Allocative Efficiency of Cropshare Cultivation: Interpreting the Empirical Evidence

Because of the simultaneity problems raised by supervision problems, and the low opportunity cost of labour which may induce an inverse size-productivity relationship in agriculture, tests requiring a comparison of the productivity of farmers or farms of different tenure groups tend to be biased. Even a comparison of the performance of farmers of different tenure groups, though of the same size, may not necessarily yield unbiased results. The paired t-test, which involves comparing the performance of the owner· tenants on their own and cropshare land, has been found to be the most satisfactory method of comparing the effiCiency of crop share tenancy with that of owner cultivation. The study also suggests some disciplining influence imparted by a better choice of tenant and threat of eviction, preventing the tenants from wasting the rental land.