Technological change and risk management: an application to the economics of corn production
研究了技术变革如何影响玉米生产的风险，发现技术进步降低了产量和利润的风险及下行风险，但效果因地点而异，并强调了玉米杂交品种相对成熟度在风险管理中的作用。
The paper investigates the linkages between technological change and production risk, with an application to corn. The effects of technology on risk exposure are analyzed. We define technological progress to be risk-increasing (risk-decreasing) if it increases (decreases) the relative risk premium. The analysis is applied to panel data from Wisconsin research stations. Conditional moments (including mean, variance and skewness) of corn yield, grain moisture and corn profit are estimated for different sites. We investigate how the trade-off between expected return and the risk premium varies over time and over space. The empirical results indicate that technological progress contributes to reducing the exposure to risk as well as downside risk in corn production, although this effect varies across sites. They also stress the role of the relative maturity of corn hybrids as a means of managing risk. © 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.