3:30 pm - 5:00 pm
gsb 550, 116 st 89 ave, edmonton AB
Title: Friends vs. Colleagues: Disentangling Social and Professional Network Transmissions of Agricultural Risk
Speaker: Dr. Bruno Wichmann, Associate Professor, University of Alberta
Date: Friday, March 28, 2025
Time: 3:30pm-5:00pm
Location: GSB 550
Abstract:
Crop failure poses a critical threat to rural households in developing economies, where limited access to formal insurance and credit markets leaves farmers vulnerable to shocks. Many papers have shown that, in the absence of proper institutional support, social networks play a pivotal role in risk management. The literature focuses on a single network measure that aggregates different types of social relationships. However, not all networks mitigate risks in the same way. This paper proposes an approach to identify network-specific peer effects. Moreover, networks are a two-way street: while they can serve as channels for support, they can also amplify and transmit negative shocks across connected households. Using primary data from smallholder farmers in rural India, we disentangle the distinct roles of friendship networks and professional networks in the transmission of agricultural shocks. We demonstrate that the aggregation into a single network measure obscures key differences: professional networks significantly transmit crop failure risks, while friendship ties serve a buffering role with negligible transmission effects.
Bio:
Dr. Bruno Wichmann is an Associate Professor in the Department of Resource Economics and Environmental Sociology at the University of Alberta. He joined the University of Alberta in 2012, after obtaining his PhD in Economics from the University of Tennessee. His research interests are primarily in the field of resource and environment economics, social networks, and health economics. Dr. Wichmann has published several papers in leading journals, including the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management and Environmental and Resource Economics. Currently, he is an editor for the Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics.
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