Premium Fees Research Articles

Culture, tradition and healthcare: exploring the Kisiizi Community Health Insurance scheme

In southwestern Uganda, a custom of health and social support has been managed through collective organizations known as engozi for centuries. Subscribers advanced help for those who were not able to provide for themselves and their households. Participants pooled financial and food resources, offered emotional assistance, and aided in transporting patients to hospitals. The institution of “free government health amenities” caused the decline of the engozi custom. However, with an insufficient annual health sector budget allocation, the state health services cannot satisfactorily meet the needs. The Kisiizi neighborhood, while depending on the engozi practice, arrived at a CHI system in 1996 as a self-help innovation to eliminate financial obstacles and enhance access to quality health amenities. Numerous studies on CHI have examined the structure, registration and memberships, health-related advantages, and monetary-related benefits, but little has been documented on how cultural beliefs and customs have affected its application. This study aimed to identify the role of culture and customs in tackling healthcare disparities via a CHI strategy. This study adopted a case study methodology and qualitative methods. The study utilizes Woolcock’s social capital theory and Cultural competence theory as the analytical framework. It identifies Brotherhood, Solidarity, Belonging, Cooperation, Volunteering, Reciprocity, and Respect for Authority and Leaders as key values upheld by the engozi tradition, strengthening social capital and laying a solid foundation for successful CHI. This study also identified that societal values and traditions have significantly impacted the implementation of the Kisiizi CHI scheme, as evidenced by the influence on CHI leadership and governance, collecting premium fees from subscribers, mobilization and registration of participants, and information dissemination. Lastly, the study identified that CHI has positively affected healthcare challenges within the community, evidenced by increased utilization of healthcare services, improved access to antenatal care, health promotion and disease prevention initiatives, and improved quality of services due to user feedback.

ARE FUND MANAGERS SKILLED OR IS IT SIMPLY LUCK? A CASE OF ENERGY MUTUAL FUNDS

Fund managers often tout that the performance of the funds they manage is due to their wisdom and management skills. The success in convincing the investors to this notion enables them to claim a higher salary and perks for themselves and charge a hefty or premium fee from the investors for the company they work for. However, changes in government policies, as well as in domestic and international market conditions, often influence the performance of the funds they manage. Suppose investors are not aware of this phenomenon. In that case, they may end up unnecessarily paying a hefty fee to the fund managers and investing in the wrong stock or mutual fund thereby suffering a loss in terms of the return on investment and capital loss. So, the investors must know whether the performance of any funds is due to the wisdom or skills of the fund managers or simply due to some exogenous factors beyond their control, which, in this study, we call luck. In this study, we apply the so-called Fama and French's bootstrap simulation method to determine whether the observed value of alpha – a measure of the fund’s performance – is due to fund managers’ skill or simply luck using data on monthly returns of the fifteen Equity Energy mutual funds from January 2024 through June 2019. This method involves computing a distribution of t(alpha) estimates of actual fund returns and comparing it to the performance of a cloned population of lucky funds with their true alphas set to zero. If actual funds produce higher values of t (alpha)s than the cloned population of lucky funds, then fund managers do have the skill. This distinction between skill and luck is crucial, as funds can do well or poorly by luck. Our study shows that funds can produce extreme alpha values just by luck, even if the fund's true alpha is zero. This implies that long-term investors are better off holding market portfolio ETFs and earning market return rather than paying more in fees and overall costs in attempts to beat the market. JEL classification: G1

Index-based insurance to mitigate current and future extreme events financial losses for water utilities

