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TowardaTheoryofPropertyRights

HaroldDemsetz

TheAmericanEconomicReview,Vol.57,No.2,PapersandProceedingsoftheSeventy-ninth

AnnualMeetingoftheAmericanEconomicAssociation.(May,1967),pp.347-359.

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TOWARD A THEORY OF PROPERTY RIGHTS

When a transaction is concluded in the marketplace, two bundles of

property rights are exchanged. A bundle of rights often attaches to a

physical commodity or service, but it is the value of the rights that de-

termines the value of what is exchanged. Questions addressed to the

emergence and mix of the components of the bundle of rights are prior

to those commonly asked by economists. Economists usually take the

bundle of property rights as a datum and ask for an explanation of the

forces determining the price and the number of units of a good to

which these rights attach.

In this paper,

I

seek to fashion some of the elements of an economic

theory of property rights. The paper is organized into three parts. The

first part discusses briefly the concept and role of property rights in

social systems. The second part offers some guidance for investigating

the emergence of property rights. The third part sets forth some prin-

ciples relevant to the coalescing of property rights into particular bun-

dles and to the determination of the ownership structure that will be

associated with these bundles.

The Concept and Role of Property Rights

In the world of Robinson Crusoe property rights play no role, Prop-

erty rights are an instrument of society and derive their significance

from the fact that they help a man form those expectations which

he

can reasonably hold in his dealings with others. These expectations

find expression in the laws, customs, and mores of a society. An owner

of property rights possesses the consent of fellowmen to allow him to

act in particular ways. An owner expects the community to prevent

others from interfering with his actions, provided that these actions

are not prohibited in the specifications of his rights.

It is important to note that property rights convey the right to

benefit or harm oneself or others. Harming a competitor by producing

superior products may be permitted, while shooting him may not.

A

man may be permitted to benefit himself by shooting an intruder but

be prohibited from selling below a price floor. It is clear, then, that

property rights specify how persons may be benefited and harmed,

and, therefore, who must pay whom to modify the actions taken

by

persons. The recognition of this leads easily to the close relationship

between property rights and externalities.

347