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The objective of this explorative study was to analyse the association of socio-economic factors and attitudes towards cooking with the time devoted to home meals cooking in the Czech Republic. Furthermore, the authors tested and analysed data to see if there is any relationship between the time devoted to cooking by respondents and obesity.

The sample data consisted of 1,006 inhabitants’ subjects selected using the quota sampling following the structure of the population structure. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions were estimated to analyse factors influencing the time spent in the preparation of meals at home. The correlation between time devoted to cooking by respondents and obesity was addressed using the Kruskal–Wallis test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA).

The results showed that female gender, higher age, smaller household size and presence of children increased the time spent by respondents in the preparation of home-cooked meals. Home cooking is perceived as a tastier option compared to, for example, chilled ready meals. The time devoted to cooking by respondents and her/his above average weight are correlated in our study.

To the authors’ knowledge, no recent study has comprehensively analysed cooking behaviour and time spent cooking in the post-Soviet countries, including the Czech Republic. The authors’ quota-representative study provided relevant insights into eating behaviour, as the Czech Republic has faced a high increase in the obesity rates in the last decade.

The purpose of this paper is to check which role-bounded rationality might play as an explanation for farmers’ missing willingness to adopt weather index insurance (WII). WII is an innovative risk management instrument that causes low administration and regulation costs. Moreover, index insurance is plagued neither by moral hazard nor by adverse selection. Nonetheless, WII has been little used to date in agriculture.

An extra-laboratory experiment in the form of a multi-period, single-person business simulation game is conducted with farmers as experimental subjects to investigate the reasons for the low willingness to adopt WII.

First, the demand for WII decreases as the premium loading increases. Second, a transparent communication of the loading reduces demand, indicating that farmers refrain from transactions if they feel that the other party earns (too) much money. Third, communicating to farmers that the index insurance has been subsidized raises demand even though insurance costs in terms of loading are kept constant. This can be taken as an indication that farmers interpret subsidies as a signal for profitable action.

Using an experimental approach and going beyond observational research, this study investigates the prominent question of farmers’ risk management and innovation adoption behavior, and, in particular, the behavioral effect of subsidies. Using a randomized controlled trial, the real behavior of real subjects with real incentives is studied under controlled experimental conditions. Compared to prior studies, the external validity of the experiment is improved by recruiting farmers instead of a convenience group of students.