Papers and Presentations

Presentation: Improving the Value of Agricultural Insurance

In this presentation for the 13th International Microinsurance Conference in Lima, Peru on November 9, 2017, AMA Innovation Lab assistant director Tara Chiu discussed the proven impacts index insurance can have on small-scale farmers in developing economies and the importance of ensuring that only quality products are made available on the market.

Paper: Unintended Consequences of Enforcement in a Cooperative Institution: Experimental Evidence from Tanzanian Fishers

Small-scale fisheries in developing countries employ the majority of the world's fishers and are a critical source of income and nutrition for billions of people, yet they frequently suffer from overfishing. The team explores the mechanisms by which this undesirable outcome arises and argue that institutional reform should consider that resource users make jointly determined decisions about gear choice, including illegal ones, and harvest rates.

Presentation: Index Insurance for Agricultural Risk Management

In this presentation at the June 5-10, 2017 Global Learning and Evidence Exchange for Market Systems event in Dakar, Senegal, AMA Innovation Lab assistant director Tara Steinmetz discussed the benefits and challenges of using index insurance as a means of supporting small-scale farmers facing a range of climate-related threats.

Presentation: Client Value & Index Insurance

In this presentation for the GAN Peer Learning Platform event on July 4, 2017 in Nairobi, Kenya, AMA Innovation Lab assistant director Tara Steinmetz discussed the potential for index insurance and development but also the importance of client value.

Paper: Index Insurance for Developing Country Agriculture: A Reassessment

Index-based agricultural insurance has offered the promise of overcoming the hurdles of traditional indemnity-based insurance for economic development. This paper describes how existing constraints on take-up can partially be overcome using revised contract designs, advanced technology for better measurement, improved marketing and better policy.

Paper: Aspirations Failure and Formation in Rural Nepal

The lack and drive of aspiration has gained the attention of economists as a behavioral constraint to future-oriented behavior and investment. The research team explores the empirical evidence relating to aspirations and determine if the social phenomenon can stimulate development or reinforce poverty.