Thelandownerwillfurnish[somanycatties]ofseed,togetherwith[somanypairs]ofwaterbuffalo,[somanyhead]ofdonkeys,-ableassetsareforusepurposesonly,andshallnotbedamagedorlost[bythetenant]……[aforementioned]rentalrateissubjecttoadjustmentaccordingtolocalcustomsinafamineyear.[4]

Theabovesamplesoffixed（crop）.[5]AccordingtoobservationscollectedbytheDepartmentofRealEstates,coveringtwenty-twoprov-incesinChina,cashrentsaregenerallyslightlylowerthancroprents.[6]Thisdifferentialcanbeexplainedbylandowners'sharingintheproductsellingcostundertakenbytenants.Wemayalsonotethatwithinflationoccurringin1938,owingtotheSino-JapaneseWar,beginningin1937,13.3percentofcashrentswereconvertedintocroprentsand15.3percentwereconvertedintosharerents.[7]Thisobservation,ofcourse,,-rentcontractsarenotofspecialinterestexceptforonefeaturewhichwesingleouttoelaborateonhere-thefrequentinclusionoftheprovisionforrentalreduc-tionaccordingto"localcustoms"ina"famine"year（seesamplesaandc）,aprovisionwhichisabsentunderan"iron-sheet"rent（seesampleb）.Letuscallthisprovisionanescapeclauseforthetenant,"localcustoms"asasetofmarketpricesfor"famine"adjustments,"bad"thatthemarketconsidersittobea"famine."Givenasufficientlylargenumberoffixed-rentcontractswhichincludetheescapeclause,,theincreasedriskburdenonthelandownerassociatedwiththeinclusionoftheescapeclauseimpliesthatapremiumwillbeaddedtothe"fixed"rentoverthe"iron-sheet."[8]

Althoughshiftingtheriskburdenbyincludingtheescapeclauseinafixed-rentcontractisnotquitethesameastheriskdispersioninasharecontract,"famine""iron-sheet"contractorbuyingan"escape"rightbypayingan"insurance"premiumtothelandowner-suchthatintheeventof"famine,":therecouldexistinthemarketplacenotjustoneescapeclauseasobserved,butawiderangeofsimilarclauseseachassociatedwithadifferentlevelof"famine,",theriskburdencouldbedispersedbetweenthecontractingpartiesinaninfinitenumberofways,-inparticular,thecostofdefiningdifferentlevelsof"famine"inthemarketplace,andthecostofnegotiatingtherentalreductionforeach-theincrementalgainsofhavingthemmaybesosmallthatnofurther"custom",analternativedevicechosenisasharecontract,underwhichmultiple"escape"provisionsforthetenantwillbeimplicit,andwithinwhichtherentalpaymentisnolongerfixed.[9]

,Ihavearguedthatthetransactioncostishigherforsharerentthanforfixedrent,,,,since,asnotedearlier,evidenceindicatesthatsharerentisslightlyhigherthanfixedrentowingtotheaddedriskburdenimposedonthelandowner,Iconjecturethatthelandowner'sinewouldbehigherthanwithasharecontractifanescapeclausewereadoptedtotheeffectthatthetenant',wefindthatsuchanescapeclauseexistsintherealworld,disguisedunderthenameofwagecontract.