Uninsured risk had far-reaching consequences for rural growth as well as poverty reduction. A range of informal mechanisms to insure rural households against the impact of shocks, but they are a modest component of a risk layering strategy for well-off households and even less protective for low-income households. Formal insurance mechanisms have inherent market imperfections. State interventions to address these limitations have proven costly and generally are targeted poorly. Recent developments in microfinance as well as in insurance marketing have opened new possibilities for household risk reduction. Index insurance, such as weather indexing, addresses other inherent problems in insurance by using an indicator that is not affected by individual behaviour and may address monitoring costs and moral hazard. A number of innovations using index insurance are being tried currently in diverse settings ranging from India to Mongolia to Malawi. Marketing costs may limit the provision of such insurance to small farmers, but even in such cases microfinance institutes may serve as market intermediaries. Moreover, state and submational governments can use insurance to achieve countercyclical funding programs. In this vein, municipal governments in Mexico have used insurance to finance disaster contingency while the World Food Program has insured a portion of its emergency assistance to Ethiopia. Humanitarian organizations and NGOs may also seek insurance in this manner.

Uninsured risk had far-reaching consequences for rural growth as well as poverty reduction. A range of informal mechanisms to insure rural households against the impact of shocks, but they are a modest component of a risk layering strategy for well-off households and even less protective for low-income households. Formal insurance mechanisms have inherent market imperfections. State interventions to address these limitations have proven costly and generally are targeted poorly. Recent developments in microfinance as well as in insurance marketing have opened new possibilities for household risk reduction. Index insurance, such as weather indexing, addresses other inherent problems in insurance by using an indicator that is not affected by individual behaviour and may address monitoring costs and moral hazard. A number of innovations using index insurance are being tried currently in diverse settings ranging from India to Mongolia to Malawi. Marketing costs may limit the provision of such insurance to small farmers, but even in such cases microfinance institutes may serve as market intermediaries. Moreover, state and submational governments can use insurance to achieve countercyclical funding programs. In this vein, municipal governments in Mexico have used insurance to finance disaster contingency while the World Food Program has insured a portion of its emergency assistance to Ethiopia. Humanitarian organizations and NGOs may also seek insurance in this manner.

This report has two objectives. It assesses the nature and the extent of vulnerability among rural households in Tanzania with a particular focus on smallholder cash crop growers though exploring all risks, including the decline in commodity prices. It further explores the potential role for market based insurance schemes such as commodity price and weather based insurance to mitigate household vulnerability. The empirical analysis is based on two rounds of specifically designed representative surveys of farm households in Kilimanjaro and Ruvuma, two cash crop growing regions in the United Republic of Tanzania in 2003 and 2004. The contrasting experiences of a richer (Kilimanjaro) and a poorer (Ruvuma) region substantially enriches the policy guidance emerging from the report. The report applies descriptive, econometric and contingent valuation techniques to achieve its objectives.

Written to provide students with the critical tools and approaches used by development economists, Essentials of Development Economics represents an alternative approach to traditional textbooks on the subject. Compact and less expensive than other textbooks for undergraduate development economics courses, Essentials of Development Economics offers a broad overview of key topics and methods in the field. Its fourteen easy-to-read chapters introduce cutting-edge research and present best practices and state-of-the-art methods. By mastering the material in this time-tested book, students will have the conceptual grounding needed to move on to more advanced development economics courses. This new edition includes: updated references to international development policy process and goals substantial updates to several chapters with new and revised material to make the text both current and policy relevant replacement of several special features with new ones featuring widely cited studies

Written to provide students with the critical tools used in todayÕs development economics research and practice, Essentials of Development Economics represents an alternative approach to traditional textbooks on the subject. Compact and less expensive than other textbooks for undergraduate development economics courses, Essentials of Development Economics offers a broad overview of key topics and methods in the field. Its fourteen easy-to-read chapters introduce cutting-edge research and present best practices and state-of-the-art methods. Each chapter concludes with an embedded QR code that connects readers to ancillary audiovisual materials and supplemental readings on a website curated by the authors. By mastering the material in this book, students will have the conceptual grounding needed to move on to higher-level development economics courses.

"This book evaluates alternatives in widening insurance and social protection provision - including sustainability and poverty effects, in thematic papers and case studies, development assessments, and policy analyses"--Provided by publisher.

Sudden negative events are part of life, but some are more disastrous than others. This book analyzes the consequences of sudden negative shocks in the short and long term well being of people and how the policies implemented before, during and in the immediate aftermath of the event could help prevent these long lasting effects.

This book constitutes a landmark attempt to address, comprehensively and in-depth, a policy-focused approach to the many timely and important issues associated with building a culture of disaster prevention and disaster risk reduction. This book not only provides key insights into the field of natural hazard and disaster studies but also assesses the causes, perspectives, and consequences of natural disasters, as well as providing a global survey of post-recovery policies. The contributions found herein discuss disaster risk reduction strategies and policies for managing the unexpected and cascading impacts of natural disasters. A particular focus is placed on transboundary catastrophes that cross policy domains, geographic, political, and sectoral boundaries. Since the disaster management and natural resources policy research field draws on a diverse range of paradigms and influences, the book includes case histories, empirical studies, conceptual-theoretical investigations, policy perspectives, institutional analysis, and risk analyses. The role of human culture, disaster psychology and environmental monitoring are examined in depth. Deficiencies and inequalities in local, national, and global disaster response are also discussed. Original strategies for reducing disaster risk are put forward and the prospects for a major change in the direction of global policy on disasters. This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of Natural Resources Policy Research.