Property Rights and Parliament in Industrializing Britain

Dan Bogart and Gary Richardson

No 15697, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: During Britain's industrialization, Parliament operated a forum where rights to land and resources could be reorganized. This venue enabled landholders and communities to exploit economic opportunities that could not be accommodated by the inflexible rights regime inherited from the past. In this essay, historical evidence, archival data, and statistical analysis demonstrate that Parliament increased the number of acts reorganizing property rights in response to increases in the demand for such acts. Tests with placebo groups confirm the robustness of this result. This evidence indicates that Parliament responded elastically to changes in the public's demand for reorganizing property rights. Parliament's efforts to adapt property rights to modern economic conditions may have accelerated Britain's economic ascent

JEL-codes: K0 K11 K4 L9 N33 N43 N53 N7 N9 O13 O2 O25 O52 P1 P14 P16 P17 P26 P48 R14 R38 R4 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his and nep-law
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Published as Dan Bogart & Gary Richardson, 2011. "Property Rights and Parliament in Industrializing Britain," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 54(2), pages 241 - 274.

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Journal Article: Property Rights and Parliament in Industrializing Britain (2011)
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