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Making Index Insurance Work for the Poor
April 7, 2015Inclusion and Shared Prosperity
Weather-based index insurance holds significant promise for rural households, but voluntary uptake by households has been disappointingly low.

Weather-based index insurance is an innovative financial product that allows smallholder farmers, financial institutions, and even governments to hedge against production risk related to adverse weather events such as drought, flood, or frost. This financial innovation holds significant promise for rural households, but voluntary uptake by households has been disappointingly low.

In this talk Xavier Giné will draw on recent research to discuss the reasons for this low uptake and the trade-offs involved in the design of insurance contracts. He will also highlight how design choices shape market dynamics and the implications this has for Bank operational work. 

Last Updated: Mar 23, 2015

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    Xavier Gine, Lead Economist

    Xavier Gine is a Lead Economist on the Finance and Private Sector Development team of the Development Research Group. He is currently a BREAD affiliate and Associate Editor for the Journal of Development Economics. Since joining the World Bank as a Young Economist in 2002, his research has focused on access to financial services and rural financial markets. In recent papers he investigated the macroeconomic effects of a credit liberalization; the relationship between formal and informal sources of credit in rural credit markets; indigenous interlinked credit contracts in the fishing industry and the impact of microfinance services such as business training and financial literacy, microinsurance and microsavings. Prior to joining the Bank he was a postdoctoral fellow and lecturer at the Economic Growth Center at Yale University. He holds a B.A. in Economics from Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Spain, an M.A. and a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Chicago.
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    Asli Demirgüç-Kunt, Director of Research

    Asli Demirgüç-Kunt is the Director of Research in the World Bank. After joining the Bank in 1989 as a Young Economist, she has held different positions, including Director of Development Policy, Chief Economist of Financial and Private Sector Development Network, and Senior Research Manager, doing research and advising on financial sector and private sector development issues.
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    Carlos E. Arce, Economic Development Consultant and former Senior Economist, Agriculture & Environmental Services Department

    Carlos E. Arce is a lawyer and development economist with over 26 years of experience working on issues of agricultural productivity and risk management in developing economies. After working with various international agencies on agriculture and rural development, he joined the World Bank addressing issues related to agricultural risk analysis, weather index-based insurance, and risk mapping applications. Currently, he works as a consultant advising developing countries in agricultural policy and the design of agriculture risk management strategies and applications.
  • The Policy Research Talks showcase the latest findings of the research department and their implications for World Bank operations. The goal of the monthly event is to facilitate a dialogue between researchers and operational staff, so that we can challenge and contribute to the World Bank's intellectual climate and re-examine conventional wisdom in current development theories and practices.
POLICY RESEARCH TALK
  • Date: April 7, 2015
  • Time: 12:30 - 2 p.m.
  • Room: MC13-121, World Bank Main Complex
  • Read: Story
  • Presentation: PDF
  • Watch: Video
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