Sharecroppers Research Articles

Review article: landlords, tenants and share‐croppers — agrarian change in regional perspective

William Beinart, Peter Delius and Stanley Trapido (eds.), Putting a Plough to the Ground: Accumulation and Dispossession in Rural South Africa 1850–1930 (Johannesburg: Ravan Press, 1986). Pp. xvi+458. £10.95 paperback only. (Available from Third World Publications, 151 Stratford Road, Birmingham B11 1RD.) Timothy J. Keegan, Rural Transformations in Industrialising South Africa: The Southern Highveld to 1914 (Johannesburg: Ravan Press, 1986; Basingstoke: Mac‐millan Press, 1987). Pp. xviii+302. R23.50 paperback/£29.50 hardback. A.F. Robertson, The Dynamics of Productive Relationships: African Share Contracts in Comparative Perspective (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1987). Pp. xx+321. £25.00.

Branches Without Roots: Genesis of the Black Working Class in the American South, 1862-1882

The first comprehensive history of the transition from slavery to sharecropping, this major study draws on thousands of previously untapped sources and statistics to reconstruct the socioeconomic history of the antebellum plantation and the birth of the free black worker. Jaynes thoroughly reexamines the symbiotic nature of the sharecropping system for both planters and workers--how it offered planters a stable work force and offered workers relative freedom, a unified family, and payment for their labor--and analyzes the social and economic effects of sharecropping on the larger social structure. At the same time, he argues that the collective organization and self-help activities of the freedpeople, the democratic fever incited by black leaders and local agents of the Freedmen's Bureau, and the failure of federal policy were also key factors in the reorganization of the southern plantation and the entry of blacks into the post war economy.

Branches without Roots: Genesis of the Black Working Class in the American South, 1862-1882.

The first comprehensive history of the transition from slavery to sharecropping, this major study draws on thousands of previously untapped sources and statistics to reconstruct the socioeconomic history of the antebellum plantation and the birth of the free black worker. Jaynes thoroughly reexamines the symbiotic nature of the sharecropping system for both planters and workers-how it offered planters a stable work force and offered workers relative freedom, a unified family, and payment for their labor-and analyzes the social and economic effects of sharecropping on the larger social structure. At the same time, he argues that the collective organization and self-help activities of the freedpeople, the democratic fever incited by black leaders and local agents of the Freedmen's Bureau, and the failure of federal policy were also key factors in the reorganization of the southern plantation and the entry of blacks into the post war economy.

The Distribution of Economic Rents Arising from Subsidized Water When Land Is Leased

AbstractA broad distribution of the benefits of federally “underpriced” water may be best promoted by limiting the size of owned acreage and not the sum of owned and leased acreage as required by the Reclamation Reform Act of 1982. Calculated differences between contractual lease payments and associated tenant‐expected economic rents were statistically tested to determine if landowners fully capture the latter. Cash lease markets transferred nearly all economic rents anticipated by tenants to landowners in the study area. Share lease markets do the same if share tenants are assumed to be moderately risk averse.

Sharecropping and Sharecroppers

Sharecropping and Sharecroppers

Migration and the evolution of tenure contracts in newly settled regions

Different forms of agricultural tenancy can facilitate migration and upward mobility by matching migrant characteristics with labor demands. Potential migrants face a menu of alternative arrangements in newly settled areas. If they have sufficient resources, they can establish themselves as independent settlers and earn high rates of return. If not, they can work as share tenants until they have developed their own homesteads. In an intermediate arrangement, the migrant borrows land, which he uses to provide subsistence for his household and repays the land, plus improvements as interest. By linking credit with labor arrangements land borrowing and share tenancy facilitate development in an environment where transaction costs inhibit specialized lending operations.

The major mode of surplus labour appropriation in the West Malaysian1countryside: The sharecropping system

The major mode of surplus labour appropriation in the West Malaysian¹countryside: The sharecropping system

"Economics of Share -Cropping in Haryana (India) Agriculture" - A Comment

Economic efficiency of agriculture in developing countries has been a matter of great interest among the development economists and has received considerable attention in the literature on agricultural development. The increasing access to electronic computers and availability of farm management data have provided further impetus to the empirical analysis and comparison of economic efficiency among well-defined farm groups and a rich body of literature on the subject appeared during the Sixties and Seventies [2; 3; 4; 6; 7; 8; 10; 11; 12;!3; 14 and 15] . "Economics of Share Cropping in Haryana (India) Agriculture" by F. S. Bagi, published in the Spring 1981 issue of this Review [I], is a recent contribution to the literature dealing with economic efficiency of agriculture. Analysing data from a survey of 119 farms from Haryana (India), the author concludes that technical efficiency of the share-cropping farms is lower and there is Significant allocative inefficiency on share-cropping and owner-operated farms. The contribution, though analysing an important issue of Haryana agriculture, however, suffers from some serious methodological problems and faulty interpretation of some of the empirical results. The 119 survey farms on which Bagi's analysis is based, had the following irrigation pattern: 20 farms fully irrigated, 17 farms totally unirrigated and remaining 82 farms partly irrigated. It is not clear from the study how the sample farms were selected, what sampling procedure was followed in choosing these farms, and how closely the "Sample farm groups" represented the actual farming situation in Haryana. Therefore, one does not know whether the results can be generalised to Haryana situation or not.

