The Political Economy of Customs and Culture

by Anderson, Terry Lee; Simmons, Randy T.

• ISBN13: 9780847677863
• ISBN10: 0847677869
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1993-01-01
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Pub Inc

Summary

Since the writings of Adam Smith, economists have understood the important role that private property rights play in a well-functioning economic system. Without well-defined, enforced, and transferable property rights, the tragedy of the commons is said to result as in the classic case of overfishing and overgrazing. This book challenges this narrow view of property rights by examining the role of informal constraints imposed by customs and culture. Recognizing that a great deal of human interaction takes place in the absence of individually specified rights, the authors challenge the notion that tragedy is inevitable within the commons.

Table of Contents

Tables and Figures
Acknowledgments
Method, Metaphor, and Understanding: When Is the Commons Not a Tragedy?	p. 1
Property-Rights Regimes and Coastal Fisheries: An Empirical Analysis	p. 13
Contracting Into the Commons	p. 43
To Price or Not to Price: User Preferences in Allocating Common Property Resources	p. 61
Capturing the Commons: Legal and Illegal Strategies	p. 69
The Politics of Changing Property Rights: Dismantling a Commons From Within	p. 85
Analyzing Institutional Successes and Failures: A Millennium of Common Mountain Pastures in Iceland	p. 109
Covenants With and Without A Sword: Self-Governance Is Possible	p. 127
Humankind in Prehistory: Economy, Ecology, and Institutions	p. 157
About the Political Economy Forum and the Authors	p. 185
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