,,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.