Mitigation and management strategies for extreme weather events become increasingly important for the development and maintenance of society as these events become more frequent and intense. Drought and flood management strategies have focused on structural measures; however, they are not sufficient to prevent water supply disruptions and economic losses. In this concept, adaptation plays the role of anticipating the adverse financial impacts of extreme weather events and taking appropriate measures to minimize them. Therefore, insurance is a valuable adaptation tool to offset unexpected losses and prevent financial damage from turning into long-term economic damage. We simulated multi-year and multi-risk index-based insurance for a Water Supply System, responsible for providing water to 7.2 million people. Our methodology comprises (1) characterizing the indexed variable, (2) calculating economic losses by Loss Distribution Approach (LDA) for current and future periods, and (3) estimating risk premiums based on expected losses of the low, medium, and high coverage levels. Our findings indicate a linear relationship between premium and coverage level, i.e, the higher the premium, the higher the insurance coverage level. We suggested a premium fee for each evaluated scenario, which would be introduced into the water bill as a novel way to pool risk among customers and protect them from surcharge fluctuations.

The more, the merrier? The role of an auditor's certification in loan pricing

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the role of three different audit characteristics in loan pricing—the most significant credit term for borrowers. Three characteristics include audit reputation, audit tenure and audit specialization.Design/methodology/approachTo examine audit characteristics simultaneously to measure their effect on loan pricing, this study uses a full-rank, three-way interaction model and conducts slope difference tests. It also includes the joint effects of these variables to estimate any incremental benefits of possessing multiple qualifications.FindingsWhen studying the three qualifications together, none of them alone is strong enough to affect the loan interest. But, a Big 4 auditor with tenure can benefit the client by reducing the interest by about 1.98%. The more expertise the auditor has, the better value it brings to borrowers. A highly qualified auditor with additional expertise can significantly reduce loan pricing further by about 2.96 percent.Originality/valueExamining the costs and benefits of hiring certified auditors is crucial for borrowers. While the variables are not exhaustive, an understanding of the added value of hiring high-quality auditors with more than one or two qualifications to their potential premium fees helps borrowers in managers' audit selection decisions. At the same time, the results shed some light on which of the auditor's qualifications lenders might prioritize when pricing a borrower's loan.

Early prediction of Lithium-ion cell degradation trajectories using signatures of voltage curves up to 4-minute sub-sampling rates

Feature-based machine learning models for capacity and internal resistance (IR) curve prediction have been researched extensively in literature due to their high accuracy and generalization power. Most such models work within the high frequency of data availability regime, e.g., voltage response recorded every 1–4 s. Outside premium fee cloud monitoring solutions, data may be recorded once every 3, 5 or 10 min. In this low-data regime, there are little to no models available. This literature gap is addressed here via a novel methodology, underpinned by strong mathematical guarantees, called ‘path signature’.This work presents a feature-based predictive model for capacity fade and IR rise curves from only constant-current (CC) discharge voltage corresponding to the first 100 cycles. Included is a comprehensive feature analysis for the model via a relevance, redundancy, and complementarity feature trade-off mechanism. The ability to predict from subsampled ‘CC voltage at discharge’ data is investigated using different time steps ranging from 4 s to 4 min. It was discovered that voltage measurements taken at the end of every 4 min are enough to generate features for curve prediction with End of Life (EOL) and its corresponding IR values predicted with a mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) of approximately 13.2% and 2.1%, respectively. Our model under higher frequency (4 s) produces an improved accuracy with EOL predicted with an MAPE of 10%. Full implementation code publicly available.

Establishing industrial community energy systems: Simulating the role of institutional designs and societal attributes

The importance of decreasing industrial CO2 footprints has become evident, as also highlighted in COP26. As such, the transition to renewable energy in the industrial sector is essential to meet the targets. To this aim, establishing industrial community energy systems (InCES) where industries collectively invest in a shared energy system is an economically and environmentally attractive option. Yet, the emergence and continuity of such collective initiatives among industrial companies has neither received considerable attention in the scientific literature nor in practice. This research, as the first of its kind, aims to investigate institutional design options that allow for such collaboration to take place for the establishment and continuity of an InCES. Given the bottom-up and collaborative nature of such initiatives, we take an agent-based modeling and simulation approach, for the first time in this area, that incorporates the institutional and societal attributes that influence the formation and continuation of an InCES. We take data from an industrial cluster in Arak, one of the most prominent industrial cities in Iran. The results of this study confirm the economic feasibility of an InCES as compared to individual renewable energy investment in the cluster. The results also highlight the importance of flexible membership in increasing the number of investors (i.e., industrial companies) in such initiatives. Other important recommendations are: considering the installation of at least 15% extra capacity for the powerplant, restricting electricity consumption and enforcing on-time payment of monthly premium fees.

