,,itwas(andstillis)animportantformofgovernanceinagriculture,,sharetenancycontractsdisplayproblemstypicalofabroadspectrumofcontractualarrangements:todaytheseproblemsareoftendiscussedunderthe“principal-agent”,previousconclusionsonsharetenancyseemedtoosimple,evensuspect:ork,toasignificantextent,elargeliteratureonsharecropping,hiscarefulanalysis,andhismetic:theresultsofliterallyallpreviousstudieswereunconvincing,anoninefficient,evenwhentheywereun,whichrationallypreventedthestepsfrombeingtaken.

Finally,TheTheoryofShareTenancyisexcitingreading.

Theauthorpassionatelybelievesinhissubjectandinwhatheisdoing,andallthr

Stockholm,May2000

ToMyFather

InGratefulMemory

PREFACE

FouryearsaateattheUniversityofCalifornia,concentrateononlytwosetsofpropertyrightconstraintsdefinedbylawinagricultureandontheassociatedleasingarrangements.

tincreasesintenantfarms,exp,Idecidedtousestandardeconomicprinciplestoformulatehypothesesrelatingtosharetenancy（orsharecropping）.Havingpletedthefirstdraftofmythesis,however,Ifoundmyselfinterestedinl

Forgenerationseconomistsandlandtenurewritershavesoughttorankther,sharetenancyhaslongbeenconsideredinefficient,,teneco,”irrational”behaviorhasbeendiscerned,andspecialtheoriessuchas”disguisedunemployment”andthe”dualeconomy”,however,

,Ishowthats,Iseektoexplain（1）whythepatternsofagriculturaloutputdifferundertwosetsofpropertyrightconstraints,and（2）whydifferentcontractsarechosenunderthesamepropertyrightconstraints.

AsastudentatUCLA,,MasonGaffney,JudithMann,,thenacolleagueatCaliforniaStateCollegeatLongBeach,,D.,,HaroldDemsetz,JohnMcManus,,PatriciaKuttner,boremostoftheburdenofproofreadingandpilingtheindex.

SeveralorganizationsinTaiwankindlyprovidedmewithvaluabledata,includingtheSino-AmericanJointCommissiononRuralReconstruction,theTaiwanProvincialLandBureau,theDepartmentofAgricultureandForestry,andtheBankofTaiwan.

TheEconomicsDepartmentandtheLibraryofCaliforniaStateCollegeatLongBeachmadetheirresearchfacilitiesavailabletome,asdidtheorientallibrariesatBerkeley,Stanford,UCLA,andChicago.