THE MEANING OF KINSHIP IN SHARECROPPING CONTRACTS

Analysis of a household survey from the Philippines shows that the beh avior of sharecroppers with a kinship relation with their landlord is not affected by the disincentive effects of product and factor sharing , while behavior of the other sharecroppers responds to the contract t erms. We characterize the meaning of kinship ties through a survey of opinion conducted among tenants. The survey shows that kin landlords h elp or are expected to help more frequently in case of emergency than other landlords, and they do so with a wider range of instruments, pro viding the incentive for cooperative behavior in sharecropping contrac ts among kin.