Urban density, law and the duration of real estate leases
Sheridan Titman and
Garry Twite
Journal of Urban Economics, 2013, vol. 74, issue C, 99-112
Abstract:
This study explores the relationship between a country’s legal system and how its cities develop by examining the considerable variations in commercial real estate lease duration (or term) across both countries and cities. We find that the cross-country variation in lease duration and building construction is related to the content (common versus civil law) and efficiency (integrity and enforceability) of the legal system in the respective countries. First, we find that countries with a common law system and lower levels of corruption tend to have longer leases. Second, we find that in the United States, high-rise Class A office buildings tend to have tenants with longer term leases, suggesting that the advantages associated with being able to write and enforce a long term lease is particularly important for the development of high-rise office buildings. Finally, we find that there are in fact more high-rise office buildings in countries with more efficient legal systems.
Keywords: Real estate; Lease duration; Law; Corruption; Urban density; Skyscrapers (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D4 K4 R1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:juecon:v:74:y:2013:i:c:p:99-112
DOI: 10.1016/j.jue.2012.10.003
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