Rationing and Adjustment in the Market for Tenancies: The Behavior of Landowning Households in Thanjavur District

Abstract A large proportion of peasants cultivate only their own land, even when there are active markets for tenancies as well as labor. However, rationing of tenancies can occur under moral hazard or adverse selection. A model that includes as possible outcomes both rationing and full adjustment through trading is analyzed and estimated using data from South India. On this basis, households can be characterized as rationed or adjusted, and confidence intervals for these assignments can be calculated. While some households achieved full adjustment, a majority were rationed in the tenancy market, many of them completely.