Revenue insurance with shallow loss protection for farmers has been introduced recently. A common attribute of most shallow loss proposals is that they would be arearevenue triggered. The impact on optimal hedge ratios of combining these shallow loss insurance proposals with deep loss farm-level insurance is examined. Since crop insurance, commodity programs and forward pricing are commonly used concurrently to manage crop revenue risk, the optimal combinations of these tools are explored. Numerical analysis in the presence of yield, basis and futures price variability is used to find the futures hedge ratio which maximizes the certainty equivalent of a risk averse producer. The results generally reveal a lower optimal hedge ratio with area-insurance than with individual insurance and show that shallow loss revenue insurance tends to slightly increase optimal hedge ratios.

Companies dependent on commodities for their production have to deal with volatile commodity prices and should employ measures for risk reduction as unfavourable spot price development may cause significant losses. A useful tool for diminishing the risk is hedging on futures market; however, this approach faces a crucial question of optimal hedge ratio determination (ratio between spot and futures units). Our thesis examines nine different ways of optimal hedge ratio estimation (naive, Sharpe, mean extended Gini coefficient, generalized semivariance, value at risk, and minimum variance through OLS, error correction, GARCH, and bivariate GARCH models) and evaluates their efficiency using the data on eight different commodities. The results differ across the respective commodities and cannot be generalized. Two conclusions resulting from the analysis refer to performance of naive and OLS hedge ratios and constant vs time varying hedge ratios. We find that complex hedge ratios, such as bivariate GARCH or VaR hedge ratios, do not outperform naive and OLS hedge ratios and that the results of constant hedge ratios are mostly as good as results of time-varying hedge ratios.

Crop revenue insurance is an exception in the insurance industry offering a guarantee subsuming a highly systematic risk- price variability. This study examines whether crop insurance companies could use put and call options to hedge the price risk present in corn revenue insurance. The behavioral model used to examine hedging optimization behavior of a crop producer with crop insurance by Coble, Heifner, and Zuniga (2002) is modified to examine optimal hedge ratio of a company selling revenue insurance. The crop insurance summary of business from 1985-2015 for corn revenue policies was simulated. Corn futures prices were collected from the Commodity Research Bureau databases. Results show that net return from call and put options can hedge indemnities paid by corn RP and RP-HPE resulting from the price variability in some scenario. This suggests hedging the price risk of corn revenue insurance through options could be a viable practice for crop insurers.

The main objective of this study is to analyze the effects cotton quality has on hedging and basis movements within the cotton market to help market participants minimize price risk. The effectiveness of using cotton futures in hedging price risk will be determined by calculating optimal hedge ratios by tenderable quality. Hedge ratios will be calculated using simple differences and error correction models (ECM) on overlapping price data, estimated under both generalized least squares (GLS) and maximum likelihood estimation (MLE). An empirical analysis shows that as cotton quality improves, the optimal hedge ratio decreases. ECMs estimated under GLS are found to be most efficient. It is also found that cotton classing data by quality has no significant effect on cotton basis. Farmers and merchandisers can take these results as a framework to better manage price and basis risk in the hedge and speculative scenarios.

