|
|
|
|
|
| Ker, Alan P.; Coble, Keith H.. |
| For multiple peril crop insurance, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Risk Management Agency estimates the premium rate for a base coverage level and then uses multiplicative adjustment factors to recover rates at other coverage levels. Given this methodology, accurate estimation of the base coverage level from 65% to 50%. The purpose of this analysis was to provide some insight into whether such a change should or should not be carried out. Not surprisingly, our findings indicate that the higher coverage level should be maintained as the base. |
| Tipo: Journal Article |
Palavras-chave: Risk and Uncertainty. |
| Ano: 1998 |
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/31189 |
| |
|
|
| Sam, Abdoul G.; Ker, Alan P.. |
| This paper proposes a nonparametric bias-reduction regression estimator which can accommodate two empirically relevant data environments. The first data environment assumes that at least one of the predictor variables is discrete. In such an empirical framework, a "cell" approach, which consists of estimating a separate regression for each discrete cell has generally been employed. However, the "cell" estimator may be inefficient in that it does not include data from the other cells when estimating the regression function for a given cell. The second data environment assumes that the researcher is faced with a system of regression functions that belong to different experimental units. In each case, the new estimator attempts to reduce estimation error by... |
| Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation |
Palavras-chave: Research Methods/ Statistical Methods. |
| Ano: 2004 |
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/20417 |
| |
|
|
| Ker, Alan P.. |
| As traditional forms of agricultural protection continue to decline, agricultural interests will likely seek alternative protection in the form of technical barriers. A flexible framework for theoretically and empirically analyzing technical barriers under various sources of uncertainty is derived. Attention is focused on uncertainty arising from the variation in the product attribute levels, a source not yet considered by the literature. Ex ante and ex post densities of domestic and international quantities and prices as well as the densities of their respective extreme-order statistics are derived. An example is presented to illustrate the application of the developed framework. |
| Tipo: Journal Article |
Palavras-chave: International Relations/Trade. |
| Ano: 2000 |
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/30825 |
| |
|
|
| Ker, Alan P.; McGowan, Pat. |
| Surprisingly, investigations of adverse selection have focused only on farmers. Conversely, this article investigates if insurance companies, not farmers, can generate excess rents from adverse selection activities. Currently political forces fashioning crop insurance as the cornerstone of U.S. agricultural policy make our analysis particularly topical. Focusing on El Nino/La Nina and winter wheat in Texas, we simulate out-of-sample reinsurance decisions during the 1978 through 1997 crop years while reflecting the realities imposed by the risk-sharing arrangement between the insurance companies and the federal government. The simulations indicate that economically and statistically significant excess rents may be garnered by insurance companies through... |
| Tipo: Journal Article |
Palavras-chave: Risk and Uncertainty. |
| Ano: 2000 |
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/30907 |
| |
|
|
| Ker, Alan P.; Ergun, A. Tolga. |
| The participation of intermediaries in either public policy or private markets can be justified on the basis of efficiency gains. With respect to private insurance company involvement in the U.S. crop insurance program, efficiency gains may arise from either decreased transaction costs through better established delivery channels and/or the revelation of asymmetric information. Although anecdotal evidence indicates that delivery costs are excessive that question is better left for forensic accountants. We focus on the revelation of asymmetric information. Specifically, we test if insurance companies reveal asymmetric information to the government via their allocation decisions and discuss the policy implications. |
| Tipo: Conference Paper or Presentation |
Palavras-chave: Risk and Uncertainty. |
| Ano: 2003 |
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/21898 |
| |
|
| |
|
|
| Racine, Jeffrey S.; Ker, Alan P.. |
| The identification of improved methods for characterizing crop yield densities has experienced a recent surge in activity due in part to the central role played by crop insurance in the Agricultural Risk Protection Act of 2000 (estimates of yield densities are required for the determination of insurance premium rates). Nonparametric kernel methods have been successfully used to model yield densities; however, traditional kernel methods do not handle the presence of categorical data in a satisfactory manner and have therefore tended to be applied on a county-by-county basis. By utilizing recently developed kernel methods that admit mixed data types, we are able to model the yield density jointly across counties, leading to substantial finite sample... |
| Tipo: Journal Article |
Palavras-chave: Discrete data; Insurance rating; Kernel estimation; Yield distributions; Risk and Uncertainty. |
| Ano: 2006 |
URL: http://purl.umn.edu/10146 |
| |
|
|
|
