INTERPRETING THE DECLINE OF SHARE TENANCY IN CENTRAL ITALY: HISTORICAL AND THEORETICAL ISSUES

On the basis of an innovative representation of the share tenancy contract, the transformation and the end of the sharecropping system in Tuscany is explained. The model is built on the interaction between two social and economic organizations — the family and the farm — within the political and economic environment of the great agricultural crisis in late 19th century. The authors argue that the crisis shatters the contractual equilibrium, induces changes in the behavior of the agents and undermines social stability, leading the family and the farm to different institutional relationships.