Replaced with revised version of paper 11/28/06. Former title: The Expanded and Re-Parameterized Johnson System: A Most Crop-Yield Distribution Model

Previous research established that the expanded Johnson system can accommodate any theoretically possible mean-variance-skewness-kurtosis combination. Therefore, it has been hypothesized that this system can provide for a reasonably accurate modeling approximation of any probability distribution...

This paper develops and applies a methodology to assess the accuracy of historical loss-cost rating procedures, similar to those used by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Risk Management Agency (RMA), versus alternative parametric premium estimation methods. It finds that the accuracy...

This paper estimates the costs of buying water use rights from farmers located in the Mafraq-Azraq basin in Jordan. Farmers’ water supply curve is estimated using data gathered from a contingent valuation survey. Estimation results indicate that a total supply of 29 million m3 could be...

This article explores the impact of the likely levels of inaccuracy associated with two main types of premium estimation methods, under different sample sizes, on the actuarial performance of the US crop insurance program. The analyses are conducted under several plausible assumptions about the...

This paper estimates the costs of buying water use rights from farmers located in the Mafraq-Azraq basin in Jordan. The farmers’ water supply curve is estimated using data gathered from a contingent valuation survey and nonparametric procedures. Estimation results indicate that a total supply...

The objective of this paper is to compare the accuracy of crop insurance rating methods based on historical liability and indemnity data (similar to the procedure currently used by the Risk Management Agency) and “yield distribution” approaches. Estimated rates are compared to “true”...