Evolution of Agricultural Land Leasing Models: A Survey of the Literature

Abstract

Abstract Issues relating to agricultural tenancy have been viewed as important economic questions since the early writings of Smith and Mill. At the close of the twentieth century, interest in these issues remains strong. In developing countries with agrarian economies, this interest is stimulated by the perceived importance of land lease arrangements in either fostering or impeding economic development. In the United States, where the proportion of farmland operated under lease arrangements has increased from 35% in 1950 to 43% in 1992 (USDA 1992), concern focuses on efficiency of resource use and issues such as effects of absentee landownership and tenant farming on the adoption of soil‐conserving production practices.