밭떼기거래의 경제적 성격과 계약금의 평가

Economic Features of Bahtegi Contract and Evaluation of its Earnest Money

The ‘Bahtegi’ contract has been recognized as a forward contract because it is a commitment between farmers and local collecting merchants to trade underlying agricultural products at a predetermined prices at a certain time in the future. However, current practices make Bahtegi contract closer to a call option rather than to a forward contract because it is cancelled so frequently mainly by buyers(merchants). Merchants pay earnest money to farmers as a reward for contract cancellation when prices fall below a certain level. Thus, the earnest money paid by the Bahtegi buyer could be considered as option premium. This study shows why the Bahtegi contract should be considered as a call option rather than a forward contract. This study also suggests a method to evaluate appropriate level of the earnest money for the contract, using a modified Black’s Option Pricing Model. Unlike a standard option, when the merchant’s right to buy is exercised, the buyer pays the price less the earnest money. This study suggests an iterative exotic option pricing model to handle the uniqueness of Bahtegi. The application result provides evidence that the premium levels comp0uted by the iterative exotic option pricing method are significantly higher than those by standard option pricing model.