Journal of Agricultural Economics

doi: 10.1111/1477-9552.12294pmid: N/A

Gallenstein, Richard A.; Mishra, Khushbu; Sam, Abdoul G.; Miranda, Mario J.

doi: 10.1111/1477-9552.12317pmid: N/A

Index insurance has been heralded as a potential solution to risk management problems faced by smallholder farmers in developing countries. Despite its potential, demand for standalone index insurance contracts has remained low in early field trials. We investigate the willingness to pay for drought index insurance‐backed loans in northern Ghana using contingent valuation. We find that index insurance lowers overall demand for agricultural loans. We also compare micro‐level index insurance, provided directly to farmers, with meso‐level insurance, provided to the credit agency and find that farmers appear to prefer micro‐level insurance. Finally, farmers are willing to pay to avoid basis risk.

Loy, Jens‐Peter; Weiss, Christoph

doi: 10.1111/1477-9552.12320pmid: N/A

The present paper extends the existing literature on vertical price transmission and cost pass‐through by investigating the impact of product differentiation. We apply distance‐measures of product differentiation to a specific product market (yoghurt) within one country (Germany). Results from a panel‐error‐correction model for 30 products sold in 432 stores over a period of 312 weeks suggest that product differentiation explains a significant share of differences in cost pass‐through rates: more differentiated products command higher prices and are characterised by lower equilibrium cost pass‐through rates as well as more sluggish price adjustment.