Tenure Insecurity, Transaction Costs in the Land Lease Market and their Implications for Gendered Productivity Differentials

The study sets out to assess the link between land leasing behavior and productivity differentials between male and female headed households. A non-cooperative game model with double-moral hazard allowed us to show that landlord’s tenure insecurity leads to sub-optimal level of effort on tenant’s part. The landlord’s enforcement ability is also shown to increase the optimal level of effort. The empirical findings support the hypothesis that female heads of households have higher tenant turnover and lower enforcement ability. The results also support the claim that contract length is positively related to productivity. Productivity differentials are significantly explained by difference and contract length among female and male headed households. JEL classification: D2, Q12, Q15, C21, C7.