The dose-response association between LEAP 1000 and birthweight – no clear mechanisms: a structural equation modeling approach

BackgroundBirthweight is an important indicator of maternal and fetal health globally. The multifactorial origins of birthweight suggest holistic programs that target biological and social risk factors have great potential to improve birthweight. In this study, we examine the dose-response association of exposure to an unconditional cash transfer program before delivery with birthweight and explore the potential mediators of the association.MethodsData for this study come from the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) 1000 impact evaluation conducted between 2015 and 2017 among a panel sample of 2,331 pregnant and lactating women living in rural households of Northern Ghana. The LEAP 1000 program provided bi-monthly cash transfers and premium fee waivers to enroll in the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS). We used adjusted and unadjusted linear and logistic regression models to estimate the associations of months of LEAP 1000 exposure before delivery with birthweight and low birthweight, respectively. We used covariate-adjusted structural equation models (SEM) to examine mediation of the LEAP 1000 dose-response association with birthweight by household food insecurity and maternal-level (agency, NHIS enrollment, and antenatal care) factors.ResultsOur study included a sample of 1,439 infants with complete information on birthweight and date of birth. Nine percent of infants (N = 129) were exposed to LEAP 1000 before delivery. A 1-month increase in exposure to LEAP 1000 before delivery was associated with a 9-gram increase in birthweight and 7% reduced odds of low birthweight, on average, in adjusted models. We found no mediation effect by household food insecurity, NHIS enrollment, women’s agency, or antenatal care visits.ConclusionsLEAP 1000 cash transfer exposure before delivery was positively associated with birthweight, though we did not find any mediation by household- or maternal-level factors. The results of our mediation analyses may serve to inform program operations and improve targeting and programming to optimize health and well-being among this population.Trial RegistrationThe evaluation is registered in the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation’s (3ie) Registry for International Development Impact Evaluations (RIDIESTUDY- ID-55942496d53af) and in the Pan African Clinical Trial Registry (PACTR202110669615387).

Determinants of household dropout from community-based health insurance program in northwest Ethiopia; A community-based case-control study.

Community-Based Health Insurance (CBHI) is an evolving program for delivering financial protection against the cost of illness and enhancing access to quality health services for low-income informal households. The study aimed to identify determinants of household dropout from a CBHI program in Mecha district, North West Ethiopia, 2019. A community-based case-control study was conducted in the Mecha district from March 10 to June 10, 2018. The final sample was 634 (317 cases and 317 controls) determined by the two-population proportion formula, and these samples were selected using a multi-stage sampling technique. The collected data was entered into Epi-data version 3.1 and analyzed using R version 4.0 software. Descriptive statistics computed. A simple logistic analysis was run (at 95% CI and p-value < 0.05) to identify the determinants for the dropout from CBHI. Poor perceived quality of care (AOR = 3.66; 95%CI: 2.35, 5.69), low knowledge of community-based health insurance (AOR = 6.02; 95%CI: 2.97, 12.26), no active community communication (AOR = 5.41; 95%CI: 3.29, 8.90) no chronic illness (AOR = 10.82; 95%CI: 5.52, 21.21) premium fee is not affordable (AOR = 2.35; 95%CI: 1.47, 3.77), and out of pocket money not reimbursed (AOR = 9.37; 95%CI: 4.44, 19.77) were the determinants for the dropout from CBHI. Poor perceived quality of care, low knowledge of CBHI, no active community participation, no chronic illness, premium fees are not affordable, and out-of-pocket money not reimbursed were the determinants for the dropout from CBHI.

