Master of Agribusiness / Department of Agricultural Economics / Vincent Amanor-Boadu / Generally, commodity prices immediately after harvest tend to be low because of supply glut and rise over time away from harvest as supply shrinks and demand remains virtually unchanged. Unfortunately, because many Malawian farmers do not have effective storage, they do not have any commodity for sale when prices are high. To help improve the income Malawian farmers may generate from their activities, this thesis explored the feasibility of hybridizing the two forms of price risk management systems in Malawi to minimize their individual weaknesses and enhance their collective benefits. The two risk management systems are forward contracts and warehouse receipt systems. Forward contracts allow farmers and their buyers to agree on a future delivery date and commodity price. On the agreed date, the farmer delivers the commodity and receives the agreed price. It allows farmers to pass downward price risk to buyers and guarantees a fixed price. As private transactions, forward contracts are not regulated by the Government, and present opportunism and enforcement challenges. Warehouse Receipt System (WRS) enables farmers to deposit their crop in the care of a warehouse operator and sell the crop when and where they choose. Farmers, therefore, incur both upside and downside price movement but avoid some of the opportunism and enforcement challenges presented by forward contracts. The thesis explored the net benefits of developing a hybrid system that allow forward contracts with warehouse receipt enforcement mechanisms. Thus, farmers are guaranteed a minimum price at some future date and the deposited commodity is used as the security supporting the guaranteed minimum price. The buyer also deposits a performance bond as commitment to purchase the commodity. The costs associated with these transactions are real and could affect participation. The thesis provides a process for assessing these transaction costs and incorporating them into the effectiveness of forward contracts, warehouse receipt systems and the hybrid program. The mathematical model example has proved that the hybrid system guarantees a fixed margin to the farmer over and above the harvest price and WRS cost as opposed to fluctuating margins under WRS alone. The thesis has identified three factors that can lead to the successful implementation of this hybrid system in Malawi and they include: the availability of the warehouse receipt bill, reliable warehouse certification which is done by AHCX and ACE on third party warehouse operators; and the availability of performance guarantee assuring that the quantities and quality of goods match those specified by the warehouse receipt. The thesis has also identified two factors that could hinder a successful implementation of this hybrid program and they include: first, low scale of warehousing operations under WRS which could deny most farmers a chance to access and benefit from this hybrid sytem and the commodity exchanges may not benefit from the economies of scale provided by large volumes of commodities produced in rural areas. Second, the absence of a harmonized national grading standard which possess a challenge when engaging in international trade. Finally, the thesis has made three recommendations for the successful implementation of the hybrid program as follows: Taking the system close to the producers to mitigate potentially high transportation costs; educating and selling the system to the stakeholders to increase adoption rate; and push for the implementation of national standardized grading regulations.

Master of Agribusiness / Department of Agricultural Economics / Kevin Dhuyvetter / Dairy Farmers of America (DFA) is national milk marketing cooperative. DFA’s primary focus is to market the milk of the cooperative’s 17,000 members. In addition, DFA offers its membership a number of farm services. The sole purpose of these services is to make it easier for DFA members to operate their businesses. One of the services offered provides members access to forward contracting alternatives for pricing their milk. The objective of this research is to utilize demographic and other information related to the characteristics of individual dairy producers and determine how these characteristics impact the use (or lack thereof) of risk management marketing tools. More specifically, the focus of this research is to identify what types of dairy producers are most likely to use the DFA’s forward contracting program. The logit model estimated indicated that regional and demographic differences impact the use of DFA’s forward contracting program. Members in the Mountain Area are most likely to use the program followed by members in the Central Area. Demographic differences that significantly impacted the use of forward contracting include age (older producers use forward contracts less than younger operators) and the size of operation, as measured by milk produced per year (larger operators were more likely to use forward contracting services). While the estimated logit model did identify several factors related to the use of forward contracting services, relationships are not particularly strong and the percent of producers using the services is relatively low. Thus, the model is limited in its ability for identifying key factors and thus it will be difficult for DFA to base a targeted marketing effort at certain producers. DFA would need additional information about their members to successfully target for this farm service.

