Advisors
Three faculty advisors have shaped Khanal’s research development across his bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral training: Dr. Ujjal Tiwari at Agriculture and Forestry University, Dr. Courtney Bir during the master’s degree, and Dr. Dayton Lambert at the doctoral level.
Dr. Dayton Lambert
Khanal works under Dr. Dayton Lambert, Sparks Chair in Agricultural Sciences at Oklahoma State University, on a Hierarchical Spatial Errors-in-Variables Model (HSEVM) for crop yield estimation. The project jointly estimates kriged interpolation surfaces for climate variables alongside county-level yield regressions, using Bayesian inference through the Integrated Nested Laplace Approximation (INLA). Lambert has directed key modeling decisions on the project, including the use of county centroid polynomial coordinates as instruments to address the Modifiable Areal Unit Problem and spatial support misalignment between weather stations and county boundaries.
Dr. Courtney Bir
During his Master's degree, Khanal worked under Dr. Courtney Bir, Associate Professor of Agricultural Economics at Oklahoma State University. His thesis examined the economic feasibility of wine grape and vine production in the Southern Great Plains region of Oklahoma, evaluating establishment costs, yield expectations, and breakeven economics for prospective growers. That work developed into the manuscript "Economic Feasibility of Wine Grape Cultivation in the Southern Great Plains," coauthored with Bir and Aaron Essary, currently under review at the Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics.
Dr. Ujjal Tiwari
Deputy Director, Directorate of Research and Extension (DoREX)
Khanal completed his bachelor's thesis under the supervision of Dr. Ujjal Tiwari in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness Management at Agriculture and Forestry University, Nepal. The research examined dairy farmers' willingness to adopt cattle insurance and the amount they were willing to pay for coverage in Dang, Nepal. Using survey data from 150 dairy farmers and a double-hurdle model, the study evaluated how socioeconomic, farm, institutional, and risk-related factors influenced both insurance participation and premium decisions. The thesis later contributed to the peer-reviewed article "Willingness to Pay for Cattle Insurance in Nepal: A Double-Hurdle Model Perspective," published in 2024.
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2024
Willingness to pay for cattle insurance in Nepal: a double-hurdle model perspective
Published
Master's degree conferred