The Ideology and Practice of Share-Cropping Tenancy in Kukulewa and Pul Eliya

The Ideology and Practice of Share-Cropping Tenancy in Kukulewa and Pul Eliya

Uncertainty and Incentive Effects in Share Contracts

Cheung and Sutinen have emphasized the ability of share contracts to disperse risk. However, if both landlords and workers can mix share, fixed rent, and wage contracts, then risk dispersion under share cropping is redundant (Reid 1976). Other works have emphasized the positive incentive effects of share contracts on input decisions where tenant actions are difficult to monitor (Reid 1976, 1977; Stiglitz). The purpose of this paper is to examine the of incentive effects and their role in contractual choice under uncertainty. Two different models are developed. In the first, input decisions must be made at the beginning of the production period before the of nature is known. In the second model, the tenant can choose input levels after the state of is known. It is shown that a share contract will be chosen only if an increase in the tenant's share causes expected output to increase. However, in the first model this incentive effect may be either positive or negative. Thus, in this case the presence of incentive effects does not imply unambiguously that share contracts will be preferred. In the second model, the incentive effect is always positive and leads to a preference for share contracts.

Systems of Land Tenure, Allocative Efficiency, and Economic Development

AbstractThis paper discusses comparative efficiency of resource allocation under alternative forms of land tenure—sharecropping, fixed rental, wage cultivation, and owner cultivation. It shows that when transaction costs, the role of entrepreneurship, and economic incentives are explicitly introduced and analyzed within the framework of intersectoral interactions and linkages, land reform measures redistributing land to the peasants, substituting owner‐cultivators for share tenants, tend to improve agricultural production efficiency, resource allocation between farm and other sectors, and contribute to economic development of less developed countries, contrary to conclusions reached by writers of the “equal efficiency” school.

Cultural conflicts in the management of hydrographic watersheds in the Central American isthmus

Productivity of natural ecosystems in watersheds in the Central American Isthmus is being seriously endangered by the disproportionate increase in population, which hampers an adequate development of water and agricultural resources. The logical consequences of the lack of planning in the use of these resources are rapid degradation of the soil and high levels of environmental pollution. Among the human activities which destroy the natural ecological balance are slash burning, overgrazing and farming on lands not suited for this purpose. These activities form part of the socio-economic and cultural aspects of the region and are associated with systems of land occupancy and distribution, and with inefficient practices, such as tenant farming and share cropping. Recent apprehensions by nature-loving groups and the general public are pressing for more realistic conservation and legislative policies, and for the creation of more dynamic government agencies that would not only actively participate in the planning and utilization of natural resources, but also in the technical studies of watersheds that after the socio-cultural aspects of the central American region.

Migrants, Sharecroppers, Mountaineers.

Migrants, Sharecroppers, Mountaineers.

ARAZİ TASARRUF ŞEKİLLERİNE GÖRE ERZURUM İLİNDEKİ TARIM İŞLETMELERİNİN EKONOMETRİK ANALİZİ

OZET Memleketimizin diger bolgelerine nazaran Dogu Anadolu bolgesinde ekonomik hayat daha fazla tanma baglidir ve dolayisiyle tarimsal problemler bu bolgede dahafazladir. Bolgenin tarimsal yapisinin daha iyi anlasilaNlmesi icin, bolgedeki arazi mulkiyet ve tasarruf durumunun tesbiti luzumludur. Arazinin tasarruf sekli ile tarimsal uretim veya gelir arasinda bir iliskinin mevcut olabilecegi dusunulerek bolgedeki tarim isletmeleri bu yonleri ile incelenmistir. Bu calismada, istatistik ve matematik tekniklerinin ekonomik olaylara uygulanmasi seklinde tarif edilebilecek ekonometrik analizler yapilmis, ayrica isletme analizlerine de yer verilmistir. Bolgedeki tarim isletmeleri, arazi tasarruf sekillerine gore 5 grupta toplanmis ve gruplar arasinda, kulianilan kaynaklar ve elde edilen gelirler bakimindan, farkliiiklar tesbit edilerek bu farkliliklarin nedenleri arastirilmistir. AN ECONOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF FARMS ACCORDING TO THE LAND TENVRE SYSTEMS IN ERZURUM PROVINCE This study is an econometric analysis of faims, grouped on the basis of land tenure systems, in Erzurum proYInce. The data used in this study were coJIected through questionnaires filled on a iandom sampling of 175 farms which were visited during the period of August 15-September 15 of 1969. According to the land tenure status of the operators, the fanns included in the sample were divided into five groups as: GrouirA owner operated farms, group B- one third or less of te farm is operated under a 50 pereent share cropping; groupC, between 1/3 and 2/3 of the farin is operated under a 50 pereent share cropping; group D- 2/3 or more of the fann is operated under a 50 pereent share cropping; and group E- pattly rented farins. The yearly accomplichment levels of farms were obtained through the application of some economic criteria. According to these analysis, an average of only 34.4 pereent of ' available family labor is utilized, Le. theie is a big ani.ount of disguised unemplayinent Qn farins. Three of the four farms made noprofit. Average per capita income to family labor, inanagement and OWD capital is LI 67 Turkish lira a year. No one of the five farm groups is operated efficiently. The production functions of Cobb~ Douglass type were derived in order to show the funetional relationships between the gross retums and the resources use'! in obtaining the latter. Based on these produetions functions, the marginal returns of resources (at geometric mean levels), the marginal efficieney coefficients, and the marginal efficiency of factor combinations were estimated. According to the intergroup analysis of variance there is not an significant difference as to the output pro-. duced on all farms. A search was made between the owner operated group of farms and other groups to see whether the production elasticies of t,he same input faetors were different ard it was found that the produetion elasticities of land, livestock, seed. and' building of group D were different. Intergroup comparisons proved the fact that regardless of the land tenure status of farmers. usually the same techonolgy is applied on all farms and thus there are not significant differences among faims.