Risks associated with fluctuating exchange rates affect investment cost and investor profitability. Approximately 50% of firms in emerging markets have significant exposure to fluctuating exchange rates. Grounded in principal-agent theory (PAT), the purpose of this case study was to explore hedging strategies to mitigate risks of fluctuating exchange rates. The population comprised a census sampling of 12 bank hedgers (risk managers and controllers) in Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, East Africa. Data collection involved semistructured interviews, casual observations of the work environment, and analysis of reports including risk management, internal control, and compliance policies. Data were analyzed by coding and grouping narrative segments and significant statements into themes of participants' experience in hedging exchange rate risks. Method triangulation and member checking were used to increase the trustworthiness of interpretations. Four themes emerged directly related to the PAT conceptual framework: training and skills development, management of hedging strategies and contracts, corporate governance, and benefits to management and the organization through effective compensation programs. A focus on training and skill development helped develop appropriate exchange rate hedging strategies and corporate governance improved compliance with laws, regulations, and policies. The benefits of effective hedging strategies include a reduction in cost and increase in profitability. The findings may help improve the soundness of professional hedging practices, which will increase the stability of the Tanzanian banking system.

Mutual funds currency risk management is analyzed in this bachelor paper. It aims to analyze hedging by currency forward and options under different hedge ratios and various durations of the contracts. Afterwards the outcome is compared to non-hedging. After comparing hedging on six emerging markets equity indexes, it is concluded, that fund managers should hedge not all the time, but only when they expect foreign currency to depreciate. It is shown that forward contracts are better means than options for currency risk insurance purposes. Moreover, it is demonstrated that hedging with the shortest duration forward contracts is most effective and it is recommended to use the hedge ratio of 50 %. / Bakalauro baigiamajame darbe yra analizuojama valiutų rizikos valdymas investiciniuose fonduose. Darbe analizuojamas valiutų rizikos draudimas ateities ir pasirinkimo sandoriais, bei gauti rezultatai palyginti su rezultatais kai rizika nebuvo valdoma. Išanalizavus šešių besivystančių rinkų akcijų indeksų valiutos draudimą, buvo prieita išvados, jog fondų valdytojai valiutą turėtų drausti ne nuolatos, o tik kai jie tikisi jog užsienio valiuta silpnės. Be to, darbe parodoma, jog valiutų draudimas ateities sandoriais yra geresnis būdas valdyti valiutos riziką nei kad pasirinkimo sandoriai. Taip pat pademonstruojama, jog trumpiausio periodo ateities sandoriai yra efektyviausi valiutų rizikos valdymo tikslais bei rekomenduojama naudoti 50 % draudimo koeficientą.

L’objectif de cette thèse est d’étudier les nouvelles dynamiques et leurs impacts dans le secteur de l'électricité. Elle discute des sujets critiques d’après les perspectives de la macroéconomie, de la configuration structurelle, et de la transition vers des sources d'énergie renouvelables. Plus précisément, trois sujets se dégagent: le lien entre la consommation d'électricité et la croissance économique, les impacts de l'intégration verticale entre les producteurs et les détaillants, et les impacts d'intégration de production d'énergie renouvelable intermittente. En mettant en jeu ces trois sujets, elle tente d’apporter des réponses aux défis principaux de la sécurité d'approvisionnement, de la compétitivité, et de la durabilité du développement énergétique. En donnant de nouvelles orientations dans la recherche sur l’économie de l’énergie, elle servira à éclairer des débats politiques. / The objective of this thesis is to study the new dynamics and their impacts in the electricity sector. It discusses the critical issues from the perspectives of macroeconomics, structural configuration, and a transition to renewable energy sources. More precisely, three topics emerge: the nexus between electricity consumption and economic growth, the impacts of vertical integration between power generators and retailers, and the market impacts and integration issues of intermittent renewable generation. By studying these three topics, it provides answers to the key challenges of supply security, competitiveness and sustainable development in the energy sector. By giving new research directions of energy economics, it serves to inspire related policy debates.