Must Agreements Be Kept? Residential Leases During Covid-19*

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Ater, Itai; Elster, Yael; Genesove, David; Hoffmann, Eran B.
• 署名单位: Tel Aviv University; Centre for Economic Policy Research - UK; Hebrew University of Jerusalem
• 刊物名称: ECONOMIC JOURNAL
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0013-0133
• DOI: 10.1093/ej/ueac065
• 发表日期: 2022
• 页码: 477-492
• 关键词: Contracts; RENEGOTIATION; institutions; credit

摘要

We study residential lease payments during the COVID-19 pandemic. A survey of Israeli renters shows that nearly one in eight did not pay full rent during the first lockdown in March-April 2020. These households held back two-thirds of their contractually due rent on average. Financially fragile households with large income cuts withheld a greater share. Both formal and relational aspects of the landlord-tenant relationship affected payments: tenants paid more of their rent if their leases included formal provisions against non-payment, and less if they had strong relationships with their landlords. We use bargaining and relational contract theories to explain our findings.