I \u00a0received the following announcement from the Index Insurance Innovation Initiative, which is funding my work on index insurance for cotton producers in Mali:<\/p>\n
The BASIS Assets and Market Access Collaborative Research Support Program at the University of\u00a0California, Davis seeks to hire a post-doc in economics or agricultural economics to assist with the\u00a0development and implementation of its research program on risk and insurance. BASIS and its sister Index Insurance Innovation Initiative<\/a>\u00a0(I4) currently have ten rural insurance pilot\u00a0projects underway. There is burgeoning interest in determining whether and how index insurance\u00a0instruments can be used to solve long-standing development problems associated with uninsured risk, and\u00a0the newly refunded BASIS program anticipates funding additional research in this area using its core\u00a0grant funds from the US Agency for International Development. In addition, we expect opportunities to\u00a0develop further research in this area by working directly with USAID’s missions worldwide.<\/p>\n Working in collaboration with the BASIS director, Michael Carter, and USAID staff, the Post-Doc will\u00a0engage in a program of outreach to USAID missions. We anticipate that the results of these visits will be\u00a0further demands for technical analysis of possible index insurance solutions and research project design.\u00a0The post-doc will have ample opportunity to participate and direct resulting research programs on this\u00a0topic. In addition to these research activities, the post-doc will take responsibility for preparing a set of\u00a0“how-to” briefs explaining index insurance issues and options for practitioners. The post-doc will interact\u00a0and may collaborate with the full team of I4 researchers, which includes faculty members and researchers\u00a0at a broad range of institutions, including Australian National University, the Universities of Athens,\u00a0California-Berkeley, California-Davis, California-San Diego, Colorado, Cornell, Duke, Namur, Oxford,\u00a0the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the International Food Policy Research Institute, and the International Livestock Research\u00a0Institute.<\/p>\n The position requires a PhD in economics and agricultural economics. Prior research on agricultural risk\u00a0and insurance is highly desirable, as is experience with impact evaluation of complex programs.\u00a0Excellent writing and communication skills are a must. Funding is available for up to five years, although it\u00a0is anticipated that most individuals will want to hold the position for only a fraction of that time period.\u00a0The position will require extended trips to various world regions several times per year.\u00a0Interested individuals should send an application letter describing qualifications, a CV, a list of references\u00a0and a research paper to ifour@ucdavis.edu<\/a>. Questions may also be directed to that address. Applications\u00a0must be received by 1 March to receive full consideration. The position will be available by 1 April\u00a02012, although it is expected that most candidates will not be available to start the position until mid-year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I \u00a0received the following announcement from the Index Insurance Innovation Initiative, which is funding my work on index insurance for cotton producers in Mali: The…<\/p>\n