<p>Introduction: Companies that are dependent on different commodities as input or output are exposed to price risk in these commodities. The price changes can be expressed as volatility and higher volatility results in higher risk. Hedging the commodity contracts with futures can offset this risk. One of the most important questions in this field is to what extent the risk exposure should be hedged with futures contract, i.e. the optimal hedge ratio.</p><p>Purpose: The study aims to conduct an analysis of the variance in different commodities contracts and provide evidence of the optimal hedge ratio in the respective commodities.</p><p>Method: We used a quantitative study with daily spot and futures price changes of Copper, Gold, Cotton and Oil. We investigated the 6-month hedging behaviour where timeseries were created for the period January-June each year during 2001-2004. We used a simple linear regression of the futures and spot price changes and a minimum variance model in order to calculate the optimal hedge ratio.</p><p>Conclusion: Companies that are dependent on Copper, Gold, Cotton and Oil can significantly reduce the risk by engaging in futures contracts. The optimal hedge ratio for Copper is (96%), Gold (52%), Cotton (96%) and Oil (88%). By applying the optimal hedge ratio, a company may reduce their risk exposure up to 90% compared to an unhedged position.</p>

O objetivo geral deste trabalho foi avaliar a eficiência do mercado futuro como forma de mitigação do risco associado aos preços do boi gordo para as praças de Araçatuba (SP) e Goiânia (GO). Calculou-se a efetividade do hedge por meio da razão ótima de hedge para as praças estudadas no período de 2002 a 2013, utilizando três tipos de modelos econométricos. No primeiro modelo, as variâncias e covariâncias condicionais foram tratadas como constantes e os preços spot e futuro não foram considerados correlacionados no tempo; no segundo modelo, relaxou-se a hipótese de que os preços spot e futuro não são correlacionados no tempo, portanto, adicionou-se um vetor de correção de erros ao modelo; e, no terceiro modelo, assumiu-se que as variâncias e covariâncias condicionais não são constantes. Os resultados obtidos por esses métodos indicaram que o uso do contrato futuro de boi gordo diminuiu a variância dos retornos no período estudado, de modo que as estimativas dinâmicas foram inferiores na efetividade em diminuir o risco de preço diante das estimativas obtidas por modelos estáticos. Ainda com o intuito de avaliar a eficiência do mercado futuro de boi gordo, foram quantificados a variância e os retornos do confinador nas praças estudadas através de simulações de compra de boi magro e posterior venda de boi gordo, realizando, simultaneamente, o hedge no mercado futuro. Observou-se que a utilização do contrato futuro diminuiu o coeficiente de variação para os períodos analisados em comparação às estratégias que não realizaram a utilização do hedge. / The general objective of this research was to evaluate the efficiency of futures market in order to mitigate the risk of price of live cattle to the producers of Araçatuba (SP) and Goiânia (GO). To measure this effectiveness, we estimated the optimal hedge ratio from the period of 2002 to 2013, using three types of econometric models. In the first model, conditional variances and covariances were treated as constant and the spot and future prices were not considered correlated in time; in the second model, we relaxed the hypothesis that spot and future prices were not correlated in time, so, we added an error correction vector to the model; and, in the third model, we assumed that the conditional variances and covariances are not constant. The results obtained by these methods indicated that the use of live cattle contract was able to reduce the risk and also that the dynamic estimates do not overcome the static estimates. We also calculated the variance of returns for the producers of Araçatuba e Goiânia by purchasing simulations of steers and subsequent sale of live cattle, performing simultaneously the hedge on the market future. It was observed that the use of the futures contract decreased the coefficient of variation for the periods analyzed compared to the strategies that did not undergo the use of hedging.

