The Meaning of Property Rights: Law versus Economics?

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-1-2002

Publication Title

Land Economics

First Page

317

Last Page

330

DOI

http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3146892

Additional Publication URL

http://www.jstor.org/stable/3146892

Abstract

Property rights are fundamentals to economic analysis. There is, however, no consensus in the economic literature about what property rights are. Economists define them variously and inconsistently, sometimes in ways that deviate from the conventional understandings of legal scholars and judges. This article explores ways in which definitions of property rights in the economic literature diverge from conventional legal understandings, and how those divergences can create interdisciplinary confusion and bias economic analyses. Indeed, some economists' idiosyncratic definitions of property rights, if used to guide policy, could lead to suboptimal economic outcomes.

Rights

Version of record can be found through JSTOR.

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS