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  1. Home
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  3. Common Property Economics
  • Cited by 103
Publisher:
Cambridge University Press
Online publication date:
September 2009
Print publication year:
1991
Online ISBN:
9780511528361
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511528361
Subjects:
Economics, Macroeconomics, Natural Resource and Environmental Economics
Information

Book description

Common property economics defines and clarifies the theoretical distinction between open access and common property and empirically tests the adequacy of resource allocation under common property and empirically tests the property in comparison with private property. Group use of natural resources has often received the blame for overexploitation and mismanagement, whether of fisheries, grazing land, oil and gas pools, groundwater, or wildlife. In this book two types of group use are identified: open access and utilization without any controls on extraction rates, a situation in which resource overexploitation often occurs. In contrast, common property refers to the situation where the group controls the access to and extraction rates of the resource. The common property solutions differ from those associated with open access. The nonoptimality of open access is demonstrated with graphic, game theoretic, and mathematical models. The necessary and sufficient conditions for common property to overcome the difficulties of open access are examined. Stevenson discusses historical examples, the basis in legal concepts, the contrast with public goods, the formation, and the stability of common property. In a detailed, empirical study of alpine grazing in Switzerland, the author compares the performance of common property with that of private property. He also notes the similarity in structure between the Swiss grazing commons and the English open field system.

Reviews

"...a fine addition to the property rights literature. It is well written, and it provides a clear distinction between the concepts of open access and common property." Journal of Comparative Economics

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