 Bundle-of-Sticks Notions in Legal and Economic ScholarshipEric R. Claeys Econ Journal Watch, 2011, vol. 8, issue 3, 205-214 Abstract: The phrase "bundle of rights" does not serve as an accurate conceptual definition of property. Nor has that phrase provided a helpful metaphor as used in Ronald Coase's article "The Problem of Social Cost" (1960) and subsequent legal and economic scholarship. Coase's usage portrays property rights as a collection of individualized permissions to use an asset, when in sound conceptual usage "property" signifies a domain of authority to decide how to use the asset. The "bundle" metaphor may be understood to state that an owner has a right to deploy his property in any specific manner fairly implied by his general rights of ownership. Although this metaphorical usage is helpful, it remains parasitic on a sound conceptual definition of property. Property is best conceived of as a right securing a normative interest in determining exclusively the use of an asset external to the person of the owner. Keywords: Property; bundle of rights; exclusion; exclusivity; right to exclude; legal realism; law and economics; Wesley Hohfeld; Richard Posner; Harold Demsetz; Armen Alchian; Thomas Merrill; Henry Smith; private law theory; conceptual philosophy (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ejw:journl:v:8:y:2011:i:3:p:205-214 Access Statistics for this article Econ Journal Watch is currently edited by Daniel Klein More articles in Econ Journal Watch from Econ Journal Watch Contact information at EDIRC. |
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