IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jeborg/v65y2008i3-4p714-733.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Contract duration and the division of labor in agricultural land leases

Author

Listed:
  • Yoder, Jonathan
  • Hossain, Ishrat
  • Epplin, Francis
  • Doye, Damona

Abstract

Short-term contracts provide weak incentives for durable input investment if post-contract asset transfer is difficult. Our model shows that when both agents provide inputs, optimal contract length balances the weak incentives of one agent against the other's. This perspective broadens the existing contract duration literature, which emphasizes the tradeoff between risk sharing and contracting costs. We develop hypotheses and test them based on private grazing contracts from the Southern Great Plains. We find broad support for the implications of our model. For example, landowners provide durable land-specific inputs more often under annual than multi-year contracts.

Suggested Citation

  • Yoder, Jonathan & Hossain, Ishrat & Epplin, Francis & Doye, Damona, 2008. "Contract duration and the division of labor in agricultural land leases," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 65(3-4), pages 714-733, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:65:y:2008:i:3-4:p:714-733
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167-2681(06)00207-1
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Robert Rich & Joseph Tracy, 2004. "Uncertainty and Labor Contract Durations," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 86(1), pages 270-287, February.
    2. Shelanski, Howard A & Klein, Peter G, 1995. "Empirical Research in Transaction Cost Economics: A Review and Assessment," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 11(2), pages 335-361, October.
    3. Kees Jan Van Garderen & Chandra Shah, 2002. "Exact interpretation of dummy variables in semilogarithmic equations," Econometrics Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 5(1), pages 149-159, June.
    4. Earl O. Heady, 1971. "Optimal Sizes of Farms under Varying Tenure Forms, Including Renting, Ownership, State, and Collective Structures," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 53(1), pages 17-25.
    5. Gray, Jo Anna, 1978. "On Indexation and Contract Length," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 86(1), pages 1-18, February.
    6. Allen, Douglas W & Lueck, Dean, 1992. "The "Back Forty" on a Handshake: Specific Assets, Reputation, and the Structure of Farmland Contracts," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 8(2), pages 366-376, April.
    7. Keith J. Crocker & Scott E. Masten, 1988. "Mitigating Contractual Hazards: Unilateral Options and Contract Length," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 19(3), pages 327-343, Autumn.
    8. Rao, C H Hanumantha, 1971. "Uncertainty, Entrepreneurship, and Sharecropping in India," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 79(3), pages 578-595, May-June.
    9. Allen, Douglas W & Lueck, Dean, 1995. "Risk Preferences and the Economics of Contracts," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(2), pages 447-451, May.
    10. Wallace, Frederick H. & Blanco, Herminio, 1991. "The effects of real and nominal shocks on union-firm contract duration," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 361-380, June.
    11. Bengt Holmstrom, 1979. "Moral Hazard and Observability," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 10(1), pages 74-91, Spring.
    12. Lorenzo Cappellari & Stephen P. Jenkins, 2003. "Multivariate probit regression using simulated maximum likelihood," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 3(3), pages 278-294, September.
    13. Joseph E. Stiglitz, 1974. "Incentives and Risk Sharing in Sharecropping," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 41(2), pages 219-255.
    14. Douglas W. Allen & Dean Lueck, 1993. "Transaction Costs and the Design of Cropshare Contracts," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 24(1), pages 78-100, Spring.
    15. Hallagan, William S., 1978. "Share contracting for California Gold," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 196-210, April.
    16. HOLMSTROM, Bengt, 1979. "Moral hazard and observability," LIDAM Reprints CORE 379, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    17. Eswaran, Mukesh & Kotwal, Ashok, 1985. "A Theory of Contractual Structure in Agriculture," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(3), pages 352-367, June.
    18. Leaf Danziger, 1988. "Real Shocks, Efficient Risk Sharing, and the Duration of Labor Contracts," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 103(2), pages 435-440.