The Effect of Sociodemographic Factors on Obtaining a Place in Core Surgical Training.

Competition for Core Surgical Training (CST) is rising, placing a strong emphasis on interview performance. Several interview courses offer to help candidates secure their chosen surgical job but at premium fees. A group of London-based CSTs started a free course offering high-quality mock interview experiences to over 90 applicants in 2022, with the aim of providing an accessible opportunity for financially disadvantaged candidates. Course candidates completed three sets of questionnaires, pre- and post-mock interview, and a final one upon job allocation. Candidates' educational background and schooling history were obtained as well as their self-assessment score, eventual rank after interview and the rank of the job they had accepted. The three sets of questionnaires were completed by 87, 73 and 45 candidates respectively. Overall, there was a statistically significant difference in self-reported confidence scores after the course (P < 0.001). There was no significant difference in the self-assessment score of the 44.2% of candidates who had attended private education in the UK, compared to publicly educated (P = 0.0525), nor was there a difference in their rank after interviews (P = 0.236). Candidates who spent £50 or more had higher self-assessment scores (P = 0.042) but they didn't rank higher in overall scores (P = 0.591). Interview preparation courses are helpful in increasing candidates' confidence, however spending more money does not translate into a better overall interview performance. Our study suggests that candidates from private education backgrounds do not have an advantage in the CST application process.

Health services availability and readiness moderate cash transfer impacts on health insurance enrolment: evidence from the LEAP 1000 cash transfer program in Ghana

BackgroundExpanding health insurance coverage is a priority under Sustainable Development Goal 3. To address the intersection between poverty and health and remove cost barriers, the government of Ghana established the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS). Government further linked NHIS with the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) 1000 cash transfer program by waiving premium fees for LEAP 1000 households. This linkage led to increased NHIS enrolment, however, large enrolment gaps remained. One potential reason for failure to enroll may relate to the poor quality of health services.MethodsWe examine whether LEAP 1000 impacts on NHIS enrolment were moderated by health facilities’ service availability and readiness.ResultsWe find that adults in areas with the highest service availability and readiness are 18 percentage points more likely to enroll in NHIS because of LEAP 1000, compared to program effects of only 9 percentage points in low service availability and readiness areas. Similar differences were seen for enrolment among children (20 v. 0 percentage points) and women of reproductive age (25 v. 10 percentage points).ConclusionsWe find compelling evidence that supply-side factors relating to service readiness and availability boost positive impacts of a cash transfer program on NHIS enrolment. Our work suggests that demand-side interventions coupled with supply-side strengthening may facilitate greater population-level benefits down the line. In the quest for expanding financial protection towards accelerating the achievement of universal health coverage, policymakers in Ghana should prioritize the integration of efforts to simultaneously address demand- and supply-side factors.Trial registrationThis study is registered in the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation’s (3ie) Registry for International Development Impact Evaluations (RIDIE-STUDY-ID-55942496d53af).

KESIAPAN PETANI MENGIKUTI SERTIFIKASI KOPI ORGANIK DI KABUPATEN LAMPUNG BARAT

This study aims to analyze the readiness of farmers, their income, and marketing of certified organic coffee in West Lampung Regency. This research conducted in Sindang Pagar Village, Sumber Jaya Sub-District, Mutar Alam Village and Tambak Jaya Village, Way Tenong Sub-District, West Lampung Regency. The samples of this research were all farmers participating in the organic coffee certification program, 35 farmers totally. Qualitative descriptive analysis used to analyze the readiness of farmers in participating the certification program, quantitative descriptive analysis used to calculate farm income, marketing channels, and marketing margins. The results showed that the farmers were not ready to take part in the organic certification program because there were still unfulfilled indicators. Organic coffee farming income is IDR3,741,918 per ha with an R/C value of 1.74. Coffee marketing in this research area has 3 marketing channels. In marketing channel I farmers sell their coffee to coffee processors, in marketing channel II farmers sell to wholesalers then to exporters, in marketing channel III coffee farmers sell to collectors, then to wholesalers, and finally to exporters. The selling price in the first channel is more profitable for farmers than the second and third channels. Marketing carried out by farmers participating in the certification, namely 18% is sold at the price of organic coffee, and the remaining 82% sold underpriced. In the second and third channels, farmers do not get a premium fee for marketing the coffee products they produce during the certification process.Key words: coffee, certification, farmers, organic.

