CIRED Seminar: Marielle Brunette (INRAE, BETA)

Abstract

Crop insurance has a low rate of diffusion among French farmers. In this context, the objective of the article is to identify determinants and barriers to crop insurance from the point of view of the farmers. We designed an original survey using different methodologies (questions, experimental test, self-ranking, likert scale, etc.). We realized a probit regression on crop insurance adoption. We show that the characteristics of the farm (e.g., diversification) and the farmers (e.g., income level) as well as behavioral variables (e.g., time preferences) have an impact on the adoption of crop insurance. In addition, we show that the characteristics of the contract have an important role in the decision to subscribe or not since the farmers who are not insured rank the premium and deductible level as main barriers, whereas the farmers who adopt crop insurance report recent loss and expect poor weather conditions for the incoming season. We discuss the results as regards to the current crop insurance reform in France.