Productivity and Resource Use Efficiency of Boro Rice Production

This study was attempted to measure and compare resource use efficiency and relative productivity of farming under different tenure conditions in an area of Bhola district. A random sampling technique was used in the study. Sample farmers were classified as owner, crop share tenant and cash tenant farmers. A total of 90 samples, 30 from each class were selected on the basis of random sampling technique. The study explored the difference in the efficiency and productivity among owner, cash tenant and crop share tenant. Total cash expenses as well as total gross costs for producing HYV Boro rice was highest in owner farms and lowest in crop share tenant's farm. When individual inputs were concerned it was observed that expenses on human labor shared a major portion of expenses in the production of HYV Boro rice where owner operators used more hired labor in compare to other groups. However, the cash tenant farmers were more efficient than owner and crop share tenant farmers. Due to poor resource base the crop share tenants were unable to invest on modern farm inputs. It may be mentioned that in Bangladesh the predominant tenancy arrangement is share cropping, which is an inefficient form of tenure arrangement in compare to cash tenancy. Keywords: Land tenure; Profitability; Efficiency; Elasticity of production DOI: 10.3329/jbau.v7i2.4730 J. Bangladesh Agril. Univ. 7(2): 247-252, 2009

The Forgotten Farmers: The Story of Sharecroppers in the New Deal

The Forgotten Farmers: The Story of Sharecroppers in the New Deal

The Forgotten Farmers: The Story of Sharecroppers in the New Deal.

The Forgotten Farmers: The Story of Sharecroppers in the New Deal.

The Forgotten Farmers: The Story of Sharecroppers in the New Deal

The Forgotten Farmers: The Story of Sharecroppers in the New Deal

The Forgotten Farmers: The Story of Sharecroppers in the New Deal

The Forgotten Farmers: The Story of Sharecroppers in the New Deal

The Environments and the Farming of the Caspian Sea Coast in Iran

Owing to the request of the Royal Estate Administration of Iran to the Japanese Ambassador in Teheran to establish the Japanese model farm on the coast of Caspian Sea, I have had an opportunity to investigate the said area and write a report, which was published recently by the Bureau of Immigration, Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Here I would like to point out the characteristics of the natural, socio-economic environments and the land use and farm managements of this region.The natural environments of this region are quite different from that of the rest of Iran called the Arid Iran. Topographically, this region is consisted largely of fans which were shaped by rivers from the Elburz Mountains and the bulk of it is not only comparatively flat but also very low so that it lies below the surface of the Black Sea. Climatically this region belongs to the Mediterranean climatical type, although the amount of rainfall amounts from 1000 to 1500mm, which is far less than that of the general. Mediterranean type. This region represents a special Mediterranian type and is called the Moist Iran. Consequently the vegitation is particular, that is the Hyrcanian type.The socio-economic environments have been changing remarkably. The market within the region is very important, because the population of this limited area occupies nearly one fifth of the total population of Iran and the density of population is about eight times bigger than that of the whole Iran. The outside market also has a considerable influence. From the viewpoint of trade this region had close relation with Russia, but after the Second War the main market has been switched off to the part of Iran on the south of the Elburz Mountains owing to the opening of motor-roads as well as a railway across the Mountains and to the substantial change in international relations.Mainly due to the differences of natural environments, the land use of this region is quite different from that of the rest of Iran. Its characteristics are first the predominance of paddy field, and, secondly, the complexity of crops, that is rice as maincrop and wheat, barley, cotton, oranges, mulberry, tea, tobacco, jute, etc. The land use within the region is made different according to the climatical conditions.The peculiarities of the farming of this region are: (1) sharecropping system, (2) small scale farming, (3) full-time farming, (4) predominance of crop production and lack of animal husbandry on farm management, (5) specialization of farming, (6) production for marketing, (7) intensive farming, (8) higher productivity as compared to the average Iranian standard, (9) stationariness of productivity.Consequently, it is at present a serious problem to the development of the Iranian economy how to overcome the stationariness of productivity. Means to attain this objective will be, I think, mainly the reform of land system, the improvement and extention of agricultural technology and the development of rural community projects.