| Summary: | Problems associated with risks in agriculture are one of the reasons that many governments intervene directly in agricultural product and factor markets. Risk-related interventions include guaranteed prices, subsidized credit, and publicly provided crop insurance. Such interventions can be expensive, both in their cost to the national exchequer and in their effects on aggregate resource allocation. Even then, they may not be effective in achieving their goals. This book is addressed to the question of whether and how governments should intervene in providing formal risk-sharing institutions to assist farmers. It is particularly concerned with crop insurance and in providing guidance as to when it is a relevant public policy intervention and how it can most effectively be used.
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