    19. Cheung, Steven N S, 1969. "Transaction Costs, Risk Aversion, and the Choice of Contractual Arrangements," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 12(1), pages 23-42, April.
    20. Allen, Douglas W & Lueck, Dean, 1999. "The Role of Risk in Contract Choice," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 15(3), pages 704-736, October.
    21. Canice Prendergast, 2002. "The Tenuous Trade-off between Risk and Incentives," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 110(5), pages 1071-1102, October.
    22. Joskow, Paul L, 1987. "Contract Duration and Relationship-Specific Investments: Empirical Evidence from Coal Markets," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 77(1), pages 168-185, March.
    23. Leffler, Keith B & Rucker, Randal R, 1991. "Transactions Costs and the Efficient Organization of Production: A Study of Timber-Harvesting Contracts," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 99(5), pages 1060-1087, October.
    24. Williamson, Oliver E, 1983. "Credible Commitments: Using Hostages to Support Exchange," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 73(4), pages 519-540, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Beyene, Abebe D. & Bezabih, Mintewab & Gebreegziabher, Zenebe, 2012. "Contract Duration under Incomplete Land Ownership Rights: Empirical Evidence from Rural Ethiopia," RFF Working Paper Series dp-12-09-efd, Resources for the Future.
    2. Awudu Abdulai & Renan Goetz, 2014. "Time-Related Characteristics of Tenancy Contracts and Investment in Soil Conservation Practices," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 59(1), pages 87-109, September.
    3. Du Xiaodong & Hennessy David & Edwards William A., 2008. "Does a Rising Biofuels Tide Raise All Boats? A Study of Cash Rent Determinants for Iowa Farmland under Hay and Pasture," Journal of Agricultural & Food Industrial Organization, De Gruyter, vol. 6(2), pages 1-25, December.
    4. Godwin Kofi Vondolia & Håkan Eggert & Ståle Navrud & Jesper Stage, 2014. "What do respondents bring to contingent valuation? A comparison of monetary and labour payment vehicles," Journal of Environmental Economics and Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 3(3), pages 253-267, November.
    5. Weiguo Fan & Yuheng Zhang & Nan Chen & Wanqing Nie, 2024. "A Review of Rural Land Capitalization: Current Status and Further Research," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-22, March.
    6. Godwin Kofi Vondolia & Håkan Eggert & Ståle Navrud & Jesper Stage, 2014. "What do respondents bring to contingent valuation? A comparison of monetary and labour payment vehicles," Journal of Environmental Economics and Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 3(3), pages 253-267, November.
    7. Tang, Liang & Ma, Xianlei & Zhou, Yuepeng & Shi, Xiaoping & Ma, Jia, 2019. "Social relations, public interventions and land rent deviation: Evidence from Jiangsu Province in China," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 406-420.
    8. Adewale Henry Adenuga & Claire Jack & Ronan McCarry, 2021. "The Case for Long-Term Land Leasing: A Review of the Empirical Literature," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-21, March.
    9. Shi, X. & Zhou, Y. & Heerink, N. & Ma, X., 2018. "The effect of land tenure governance on grain efficiency: Evidence from three provinces in eastern China," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277477, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    10. Choi, Jiseon & Jodlowski, Margaret C., 2022. "Tenure Status and Land Investment in South Korea," 2022 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Anaheim, California 322476, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    11. Lestage, Romain & Li, Youping, 2022. "Input price discrimination can encourage downstream investment and increase welfare," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 217(C).
    12. Jan K. Brueckner & Stuart S. Rosenthal, 2022. "Tenant Riskiness, Contract Length, and the Term Structure of Commercial Leases," CESifo Working Paper Series 10189, CESifo.
    13. Kyösti Pietola & Sami Myyrä & Eija Pouta, 2011. "The Effects of Changes in Capital Gains Taxes on Land Sales: Empirical Evidence from Finland," Land Economics, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 87(4), pages 582-594.
    14. Goetz, Renan & Yatsenko, Yuri & Hritonenko, Natali & Xabadia, Angels & Abdulai, Awudu, 2019. "The dynamics of productive assets, contract duration and holdup," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 24-37.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hensher, David A. & Ho, Chinh & Knowles, Louise, 2016. "Efficient contracting and incentive agreements between regulators and bus operators: The influence of risk preferences of contracting agents on contract choice," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 22-40.
