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Item Determinants of participation and coverage level choices in the pasture, rangeland and forage insurance program(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 2020) DelCurto, Molly Jo; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Eric BelascoDrought risk has become a primary concern for ranchers as a drought can cause substantial financial losses and have been occurring with more regularity and severity than in years past. The Pasture, Rangeland, and Forage (PRF) insurance program allows ranchers to insure their livestock grazing land against potential losses from low rainfall conditions. This program has undergone substantial changes in its availability and premium prices. We implement a linear fixed effect regression model to estimate changes in participation and coverage level choices in response to changes in factors affecting premium payments. Additionally, we analyze the impacts of future prices, previous year's earnings, and the Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP) on participation and coverage level choices. Our results show that increasing county base values (CBVs) has a significant negative impact on participation, suggesting the more costly the premium payment, the lower the participation. Additionally, we find evidence of memory anchoring and rational decision making in the purchasing decisions of participants. Overall, we find preliminary evidence that ranchers display demand sensitivity to changes in CBVs as well as evidence that producers follow expected utility theory in choosing the highest coverage levels, especially when coverage levels have the same subsidy rate.Item Male migration and family-related outcomes(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 2017) Noray, Savannah Grace; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Sarah JanzenThe income benefits of out-migrant work in developing countries are well established. However, much less is known about changes in women's empowerment that might occur during spousal migration spells. Two main questions motivate this research. First, during a spouse's absence, does a woman gain more control over household resources? Second, does this shift in power affect children's welfare, indicating that women have different preferences for children's welfare than do their husbands? In this paper I identify causally each step in this sequence using unique panel data from rural Nepal, a country known for high rates of male migrant work. This research makes contributions to two bodies of literature, the first being the migration literature. The majority of the past migration research has been quite narrow in scope, covering mainly how migrant households use remittances. Consequently, any discussion on the benefits of migration often centers on remittances with little regard to other potential sources of economic development. This research is a critical addition to the migration literature, as it unlocks more discussion on the effects of migration holding economic resources constant. Second, this paper contributes to the intersection between intra-household bargaining and international development literature. Many development programs give cash or in-kind transfers to women in poor families, motivated by the common belief that women spend resources in a more pro-child way than do men. This makes sense theoretically: if household members have unique preferences and bargain over control of household resources, then the effectiveness of a transfer depends on the recipient's preferences and bargaining power. The common assumption is that women have less bargaining power and stronger preferences for children's welfare than men. Yet the literature on this issue is not as conclusive as this commonly-held belief would suggest. As development programs continue to choose beneficiaries, more research in this area is certainly warranted in order to maximize effectiveness of transfers. Furthermore, we might expect that outcomes vary with local context, perhaps due to cultural differences. Therefore, evaluating this claim in rural Nepal provides useful policy implications for programs focused in rural South-East Asia.Item A decision model of combine ownership(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 1975) Lai, Haifie LooItem Effects of sample size on MOTAD and Target MOTAD solutions(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Agriculture, 1984) Jones, Clark Thomas; Co-chairs, Graduate Committee: Daniel Dunn and Myles WattsThis study examines the effects of sample size on MOTAD and Target MOTAD solutions. Data sets based on historical observations are generated with a multi-variate normal random deviate generator. A representative Montana dry-land grain farm supplied the historical data. Ten data sets of each sample size (10, 20, 30, 40, 50, and 70 observations per activity) are generated and input into both of the linear risk models. All of the MOTAD models arrived at feasible solutions. Considerable instability was observed in the objective function values and basis activity levels for even the largest samples (at the lower deviation levels). However, as sample size increased the MOTAD results tended to be more stable. Several of the Target MOTAD models were infeasible due to the specified deviation and/or target income levels. In the feasible Target MOTAD models, stability of the objective function values and basis activity levels was noted when sample sizes were 30 observations or larger. Feasible Target MOTAD models resulted in considerably larger objective function values than comparable MOTAD models. The feasibility problems of the Target MOTAD specification serve to illustrate theoretical problems of the traditional MOTAD model.