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The Value of Ideal Contingency Markets in Agriculture
Author(s) -
Myers Robert J.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
american journal of agricultural economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.949
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1467-8276
pISSN - 0002-9092
DOI - 10.2307/1242065
Subject(s) - contingency , futures contract , economics , almost ideal demand system , welfare , microeconomics , value (mathematics) , agriculture , incomplete markets , hedge , financial economics , market economy , production (economics) , computer science , ecology , philosophy , linguistics , machine learning , biology
An incomplete markets equilibrium, in which no contingency markets are available, is compared to a complete markets equilibrium formed by introducing a futures market and a crop insurance market. The two regimes are compared using comparative static and welfare analyses. Numerical examples highlight important characteristics of the model and illustrate how the effects of introducing contingency markets can be quantified. The main conclusions are that contingency markets in agriculture increase economic efficiency, but there is no guarantee that farmers and consumers both benefit. It is found that futures and crop insurance markets may reduce farmer welfare when the demand for farm products is price inelastic.