Managing risk with insurance and savings: Experimental evidence for male and female farm managers in the Sahel

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dc.creatorDelavallade, Clara
dc.creatorDizon, Felipe
dc.creatorHill, Ruth
dc.creatorPetraud, Jean Paul
dc.date2015-04-09T10:25:19Z
dc.date2015-04-09T10:25:19Z
dc.date2015-04
dc.date.accessioned2015-05-28T10:06:47Z
dc.date.available2015-05-28T10:06:47Z
dc.date.issued2015-05-28
dc.descriptionAlthough there is fast-growing policy interest in offering financial products to help rural households manage risk, the literature is still scant as to which products are the most effective. This paper uses a randomized field experiment in Senegal and Burkina Faso to compare male and female farmers who are offered index-based agricultural insurance with those who are offered a variety of savings instruments. The paper finds that female farm managers were less likely to purchase agricultural insurance and more likely to invest in savings for emergencies, even controlling for access to informal insurance and differences in crop choice. It is hypothesized that this finding results from the fact that, although men and women are equally exposed to yield risk, women face additional sources of lifecycle risk—particularly health risks associated with fertility and childcare—that men do not. In essence, the basis risk associated with agricultural insurance products is higher for women. Purchasing insurance increased input spending and use more than savings. Those who purchased more insurance realized higher average yields and were better able to manage food insecurity and shocks. This finding suggests that gender differences in demand for financial products can have an impact on productivity, resilience, and welfare.
dc.descriptionClara Delavallade is an Associate Professor in the School of Economics at UCT, a Research Associate of SALDRU and a Research Fellow at IFPRI. Felipe Dizon is a Ph.D. student at the University of California Davis. Ruth Hill is a Senior Economist at the World Bank. Jean-Paul Petraud is a Research Associate at IMPAQ International.
dc.descriptionWe thank CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets for funding this work and the Poverty Reduction and Economic Management network in the Africa Region and the World Bank for additional financing and the suggestion to undertake this work. This study was funded by the Regional Studies Program of the Chief Economist of the Africa Region.
dc.identifierDelavallade, C., Dizon, F., Hill, RV., Petraud, JP.(2015). Managing Risk with Insurance and Savings: Experimental Evidence for Male and Female Farm Managers in the Sahel . A Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit Working Paper Number 142. Cape Town: SALDRU, University of Cape Town
dc.identifier978-1-928281-03-0
dc.identifierhttp://hdl.handle.net/11090/775
dc.identifier.ris TY - Working Paper DA - 2015-05-28 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town KW - Risk KW - Insurance KW - Savings KW - Gender KW - Senegal KW - Burkina Faso KW - Resilience KW - Welfare KW - Agricultural Production LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2015 T1 - Managing risk with insurance and savings: Experimental evidence for male and female farm managers in the Sahel TI - Managing risk with insurance and savings: Experimental evidence for male and female farm managers in the Sahel UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11090/775 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11090/775
dc.languageen
dc.publisher.departmentSALDRUen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Commerceen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.relationSALDRU Working Paper;142
dc.subjectRisk
dc.subjectInsurance
dc.subjectSavings
dc.subjectGender
dc.subjectSenegal
dc.subjectBurkina Faso
dc.subjectResilience
dc.subjectWelfare
dc.subjectAgricultural Production
dc.titleManaging risk with insurance and savings: Experimental evidence for male and female farm managers in the Sahel
dc.typeWorking Paper
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceWorking Paperen_ZA
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