Publication Details |
| Category | Text Publication |
| Reference Category | Book chapters |
| DOI | 10.2139/ssrn.1013549 |
| Document | author version |
| Title (Primary) | Agro-biodiversity as natural insurance and the development of financial insurance markets |
| Title (Secondary) | Agrobiodiversity, conservation and economic development |
| Author | Baumgärtner, S.; Quaas, M. |
| Publisher | Kontoleon, A.; Pascual, U.; Smale, M. |
| Journal | Routledge Explorations in Environmental Economics |
| Year | 2009 |
| Department | OEKON; OESA |
| Volume | 11 |
| Page From | 293 |
| Page To | 317 |
| Language | englisch |
| Keywords | agro-biodiversity; ecosystem services; agro-ecosystem management; insurance; risk-aversion; uncertainty |
| Abstract | Agro-biodiversity can provide natural insurance to risk averse farmers. We employ a conceptual ecological-economic model to analyze the choice of agro-biodiversity by risk averse farmers who have access to financial insurance. We study the implications for individually and socially optimal agro-ecosystem management and policy design when on-farm agro-biodiversity, through ecosystem processes at higher hierarchical levels, generates a positive externality on other farmers. We show that for the individual farmer natural insurance from agro-biodiversty and financial insurance are substitutes. Whilean improved access to financial insurance leads to lower agro-biodiversity, the effects on the market failure problem (due to the external benefits of on-farm agro-biodiversity) and on welfare are determined by properties of the agro-ecosystem and agro-biodiversity's external benefits. We derive a specific condition on agro-ecosystem functioning under which, if financial insurance becomes more accessible, welfare in the absence of regulation increases or decreases. |
| Persistent UFZ Identifier | https://www.ufz.de/index.php?en=20939&ufzPublicationIdentifier=27016 |
| Baumgärtner, S., Quaas, M. (2009): Agro-biodiversity as natural insurance and the development of financial insurance markets In: Kontoleon, A., Pascual, U., Smale, M. (eds.) Agrobiodiversity, conservation and economic development Routledge Explorations in Environmental Economics 11 Routledge, London, p. 293 - 317 |
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