Central Hub M&amp;A Advisors

Abstract We examine how an M&amp;A advisor’s position in the network of investment banks affects its ability to create value for acquirers in takeover transactions. We show that acquirers enlisting the services of more centrally positioned M&amp;A advisors enjoy higher announcement abnormal returns and pay lower takeover premiums. Consistent with the idea that central network positions convey an information advantage, we find that the effects are stronger for acquirers facing greater target information asymmetry and for M&amp;A advisors depending more on networks for target-specific information. The information advantage primarily comes from network contacts that had previously assisted the targets in equity issuance. Centrally positioned advisors charge premium fees; network banks appear to enjoy a significant advantage in the competition for future co-advisory appointments.

The Impact of Underwriter Reputation on Bond Fees and Yields during the Global Financial Crisis

We explore the relationship between underwriter reputation and pricing (fee and yield) of corporate bond underwriting services in the U.S. during the global financial crisis (GFC) of 2007-2009. We compare the effect of underwriter reputation on bond pricing during the GFC with that in pre- and post-crisis periods. We find that during non-crisis times, reputable underwriters charge premium fees and obtain lower yields. However, during the crisis period, the relationship between underwriter reputation and fee and yield is reversed. Reputable underwriters charge lower fees and obtain higher yields compared to less reputable underwriters. A plausible explanation for this finding lies in the tarnished reputation of large banks and the resulting competitive advantage gained by less reputable banks. However, the certification effect of reputable underwriters is restored following the crisis period, resulting in premium fees and lower yields.

Which battery-charging technology and insurance contract is preferred in the electric vehicle sharing business?

The adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) is emerging in the car-sharing business due to the high potential of reducing operational costs as well as greenhouse gas emissions. In this early stage of the EV-sharing business, it is still unclear which battery-charging technology and insurance contract would be more competitive for EV-sharing operators in the context of future business. We have developed a stylized model with which to analyze the impact of different charging technologies, insurance contracts and other related factors on the EV-sharing operator’s profit. The operator’s demand is derived from customers’ utility of driving under a membership scheme. Various operational costs such as electricity and parking place costs are considered. Different battery-charging technologies and insurance contracts are incorporated into the model and then compared. The results show that membership and driving time are strategic complements, and that the operator’s profit is sensitive to policy interventions. Fixed-premium insurance leads to lower prices for the EV-sharing service than per-hour-premium insurance. The per-hour premium fees decrease more significantly than the fixed premium fees as autonomous vehicles reduce accident costs. The conditions for different battery-charging technologies to be price competitive are identified and meaningful policy implications are derived.

Community-based health insurance and communities' scheme requirement compliance in Thehuldere district, northeast Ethiopia: cross-sectional community-based study.

