There has been a tremendous amount of interest in developing high-efficiency light-emitting diodes (LEDs) based on colloidal nanocrystals (NCs) of hybrid lead halide perovskites. Here, we systematically investigate the ligand effects on EL characteristics by tuning the hydrophobicity of primary alkylamine ligands used in NC synthesis. By increasing the ligand hydrophobicity, we find (i) a reduced NC size that induces a higher degree of quantum confinement, (ii) a shortened exciton lifetime that increases the photoluminescence quantum yield, (iii) a lowering of refractive index that increases the light outcoupling efficiency, and (iv) an increased thin-film resistivity. Accordingly, ligand engineering allows us to demonstrate high-performance green LEDs exhibiting a maximum external quantum efficiency up to 16.2%. The device operational lifetime, defined by the time lasted when the device luminance reduces to 85% of its initial value, LT85, reaches 243 min at an initial luminance of 516 cd m-2.