Introduction: Companies that are dependent on different commodities as input or output are exposed to price risk in these commodities. The price changes can be expressed as volatility and higher volatility results in higher risk. Hedging the commodity contracts with futures can offset this risk. One of the most important questions in this field is to what extent the risk exposure should be hedged with futures contract, i.e. the optimal hedge ratio. Purpose: The study aims to conduct an analysis of the variance in different commodities contracts and provide evidence of the optimal hedge ratio in the respective commodities. Method: We used a quantitative study with daily spot and futures price changes of Copper, Gold, Cotton and Oil. We investigated the 6-month hedging behaviour where timeseries were created for the period January-June each year during 2001-2004. We used a simple linear regression of the futures and spot price changes and a minimum variance model in order to calculate the optimal hedge ratio. Conclusion: Companies that are dependent on Copper, Gold, Cotton and Oil can significantly reduce the risk by engaging in futures contracts. The optimal hedge ratio for Copper is (96%), Gold (52%), Cotton (96%) and Oil (88%). By applying the optimal hedge ratio, a company may reduce their risk exposure up to 90% compared to an unhedged position.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T13:53:38Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 CinthyaMSN_DISSERT.pdf: 1266685 bytes, checksum: 0ea848ecffd533fcf67194d0bd6fa71f (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-10-08 / This research aims to investigate the Hedge Efficiency and Optimal Hedge Ratio for the future market of cattle, coffee, ethanol, corn and soybean. This paper uses the Optimal Hedge Ratio and Hedge Effectiveness through multivariate GARCH models with error correction, attempting to the possible phenomenon of Optimal Hedge Ratio differential during the crop and intercrop period. The Optimal Hedge Ratio must be bigger in the intercrop period due to the uncertainty related to a possible supply shock (LAZZARINI, 2010). Among the future contracts studied in this research, the coffee, ethanol and soybean contracts were not object of this phenomenon investigation, yet. Furthermore, the corn and ethanol contracts were not object of researches which deal with Dynamic Hedging Strategy. This paper distinguishes itself for including the GARCH model with error correction, which it was never considered when the possible Optimal Hedge Ratio differential during the crop and intercrop period were investigated. The commodities quotation were used as future price in the market future of BM&FBOVESPA and as spot market, the CEPEA index, in the period from May 2010 to June 2013 to cattle, coffee, ethanol and corn, and to August 2012 to soybean, with daily frequency. Similar results were achieved for all the commodities. There is a long term relationship among the spot market and future market, bicausality and the spot market and future market of cattle, coffee, ethanol and corn, and unicausality of the future price of soybean on spot price. The Optimal Hedge Ratio was estimated from three different strategies: linear regression by MQO, BEKK-GARCH diagonal model, and BEKK-GARCH diagonal with intercrop dummy. The MQO regression model, pointed out the Hedge inefficiency, taking into consideration that the Optimal Hedge presented was too low. The second model represents the strategy of dynamic hedge, which collected time variations in the Optimal Hedge. The last Hedge strategy did not detect Optimal Hedge Ratio differential between the crop and intercrop period, therefore, unlikely what they expected, the investor do not need increase his/her investment in the future market during the intercrop / Esta pesquisa objetivou investigar a efici?ncia e raz?o ?tima de hedge para os mercados futuro de boi, caf?, etanol, milho e soja. Este trabalho tratou a raz?o ?tima e efetividade de hedge atrav?s de modelos GARCH multivariados com termo de corre??o de erro, atentando para o poss?vel fen?meno de diferenciais de raz?o ?tima de hedge nos per?odos de safra e entressafra. A raz?o ?tima de hedge deve ser maior na entressafra devido ? maior incerteza com rela??o a um poss?vel choque de oferta (LAZZARINI, 2010). Dentre os contratos futuros tratados nesta pesquisa, os contratos de caf?, etanol e soja ainda n?o foram objeto de investiga??o desse fen?meno. Al?m disso, os contratos futuros de milho e etanol ainda n?o foram objeto de pesquisas que tratam de estrat?gias de hedge din?mico. Este trabalho se diferencia ainda por incluir o mecanismo de corre??o de erro na modelagem GARCH, o que nunca foi considerado ao se investigar poss?veis diferenciais de raz?o ?tima de hedge nos per?odos de safra e entressafra. Foram utilizadas como pre?o futuro das commodities as cota??es das mesmas no mercado futuro da BM&FBOVESPA e como pre?o ? vista o ?ndice CEPEA, no per?odo de maio de 2010 a junho de 2013 para boi, caf?, etanol e milho e at? agosto de 2012 para a soja, com frequ?ncia di?ria. Foram obtidos resultados semelhantes para todas as commodities. H? rela??o de longo prazo entre os mercados ? vista e futuro, bicausalidade entre os pre?os ? vista e futuro do boi, caf?, etanol e milho, e unicausalidade do pre?o futuro da soja sobre o pre?o ? vista. A raz?o ?tima de hedge foi estimada a partir de tr?s diferentes estrat?gias: regress?o linear por MQO, modelo BEKK-GARCH diagonal e modelo BEKK-GARCH diagonal com dummy de entresssafra. O modelo de regress?o por MQO apontou para a inefici?ncia de hedge, tendo em vista que as raz?es ?timas apresentadas foram muito baixas. O segundo modelo, que representa a estrat?gia de hedge din?mico, captou varia??es temporais na raz?o ?tima. A ?ltima estrat?gia de hedge n?o detectou diferencial de raz?es ?timas de hedge entre os per?odos de safra e entressafra, logo, ao contr?rio do que se esperava, o investidor n?o precisa aumentar seu investimento no mercado futuro durante a entressafra