BackgroundCommunity-based health insurance (CBHI) is becoming a prominent and promising concept in tackling financial health care issues confronting the poor rural communities in developing countries. Ethiopia endorsed and constituted CBHI schemes in 13 pilot “woredas” in 2010/11. This study aimed to assess the compliance of the community to CBHI scheme requirements in Thehuledere district, northeast Ethiopia.MethodsA community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 530 respondents between April and June 2015 in Thehuledere District, South Wollo Zone, northeast Ethiopia. A systematic random sampling technique was deployed to select the study participants. A self-administered, structured, pre-tested questionnaire was used to collect the data. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to identify factors associated with CBHI compliance.ResultsA total of 511 study participants were included in the study. Approximately 77.9% of the study population complied with CBHI requirements: members’ age (AOR = 0.74, 95% CI: 0.62–0.8), premium fee affordability (AOR: 2.66, 95% CI: [1.13–4.42]), members’ occupation (AOR = 0.14, 95% CI: 0.04–0.45), members’ attitude toward CBHI management (AOR = 2.11 [1.14–3.90]), and CBHI members’ knowledge (AOR = 0.24, 95% CI: [0.13–0.42]) were found to be major predictors of community compliance to CBHI requirements.ConclusionCBHI requirement compliance at the early stage was relatively high. We observed that members’ age, premium fee affordability, occupation, attitude, and knowledge were significant predictors. CBHI management’s involvement in awareness creation and training on requirements of the CBHI scheme would contribute to better outcomes and success.

Merger Waves and the Importance of Financial Advisors Reputation for Acquirers

There is mixed evidence on the value of top-tier advisors for acquirers. Based on 7,192 U.S merger and acquisitions deals between 1980 and 2015, we reconcile previous contradictory findings by showing that top-tier advisors are associated with higher acquirer returns for public and private targets but only in periods of merger waves. Nevertheless, top-tier advisors demand a premium fee for their services both in and out of merger waves. They work as a certification mechanism when there is investors’ limited attention and greater uncertainty in the market.

LEGALIZATION OF ARTISTS’ RESALE RIGHT (DROIT DE SUITE) AS THE PROTECTION SYSTEM AND INCENTIVE INDONESIA PAINTING

INTRODUCTION:A painting is a collectible object, and therefore, it is unique not only artistically but also economically. Generally, when an artist sells a painting to a collector at a high price, this does not directly result in any economic value to the artist. In fact, when a painting is sold in a gallery, the artist gives a royalty to the owner of the gallery. This royalty is between 50:50 and 40:60 of the price of the painting. With that percentage, the artist cannot profit highly from the sale of the painting. As time as goes by, the painting's value slowly increases, and it is even possible for a painting to sell for IDR. 100 billion. Sidoesoedarsono Sudjojono's Pangeran Diponegoro was sold in Sotheby's Hongkong auction hall in April 2014 for approximately IDR 100 billion, including a premium fee (Agresifitas Kolektor Mengejar Karya Seni, 2014). Retrieved from http://lifestyle.bisnis.com/read/20140615/230/236215/agresivitas -kolektor-mengej ar-karya-seni/).Looking into this reality, it is clear that the painting as an expression of the idea of the artist in this context apparently is not economically capable of contributing to the welfare of the painters' origin or their heirs. In some countries, this problem has been been solved through the establishment of legislation that allows the painters' origin or their heirs to benefit economically from the high prices of paintings by dividing the percentage of its value to the painters' origin or their heirs. This legislation effort is made in order to govern the concept artists' resale right to the provision of positive law.Meanwhile, in Indonesia, when reviewing the provisions of the applicable legislation, which one of that is the Act No. 28 of 2014 on Copyright in Indonesia (hereinafter referred to as the Act No. 28 of 2014), it can be seen that the arrangement of the artists' resale right seems not been regulated yet. With the absence of this provision, accordingly it has become a challenge for Indonesian painters and the government to take steps in legalization of artists' resale right into Indonesian positive law. This effort is intended to build a system of protection and incentives for Indonesian painting.LITERATUR REVIEW:Indonesian Copyright as a Protection System for Painters:In Indonesian Copyright Act, copyright according to Article 1 Number 1 Law Number 28 Year 2014, can be defined as the exclusive right of the creator that arises automatically, based on declarative principle, after the work is embodied in a tangible form and without decreasing the limitations according to the provisions.From the definition above, we understand that copyright is an exclusive right, and it does not lend itself to the nature of monopoly. The nature of monopoly gives authority to the right holder to utilize a copyright, to permit other parties to use the right, and even to prohibit other parties from using the right.Copyright as an exclusive right is divided into two parts, moral rights and economic rights. A moral right is a right that stays with the creator. According to Stewart, who is cited by Otto Hasibuan, there are three fundamental aspects of a moral right:a. Droit de divulgation (the right of publication), which is the right to decide whether the work is to be made public.b. Droit de paternite (the right of paternity), which is the right to claim authorship of published works.c. Droit de respect de J'oeuvre (the right of integrity), which is the right of an author to safeguard his reputation by preserving the integrity of the work (Hasibuan, 2008), (Utomo, 2010).Moral rights cannot be transferred to other parties. They are regulated in Articles 5, 6, and 7 Law Number 28 Year 2014. These regulations of moral rights allow the creator to do the following:a. cite or not cite their name in the copy of work utilized in the public;b. use a fictitious name or disguised name;c. …

