By: Terry L. Anderson (Editor), Fred S. McChesney (Editor)

Paperback

Click on the Google Preview image above to read some pages of this book!

The institution of property is as old as mankind, and property rights are today deemed vital to a prosperous economic system. Much has been written in the last decade on the economics of the legal institutions protecting such rights. This unprecedented book provides a magnificent introduction to the subject. Terry Anderson and Fred McChesney have gathered twelve leading thinkers to explore how property rights arise, and how they bolster economic development. As the subtitle indicates, the book examines as well how controversies over valuable property rights are resolved: by agreement, by violence, or by law.

The essays begin by surveying the approaches to property taken by early political economists and move to colorful applications of property rights theory concerning the Wild West, the Amazon, endangered species, and the broadcast spectrum. These examples illustrate the process of defining and defending property rights, and demonstrate what difference property rights make. The book then considers a number of topics raised by private property rights, analytically complex topics concerning pollution externalities, government taking of property, and land use management policies such as zoning.

Overall, the book is intended as an introduction to the economics and law of property rights. It is divided into six parts, with each featuring an introduction by the editors that integrates prior chapters and material in coming chapters. In the end, the book provides a fresh, comprehensive overview of an intriguing subject, accessible to anyone with a minimal background in economics. With chapters written by noted experts on the subject, "Property Rights " offers the first primer on the subject ever produced. In addition to the editors, the contributors are Louise De Alessi, Yoram Barzel, Harold Demsetz, Thrainn Eggertsson, Richard A. Epstein, William A. Fischel, David D. Haddock, Peter J. Hill, Gary D. Libecap, Dean Lueck, Edwin G. West, and Bruce Yandle.

This volume provides a solid, sophisticated introduction to the emerging field of economics and property rights. Choice

List of Figures and Tables	p. vii
Acknowledgments	p. ix
Introduction: The Economic Approach to Property Rights	p. 1
Introduction	p. 13
Property Rights in the History of Economic Thought: From Locke to	p. 20
Property Rights in the Firm by	p. 43
Introduction	p. 59
Open Access versus Common Property by	p. 73
Gains from Private Property: The Empirical Evidence by	p. 90
Introduction	p. 113
The Evolution of Property Rights by	p. 118
Contracting for Property Rights by	p. 142
Force, Threat, Negotiation: The Private Enforcement of Rights by	p. 168
Introduction	p. 195
First Possession as the Basis of Property by	p. 200
Government as Definer of Property Rights: Tragedy Exiting the Commons? by	p. 227
Introduction	p. 255
Property Rights or Externalities? by	p. 259
Ownership and the Externality Problem by	p. 282
Introduction	p. 301
In and Out of Public Solution: The Hidden Perils of Forced and Unforced Property Transfer by	p. 307
Public Goods and Property Rights: Of Coase, Tiebout, and Just Compensation by	p. 343
References	p. 365
Cases Cited	p. 391
About the Editors and Authors	p. 393
Index	p. 395
Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.

ISBN: 9780691099989
ISBN-10: 0691099987
Audience: Tertiary; University or College
Format: Paperback
Language: English
Number Of Pages: 448
Published: 18th November 2002
Dimensions (cm): 23.2 x 15.6  x 2.53
Weight (kg): 0.568