    2. Hsuan-Yu Lin & Chih-Hai Yang, 2016. "Uncertainty, specific investment, and contract duration: evidence from the MLB player market," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 50(3), pages 1009-1028, May.
    3. López-Bayón, Susana & González-Díaz, Manuel, 2010. "Indefinite contract duration: Evidence from electronics subcontracting," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 145-159, June.
    4. Ackerberg, Daniel A. & Botticini, Maristella, 2000. "The Choice of Agrarian Contracts in Early Renaissance Tuscany: Risk Sharing, Moral Hazard, or Capital Market Imperfections?," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 241-257, July.
    5. Jun Yeong Lee & Grant Durbahn & Peter F. Orazem & Wendong Zhang, 2023. "The roles of risk preferences, selection, and uncertain returns on land contracts," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 54(2), pages 220-233, March.
    6. Wang, Sen & Bogle, Tim & van Kooten, G. Cornelis, 2012. "Forestry and the New Institutional Economics," Working Papers 130818, University of Victoria, Resource Economics and Policy.
    7. Pierre-André Chiappori & Bernard Salanié, 2002. "Testing Contract Theory : A Survey of Some Recent Work," Working Papers 2002-11, Center for Research in Economics and Statistics.
    8. Francine Lafontaine & Margaret E. Slade, 1998. "Incentive Contracting and the Franchise Decision," NBER Working Papers 6544, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Hudson Darren & Lusk Jayson, 2004. "Risk and Transactions Cost in Contracting: Results from a Choice-Based Experiment," Journal of Agricultural & Food Industrial Organization, De Gruyter, vol. 2(1), pages 1-19, February.
    10. Hongyun Han & Hanning Li, 2018. "The Distribution of Residual Controls and Risk Sharing: A Case Study of Farmland Transfer in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-20, June.
    11. Elliott, Matthew & James, Harvey Jr., 2013. "Nature Of The Farm: Revisited," 2013 Annual Meeting, August 4-6, 2013, Washington, D.C. 150726, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    12. Gow, Hamish R. & Swinnen, Johan F.M., 2002. "Investment, and Contract Hold-Ups in Transition: Evidence from Hungary," 2002 International Congress, August 28-31, 2002, Zaragoza, Spain 24853, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    13. Mikko Ketokivi & Joseph T. Mahoney, 2020. "Transaction Cost Economics As a Theory of Supply Chain Efficiency," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 29(4), pages 1011-1031, April.
    14. Yang, He, 2014. "The impact of intensive farming on land tenure: Evidence from Confucius' manors (1759–1901)," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 279-289.
    15. Hooper, Louise, 2008. "Paying for performance: Uncertainty, asymmetric information and the payment model," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 157-163, January.
    16. Debapriya Sen, 2005. "Sharecropping, interlinkage, and price variation," Department of Economics Working Papers 05-10, Stony Brook University, Department of Economics.
    17. M'Hand Farès & Stéphane Saussier, 2002. "Coûts de transaction et contrats incomplets," Revue Française d'Économie, Programme National Persée, vol. 16(3), pages 193-230.
    18. Nicholas S. Argyres & Janet Bercovitz & Kyle J. Mayer, 2007. "Complementarity and Evolution of Contractual Provisions: An Empirical Study of IT Services Contracts," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 18(1), pages 3-19, February.
    19. Priyanka Pandey, 2004. "Effects of Technology on Incentive Design of Share Contracts," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(4), pages 1152-1168, September.
    20. Marco Furlotti, 2007. "There is more to contracts than incompleteness: a review and assessment of empirical research on inter-firm contract design," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 11(1), pages 61-99, March.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J43 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Agricultural Labor Markets
    • L23 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Organization of Production
    • Q15 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Land Ownership and Tenure; Land Reform; Land Use; Irrigation; Agriculture and Environment

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:65:y:2008:i:3-4:p:714-733. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jebo .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.