What practitioners and academics want to know about audit quality

What do we know about audit quality? An intriguing question for which society seems to have a readymade answer, while to the audit industry is much less clear about what it takes to get there. Society would seem to impose a zero-mistake tolerance on the audit industry. Surely society does not want to pay the price that would take audit quality to a level where quality is irreproachable. For that matter, it is not even clear that auditees who pay a premium fee get better quality. For instance, while industry specialization tends to have a positive effect on audit fees (Numan &amp; Willekens, 2012a), competitive pressure may inflict a negative effect on quality. Numan and Willekens (2012b) report a negative impact on audit quality delivered by an auditor who faces competitive pressure from competitors who resemble the focal auditor in its range of activities. These results seem to suggest that society varies the price it is willing to pay for an audit. To the extent that audit fee is associated with the quality of the audit, it would appear that audit quality is not uniform across audit engagements.

Analysis of the Brazilian Program of Subsidies for Rural Insurance Premium: Evolution from 2005 to 2014

&lt;p&gt;Rural insurance is inserted in the field of agricultural policies to mitigate risks that farmers face. It was an innovation for the Brazilian government from the implementation standpoint, despite the existence of similar programs in other countries. The purpose of this paper is to assess the recent evolution of the Brazilian Rural Insurance Premium Subsidy Program (PSR) and its main variables: amount insured area, policies, average area, benefiting producers, total premiums involved and total subsidy. The study examined in detail the PSR representation by region and farming. In order to evaluate the results of this program on agricultural policy, an exploratory and descriptive analysis was performed with the objective of studying the evolution of the Brazilian rural insurance in the context of PSR, using the information available in the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (MAPA) about the program. The information and data were collected between July and August 2015. The study was based on data collected from 2005 to 2013 with some general data of 2014 program included in the study. Even though the focus of the analysis was on the most recent years, 2009-2013. Data analysis revealed that the increased supply and demand for rural insurance is in the South and in the agricultural modalities for grains and fruits, with growth potential in other sectors and other regions in the country. PSR, as public policy, was responsible for the expansion of the rural insurance market in Brazil, encouraging and providing the access of producers to agricultural insurance by subsidizing the premium fee. Although this expansion has been slow and gradual, Brazil had in 2013 about 13.8% of the agricultural area with rural insurance coverage. This reveals the need for expanding the program to popularize this important risk mitigation tool.&lt;/p&gt;

The Quality-Assuring Role of Mutual Fund Advisory Fees

Active fund managers implicitly promise to research profitable portfolio selection. But active management is an experience good subject to moral hazard. Investors cannot tell high from low quality up front and therefore fear manager shirking. We show how the parties mitigate the moral hazard by paying the manager a premium fee sufficiently high that the manager's one-time gain from shirking is less than the capitalized value of the premium stream he earns from maintaining his promise to provide high quality. Premium advisory fees act as a quality-assuring bond. Our model has a number of revealing extensions and comparative statics.