Renewing a Lease at a Discount or Premium?

Occupancy discount is a long-accepted doctrine in literature. Search theory supports such a proposition, but the empirical evidence is mixed. In this study, we revisit this dilemma and put forward an alternative argument that a landlord may exploit tenants who have made non-redeployable investments and charge them an occupancy premium. Based on data of high-end commercial properties where quality information is symmetric, the findings confirm that the magnitude of discounts/premiums hinges on the tradeoff between asset specificity and search. We also demonstrate that instrumental variables estimation is a better approach to correcting endogeneity bias in lease renewal decisions.