O objetivo geral deste trabalho foi avaliar a eficiência do mercado futuro como forma de mitigação do risco associado aos preços do boi gordo para as praças de Araçatuba (SP) e Goiânia (GO). Calculou-se a efetividade do hedge por meio da razão ótima de hedge para as praças estudadas no período de 2002 a 2013, utilizando três tipos de modelos econométricos. No primeiro modelo, as variâncias e covariâncias condicionais foram tratadas como constantes e os preços spot e futuro não foram considerados correlacionados no tempo; no segundo modelo, relaxou-se a hipótese de que os preços spot e futuro não são correlacionados no tempo, portanto, adicionou-se um vetor de correção de erros ao modelo; e, no terceiro modelo, assumiu-se que as variâncias e covariâncias condicionais não são constantes. Os resultados obtidos por esses métodos indicaram que o uso do contrato futuro de boi gordo diminuiu a variância dos retornos no período estudado, de modo que as estimativas dinâmicas foram inferiores na efetividade em diminuir o risco de preço diante das estimativas obtidas por modelos estáticos. Ainda com o intuito de avaliar a eficiência do mercado futuro de boi gordo, foram quantificados a variância e os retornos do confinador nas praças estudadas através de simulações de compra de boi magro e posterior venda de boi gordo, realizando, simultaneamente, o hedge no mercado futuro. Observou-se que a utilização do contrato futuro diminuiu o coeficiente de variação para os períodos analisados em comparação às estratégias que não realizaram a utilização do hedge. / The general objective of this research was to evaluate the efficiency of futures market in order to mitigate the risk of price of live cattle to the producers of Araçatuba (SP) and Goiânia (GO). To measure this effectiveness, we estimated the optimal hedge ratio from the period of 2002 to 2013, using three types of econometric models. In the first model, conditional variances and covariances were treated as constant and the spot and future prices were not considered correlated in time; in the second model, we relaxed the hypothesis that spot and future prices were not correlated in time, so, we added an error correction vector to the model; and, in the third model, we assumed that the conditional variances and covariances are not constant. The results obtained by these methods indicated that the use of live cattle contract was able to reduce the risk and also that the dynamic estimates do not overcome the static estimates. We also calculated the variance of returns for the producers of Araçatuba e Goiânia by purchasing simulations of steers and subsequent sale of live cattle, performing simultaneously the hedge on the market future. It was observed that the use of the futures contract decreased the coefficient of variation for the periods analyzed compared to the strategies that did not undergo the use of hedging.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi investigar motivos pelos quais os produtores brasileiros de boi gordo e milho fazem relativamente pouco uso dos mercados futuros como ferramenta de gerenciamento de risco de preços. Duas abordagens diferentes foram apresentadas na pesquisa. Para o mercado de boi gordo, onde a presença de hedgers parece ser maior, um modelo de razão de hedge ótima alternativo ao tradicional modelo de mínima variância foi utilizado. O modelo alternativo faz uso de uma função de utilidade com aversão relativa ao risco constante para modelar as preferências dos indivíduos. Esta abordagem é considerada mais realista, por permitir que o nível absoluto de aversão ao risco se altere com a riqueza. Além disso, uma medida de downside risk e o relaxamento das hipóteses do modelo tradicional de mínima variância foram adicionados na análise. De acordo com os resultados, quando consideradas a possibilidade de se realizar investimento em um ativo alternativo ao mercado agropecuário, e a presença de custos de transação, o incentivo ao hedge se reduz acentuadamente. A utilização de uma medida alternativa de risco colaborou para esta redução, que foi mais acentuada para indivíduos menos