Principal Investigator Robert Townsend
Xavier Gine of the World Bank and James Vickery of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York work with Townsend in this project to evaluate rainfall insurance schemes for smallhold farmers in southern India. Typical insurance products have payouts linked to a publicly observable index, such as rainfall recorded on a local rain gauge. This research looks at historical insurance payouts in an effort to better understand the properties of estimated insurance premiums and payouts. It also looks at patterns associated with the take-up of rainfall insurance.