Property rights, an introduction
When we are talking about choicemakers making a selection from a possibility set in pursuit of an objective, we're usually talking about a choicemaker operating within a technological, social, and legal framework. Robinson Crusoe opersted for some time in isolation, with the freedom to make use of of anything he could get at, and without trading or production partners. Most of us don't.
Without a property rights framework of sone sort trade cannot occur.
Property rights frameworks can arise from some combination of social custom and its defense, and government definition and defense-- or a property right can be privately and individually asserted and defended by violence and threat of violence.
The systems of custom, law, and/or violence that found a property rights system are directly unproductive activity , but clearly having a well-understood and reasonably dependable system of property rights facilitates many productive interactions.
When economists think about property rights, which few do often enough, they think of them as consisting of a bouquet of abilities/rights:
- the ability/right to use the property
- the ability/right to restrict others' use of the property
- the latter two leading to the ability/right to garner an income stream from use of then property or to charge rent for its use by others
Each of these abilities/rights can be present in a constrained form.
For example, owning a car is legal for anyone in the US who has no court-ordered ban on it, but it is not legal to drive without a driver's license, and driving is subect to traffic laws. Landowners and homeowners are sometimes startled to learn that the government retains rights to minerals beneath and airspace above their property.
Where theft and pollution are defined it sets legal limits on others' ability to use property that is not theirs, but obviously actual exclusion of others from use of the property may be quite costly. Safes and armed guards and pollution-monitoring devices and staffing are all uses of resources that could be otherwise employed.
Note: "Rent" is the word used by economists for streams of payment one receives for productive use of one's property. It is distinct from income from one's labor, which pays for use of one's time, effort, and expertise.
Facebook posts incorporated:
Starting out: origins and support of property rights
Property rights as bouquets of limitable rights
Without a property rights framework of sone sort trade cannot occur.
Property rights frameworks can arise from some combination of social custom and its defense, and government definition and defense-- or a property right can be privately and individually asserted and defended by violence and threat of violence.
The systems of custom, law, and/or violence that found a property rights system are directly unproductive activity , but clearly having a well-understood and reasonably dependable system of property rights facilitates many productive interactions.
When economists think about property rights, which few do often enough, they think of them as consisting of a bouquet of abilities/rights:
- the ability/right to use the property
- the ability/right to restrict others' use of the property
- the latter two leading to the ability/right to garner an income stream from use of then property or to charge rent for its use by others
Each of these abilities/rights can be present in a constrained form.
For example, owning a car is legal for anyone in the US who has no court-ordered ban on it, but it is not legal to drive without a driver's license, and driving is subect to traffic laws. Landowners and homeowners are sometimes startled to learn that the government retains rights to minerals beneath and airspace above their property.
Where theft and pollution are defined it sets legal limits on others' ability to use property that is not theirs, but obviously actual exclusion of others from use of the property may be quite costly. Safes and armed guards and pollution-monitoring devices and staffing are all uses of resources that could be otherwise employed.
Note: "Rent" is the word used by economists for streams of payment one receives for productive use of one's property. It is distinct from income from one's labor, which pays for use of one's time, effort, and expertise.
Facebook posts incorporated:
Starting out: origins and support of property rights
Property rights as bouquets of limitable rights