aversos ao risco. Isto pode ser concluído observando-se que as razões de hedge ótimas, obtidas através da maximização da utilidade esperada dos indivíduos, foram, em grande parte, inferiores àquelas obtidas pelo modelo tradicional. Além disso, na maior parte dos casos, a utilização das razões de hedge ótimas alternativas mostrou-se mais eficiente que a obtida pelo modelo tradicional, pois possibilitou a obtenção de maiores razões retorno/risco no período selecionado para teste. Para o mercado de milho, um questionário foi aplicado a 90 produtores no sul e centro-oeste do Brasil. O questionário teve o objetivo de verificar se existem sinais de excesso de confiança nos preços por parte dos produtores de milho entrevistados. Adicionalmente, perguntas sobre o conhecimento do mercado futuro na BM&FBOVESPA foram também apresentadas. Em relação a este último tema, a maior parte dos produtores respondeu que conhece sobre o mercado futuro na bolsa brasileira, mas não fazem uso do mesmo. O principal motivo apontado pelos produtores foi não possuir informação suficiente sobre os mercados futuros. Associado a este resultado, descobriu-se que existe pouco incentivo para que os produtores realizem proteção de preços da produção, pois, para a maior parte dos entrevistados, as variâncias subjetivas de preços foram significativamente inferiores às variâncias dos preços históricos no mercado físico e futuro. Este resultado permitiu concluir que o excesso de confiança nos preços pode ser considerado uma explicação alternativa para o baixo uso dos mercados futuros como ferramenta de gestão de risco de preços. Como conclusões gerais, ações que visem promover reduções de custos de transação no mercado futuro e uma maior divulgação dos benefícios desta importante ferramenta na redução de risco de preços devem ser mais exploradas pela BM&FBOVESPA. Além disso, a promoção do maior conhecimento a respeito de como se negociar nesse mercado pode ser também uma boa estratégia para se fazer com que um maior número de produtores passe a negociar nesse mercado. / This research aimed to investigate the significant underuse of futures markets as a risk management tool by Brazilian live cattle and corn producers. To this end, the paper used two different approaches. In the live cattle market, where there appears a higher participation of hedgers trading, an alternative hedge ratio model was used instead of the standard minimum variance model. The alternative model uses a constant relative risk aversion utility function to model individual preferences. This approach is considered more realistic as use of the constant relative risk aversion utility function allows for the absolute level of risk aversion to change with wealth. In addition, a downside risk measure was introduced and certain restrictive assumptions to the minimum variance model were relaxed. According to the results, when the possibility of investment in an alternative asset and transaction costs are considered, the incentive to hedge is dramatically reduced. The use of an alternative risk measure also proved important to this reduction, which was higher for less risk averse individuals. This conclusion may be drawn after observing that the optimal hedge ratios obtained from the expected utility maximization are, in most cases, lower than those obtained by the standard model. Moreover, in most cases the use of alternative optimal hedge ratios provides higher return/risk ratios during the test period. For the corn market, a survey questionnaire was conducted of ninety producers in South and Central- West Brazil. The survey was conducted in order to verify the presence of overconfidence in prices among corn producers. The survey also asked questions regarding their knowledge of futures markets at BM&FBOVESPA. Most respondents answered that while they know about futures markets at the Brazilian board of trade, they do not trade on it because they do not have enough information about trading. The results also revealed that there is a low incentive for producers to hedge their production in futures markets because for most producers, subjective price variances are significantly lower than the variance of historical futures and spot prices. Given the results, one may conclude that the overconfidence effect in prices can be considered an alternative explanation to the low use of futures markets as a price risk management tool. Furthermore, actions which promote transaction costs reductions and promote the benefits to producers of using this important risk management tool while trading in the futures markets must be more carefully explored by the BM&FBOVESPA. Moreover, promoting knowledge of trading in futures markets may likely be a successful strategy for the wider adoption of futures trading among corn and live cattle producers.